Aspire One Newsletter - Issue 71 February 2022

ISSUE 71 : FEBRUARY 2022

One

The voice of Landsec | Aspire // Bringing our community TogetherAsOne

Calling

the shots The Landsec | Aspire annual party was finally able to take place on Friday 25 February and the team certainly made up for lost time!

FRIDAY 25.02.2022 HEART OF THE WEST END SEE PAGE

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Cover: Madeleine Velupillai at Ruby Blue, Leicester Square.

Right: Celebrating Aspire style at Ruby Blue.

Check out all the event images now.

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For information regarding the articles in this magazine contact aspire@landsec.com Landsec, 100 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL

+44 (0) 20 7413 9000

aspire@landsec.com

One newsletter is keen to welcome points of view from Landsec staff and Service Partners. Therefore, the views expressed in this newsletter are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Landsec. We welcome contributions whether through social media, email, letters or stories. Please forward contributions to aspire@landsec.com

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Magazine David Wickens

Guests enjoyed a range of nibbles and party anthems at this years annual Aspire party.

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Kelly Barlow One Editor kelly.barlow@landsec.com

Alison Currell

David Wickens Operations Director & Chair of Landsec | Aspire Well, I’m pleased (and somewhat relieved) to say that it’s really starting to feel like old times! Not only have we been able to celebrate together at our (albeit delayed) Christmas party, but we are also seeing ever increasing numbers of customers across our properties and there’s a real buzz returning to London.

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Along with the reassuring ‘old’, there is also some exciting ‘new’. Firstly, we have completed a number of deals with new customers in recent weeks.

Landsec recently announced 11 new deals totalling 200,000 sq ft across the London Portfolio. These include four new leases at Dashwood – three for Myo and one for Blank Canvas.

Meanwhile in Victoria, seven new

Aspire Service Delivery Manager alison.currell@landsec.com

leases account for 183,000 sq ft of the total. What’s more, we expect to sign a further 200,000 sq ft of office deals across London by the end of this financial year. I’m sure you will all agree that this is excellent news.

Secondly, I’m delighted to welcome a new member to our team: Alison Currell joins us as Senior Aspire Service Delivery Manager. In this brand-new role, Alison is responsible for realising our vision of delivering excellence in customer service through the Landsec | Aspire team.

She has been busy getting to know our Service Partners and has some great ideas to enhance the profile and effectiveness of the Aspire community. You can read about Alison and her role in this issue, and please take a moment to say ‘hello’ if you see her out and about.

Martin French One Design & Layout martin@tigerbaydesign.co.uk

Heidi Scott One Copywriter heidi@tigerbaydesign.co.uk

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infinity and beyond Over the past decade Landsec | Aspire has enjoyed a meteoric rise and is now providing industry-defining customer experiences, so with the addition of our brand-new Service Delivery Manager role, we’re shooting for the stars.

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SENIOR ASPIRE SERVICE DELIVERY MANAGER

Meet Alison Currell, Senior Aspire Service Delivery Manager.

In this brand-new role, Alison is tasked with realising our vision by defining the parameters of excellent customer service and managing the Landsec | Aspire team to deliver it.

Based at 100 Victoria Street, Alison joined the family in late January. Formerly Head of Operations for Office Concierge, she is already a familiar face to many Aspire colleagues so has been able to set off like a rocket in her new position. Alison is well suited to the role of Senior Aspire Service Delivery Manager. In fact, you could say that customer service runs in her blood, as her entire career has been focused around delivering service with a smile.

After a Saturday job working in a sports shop in her home town of York, her first full-time position was as Junior Receptionist at the Royal York Hotel.

Shifting direction, she moved into travel, managing various Yorkshire branches of Going Places. Her next role as a recruitment consultant with Brook Street led to a move to London, where she managed the company’s Ealing branch.

In January 2008, Alison joined Office Concierge, working across both office and residential buildings as she worked her way up from Account Manager to Head of Operations over her 14 years with the company.

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As well has giving her a working knowledge of Landsec, she believes her experience at Office Concierge stands her in good stead for her new role.

