And if that is the case, as Publishing News reports, Little, Brown would be the second UK publisher (after Penguin, which adopted the process kicking and screaming as it moved to its current digs in Brick Lane) to move into an open-plan office space. The company has signed a ten-year lease on the second floor of Unilever House on Victoria Embankment, near Blackfriars Bridge, and when it moves in, nobody, from CEO Ursula Mackenzie down, will have their own private office.
Little, Brown hopes to make the move in October and Marketing Director Roger Cazalet told PN that the decision to go open plan was influence by a number of factors. It gives you a greater sense of freedom and it’s a more egalitarian way of working. Communication will be a lot better too. When you have separate offices you email a lot, rather than leaving your desk. It also means we can cut down on the number of printers we have, which is more environmentally friendly. At the moment there are something like 60 printers. In the new offices, we’ll have print areas where groups of people will share printers. We’ll actually have the same amount of space in the new offices, but because it’s open plan you end up with a lot more room. We will have meeting rooms too, of course, but also more informal meeting space. Where we are currently is quite cramped.”
But hey, with the move not being planned till October, that leaves Little, Brown executives plenty of time to protest!