After unveiling plans to swap its West London HQ for flexible office space, Currys chief people, communications and sustainability officer Paula Coughlan explains the thinking behind the move and how it sets the electricals giant up for a post-pandemic future.

There’s been a lot of debate about which of the changes brought about by the pandemic will endure. At Currys, one of the most powerful changes to emerge has been the arrival of hybrid working, which we believe is here to stay. For us, hybrid simply means working in-person, online and a blend of both. Put simply, it’s the colleague version of ‘omnichannel’.

Throughout the pandemic, we have been listening to our colleagues’ views on the future of work and last June we introduced a hybrid working framework and provided guidance to help leaders and teams, with a test-and-learn spirit. During this time, we’ve continued to ask for feedback and listened.

What we learned was that our current office was not enabling the collaborative culture we would like to see. Our colleagues were looking for an attractive hub to collaborate, connect and be creative in; an office set up that supports hybrid working and blended in-person and digital meetings, in an attractive location that provides a home for the best talent.

“We’re treating our colleagues like adults, enabling them to choose how and where works best for them”

Last week, we announced to 1,400 colleagues based at our Acton head office that we are introducing a refreshed hybrid working model for all corporate and commercial colleagues in the UK, which reinforces our commitment to hybrid working and the importance of face-to-face collaboration. To support all of this, we launched a new partnership with WeWork.

We will be equipping our Acton teams with WeWork passes, enabling them to use any one of 50 WeWork locations across the UK. WeWork is a best-in-class provider of flexible office space and our policy will give access to inspiring workspaces whether for individual ‘head-down’ work or for collaborative meetings.

These include a proposed move to what we are calling the Currys London Campus at Waterloo in one of WeWork’s flagship buildings, which will give us one dedicated floor plus access to other shared spaces within the building when colleagues need it.

In a further step to ensure this new collaborative approach extends throughout the UK, we’re also refurbishing several spaces in stores around the country, giving colleagues more flexibility about where they work.

The best of both

The pandemic showed us we don’t all need to be in one building to deliver great results for our customers or our colleagues around the business who our corporate and commercial functions support. We’re treating our colleagues like adults, enabling them to choose how and where works best for them, while setting some clear guidelines to ensure everyone stays connected with the business and each other. 

Crucially, our new policy is not just about where our colleagues work – it’s about how they work. While hybrid working has worked incredibly well during the pandemic, we’ve come up with four guidelines to ensure we get the best out of both in-person and remote working. 

First, ‘Be Connected’, which means ensuring every colleague has face-to-face interaction with their teams and manager each month. 

Second, ‘Be Intentional’, which means focusing on outcomes from collaborative working and making the most of the new collaborative workspaces. 

Third, ‘Be Inclusive’, which is about ensuring everyone feels included however they choose to work and accepting that people have different preferences. 

Finally, ‘Be Flexible’ – embrace hybrid working while keeping an open mind about your own ways of working.

“We’re not paying lip service to the idea… we’re creating a new model of truly hybrid working which will position our business well for the future”

Currys wants to be a home for the best talent and we don’t want our pool to be limited to those who can only get to one location easily. Our people will also be sought after by other employers and we think the flexibility we offer is going to be a key part of our offering and will set us apart. 

We must never forget that as a proud omnichannel retailer, this announcement won’t change anything for many of our colleagues. Our stores, supply chain and service operations are the engine room of our business and ultimately the job of our corporate and commercial colleagues is to support them. 

We aim to be flexible with the work patterns of our sales and on-road colleagues, too, and omnichannel innovations like our ShopLive service aim to bring their specialist expertise to the fore and make their work much more varied and rewarding.

Our business is nothing without the amazing colleagues who make Currys what it is and we’re really excited about the potential of hybrid working.

We’re not paying lip service to the idea, but by listening to our colleagues and building on the lessons of the pandemic, we’re creating a new model of truly hybrid working which will position our business well for the future.