“Office Concierge is very well known for delivering the highest levels of customer service,” says Alison. “It’s something I am very passionate about and I love experiencing myself, whether I’m eating out or on holiday. Being able to work in a role where the main objective is to deliver excellent customer service through the Aspire vision and values is what sealed the deal for me. I am genuinely excited,” she continues. “This role is unique and it was an opportunity that I simply couldn’t pass up. I believe in customer service – I love it and I think that recognising the people who deliver it is really important.”

Alison has already met with all the Aspire Service Partner managers and also some of their managing directors.

“The big thing that’s come out of meeting with the Service Partner managers,” she says, “is that although I’m now a client, I’ve got a supplier head. So I know what it’s like to be a Service Partner and I actually understand the challenges they face.” She is looking forward to developing relationships with Aspire members at all levels across the service streams. “Landsec has a true sense of partnership with Service Partners,” says Alison, “and that is not something that can be said about every property company.”

Reporting to Operations Director David Wickens, Alison says she will be relying on advice from him and Assistant

Workspace Manager Kelly Barlow, who together have been the driving forces behind the rise of the Landsec | Aspire community. “Aspire has got so big that there needs to be real strategy behind it in order to deliver higher levels of customer service,” says Alison. She has already been tasked with refreshing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), by which the activities of Service Partners are evaluated. “The KPIs need to reflect the Aspire vision and values in all the service streams,” says Alison. She believes that training will be key in delivering enhanced customer service.

“I really want to kick-start the induction process,” she says. “I want people to have an understanding and respect for what colleagues in other service streams

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“I believe in customer service – I love it and I think that recognising the people who deliver it is really important.”

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Femi Olunuga, Aspire Data Analyst.

do and what their roles entail.” She also wants to ensure that the contributions of all Aspire members are recognised.

“I’m very aware that if you’re in a front-facing role – such as reception or security – you’ve got more opportunity to surprise and delight your customers,” she explains. She says that she wants to make sure that Aspire is for everyone.

“There is just so much that Aspire can achieve,” says Alison, “so the challenge will be working out what to prioritize and reining myself in!”

Alison will be working closely with Femi Olunuga, Aspire Data Analyst, who started in his role – which is also brand-new – just a couple of weeks before her. “Femi has been showing

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me some of the stats he’s been putting together,” says Alison, “and they’re amazing – it’s a dark art! I’m looking forward to being able to demonstrate with facts and figures just how successful Aspire is.”

Away from the office, Alison enjoys walking in Windsor Great Park, which is close to her home in Berkshire. “It’s beautiful and I’m so lucky it’s on my doorstep,” she says. Married to Martin, she has two grown-up stepchildren and is excited to have become a grandmother just before Christmas, when baby Sadie joined the family. She enjoys travelling and would like to make a trip to Canada, a country that her parents used to love visiting.

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PartyAsOne FRIDAY 25.02.2022 HEART OF THE WEST END

CELEBR ATING ASPIRE STYLE

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Aspire SERVICE STREAMS

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After having to cancel the 2020 Christmas party due to Covid restriction tiers (remember them?) and then postponing the event planned for December 2021, the Aspire team was understandably ready to party twice as hard.

Colleagues from across Landsec’s service streams gathered at Ruby Blue, a lively bar in the heart of the West End, to celebrate in legendary Aspire style. Featuring a balcony with views over the vibrant nightlife in Leicester Square, Ruby Blue proved to be the perfect venue.

Kelly Barlow (Assistant Workspace Manager, organiser of the event and general party queen) was there early doors, looking very glam in a classic LBD, to greet people as they arrived.

Guests were welcomed with Mimosa, Sex on the Beach and Cosmopolitan cocktails or they could order their favourite tipple at the bar. With

platters of food also being served during the evening, the complimentary drinks flowed and, later on, the shots inevitably appeared!

Alice and Gemma from Glitter Bar London arrived to set up their stall offering glitter decorations from 8pm.

Suffice to say that Aspire members just couldn’t get enough of the sparkly stuff, with fabulous designs on their bejewelled faces, arms and even beards!

With Ruby Blue’s resident DJ belting out a succession of party anthems, people were soon dancing the night away and clearly revelling in the freedom of being able to socialise properly once again.

The event was still in full swing in the early hours. It may not have been at Christmas but this was certainly a party to remember (with a few hangovers to forget, no doubt!) and just the tonic that our hard-working Aspire members needed and deserved. What a night!

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AspireAsOneTeam FOR ALL THE EVENTS PHOTOS AND FUN

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Aspire SERVICE STREAMS

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AspireAsOneTeam FOR ALL THE EVENTS PHOTOS AND FUN

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T U E S D A Y

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M A R C H

International Women’s Day 2022 International Women’s Day is an annual, global event to celebrate the achievements of women, rally for gender equality and raise funds for female-focused charities. This year, IWD has the theme of #BreakTheBias, urging everyone to ditch bias, stereotypes and discrimination to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive world.

We are bold | inclusive | driven | united

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Check out next month’s One Magazine for a review of IWD 2022

Women contribute so much to Landsec | Aspire and we’ll be marking #IWD2022 by celebrating their success and sharing some of their stories.

Louise Ody Workspace Manager

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The future is coming.

1st April 2022.

This spring welcomes the launch of the Aspire Centre of Excellence at One New Change. As well as becoming home to the highly successful AspireAssist service, ACE is also set to offer portfolio-wide contract management, customer service excellence and a platform to deliver Landsec’s Future of Facilities.

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M A R C H

World Poetry Day Let’s support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increase the opportunity for every language to be heard. Email your favourite poem to aspire@landsec.com and we will share them in next month’s One Magazine.

QUICK-THINKING SECURITY OFFICERS FOIL HIGH-VALUE THEFT

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The rapid action taken by two members of the security team at Cardinal Place in a recent shoplifting incident has been praised by management.

When Amadou Kaba and Shajahan Ali were informed of the theft of around £1,200 of Chanel products from Boots at around 2pm on 11 February, they sprang into action to try to apprehend the two male suspects.

“Both made off towards the cathedral,” explains Sammy Harrington, Key Account Director for Bidvest Noonan, “but due to quick thinking by Amadou and Shaj – and an ongoing dynamic risk assessment – the suspect with the ‘swag’ was caught by them, with the assistance of an unmarked police unit that was coincidentally nearby.

The second suspect disappeared, but the goods were with the suspect detained, who was subsequently arrested.”

This is another example of the fantastic efforts by our security teams to protect the property and wellbeing of our brand partners, customers and visitors. Well done, Amadou and Shaj!

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FAREWELL & GOOD LUCK

Madeleine Velupillai

The Aspire party marked a sad farewell to Madeleine Velupillai, Senior Workspace Manager, as it followed her very last day working at Landsec.

Madeleine joined the company in 2014 as Environment Manager before moving into operations in 2017, where she also served as an Aspire Champion for a number of service streams.

Always approachable, efficient and supportive, Madeleine will be very much missed by colleagues across the Aspire network and we wish her every success in the next stage of her career.

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Aspire STAFF RECOGNITION AWARDS

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We recognise & reward Landsec | Aspire is always looking for your feedback to help us give praise where it’s due. Whether you’re a team member or a Landsec Customer, let us have your Player of the Month votes and winners will be featured in One Magazine.

What are the Aspire Staff Recognition Awards?

Every month a ‘Player / Team of the Month’ is selected from nominations by you, other Aspire team members and Landsec Customers. Winners receive a certificate and some well-deserved prizes.

It is a credit to everyone that each month lots of nominations are received, illustrating just how good the Aspire team is and how team members are held in such high regard by the people they work with.

How do your workmates excel in the Aspire values?

— Bold — Inclusive — Driven — United

Have your say AspireAsOne.co.uk

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E V E R Y O N E ’ S

W E L C O M E

Food & drink included

ASPIRE Quiz Night 2 7 t h

A p r i l

2 0 2 2

Limite d sp a c es - D eta i l s to fo l l ow

QUIZ FROM 6PM

COVID SAFETY

THE ALBERT, 52 VICTORIA ST, LONDON SW1H 0NP

to comply with any social distancing guidelines in

With Government legislation

regularly updated, this event will make every effort place at the time. Details to be confirmed.