February 13, 2024

Step inside Plaid’s new London HQ

Ditching the 'One Size Fits All' Mentality

Over the last 24 months the workplace has been a hot topic for companies the world over. As we wrote about in The Scaleup Report 2023, driven primarily by the rise of the pandemic, the world of work has undergone a remarkable transformation and as a result, prompting every company to reevaluate their approach to the workplace.

Whilst 12% of the UK in tech decided to move fully remote, 75% of companies embraced hybrid working. And whilst companies have been able to benchmark their own working practices against their competitors, when it comes to designing an office for hybrid teams, it’s abundantly clear that the world of work is ditching the ‘one size fits all approach’. After all, every company has different operating models, different geographies and different ambitions.

At Techspace, we have the privilege to host businesses at the forefront of technology. Many of our member companies are open about their ambitions to innovate and disrupt the industries in which they sit. And although not one of our member companies is alike (far from it), they all share the belief that their workplace provides an opportunity to harness their unique attributes. And to that end encourage the behaviours and the culture they want to embrace.

That’s why here at Techspace we have adapted the way we sell space to encourage our member companies to embrace their uniqueness, by thinking hard about how they can personalise their workspace. We see it as our job to support our members to reflect their culture into the physical environment, right from day one. The following case study is just one example of Techspace bringing that idea to life.

If you’re interested in reading more about how we do this, you can do so here.

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What is Plaid?

Plaid is a world-leading data network and payments platform to help Fintechs cut costs, onboard and convert more customers.

Website: www.plaid.com

‍Sector: Fintech‍
Offices: 6 worldwide‍
Employees: 900+ ‍
Fintechs built on Plaid: 8,000+

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The Challenge?

TLDR;

Making the space their own
Balancing collaboration and privacy
Designing flexibility into the layout

Meet Brendan Regan, Head of Revenue - UK & Europe at Plaid. Earlier in 2023, Brendan was searching for a new workspace for his London team.

“I’m a strong believer that the office should focus on adding value in ways that can’t easily be replicated anywhere else. To facilitate our work together, we wanted an office with the right kind of spaces and amenities. The new office maintains a productive buzz day in, day out”. - Brendan Regan

As a Fintech, Brendan and his team are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and are therefore required to have a dedicated, self-contained space where they could conduct both collaborative and focused work privately.

As the team is mostly Sales and Account Management, the style of work carried out is split between collaborative work and client calls. So the team requires ample private and soundproof spaces to take phone and video calls.

Every so often they also need a small dedicated meeting room which should double as a fully equipped conference and “Zoom room” for client calls.

Every week, the team sits together for company-wide ‘All Hands’ calls. The US team is live-streamed across the office so they wanted to create a suitable layout for hosting this without moving furniture around.

Once a quarter, the team in Amsterdam would join the London team for an in-person get-together.

The Solution?

Techspace presented Brendan and the Plaid team with a self-contained Private Office at our Worship Street location near Old Street.

With an exposed brick styling and its own dedicated meeting room, kitchen and phone booths, the space already ticked a few boxes straight away. Whilst shared building amenities such as the bookable Meeting Room suite, Roof Terrace and Café satisfied Plaid’s needs when it came to amenities. Larger in-person meetings and quarterly in-person get-togethers with the Amsterdam team could take place in the Event Space (see The Lightwell).

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*The layout that Plaid went with - with two breakout spaces, fewer small tables, more phone booths and more storage*

In terms of customisations, Techspace called upon its Design Team to begin the process of personalising the space to Plaid’s needs. This process involved a number of consultations with the member, and culminated in the team producing space plan options, 3D plans and renders for review.

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Some of these visuals and 3D renders for Plaid’s new space can be seen below.

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Customising the space:

Some of the extras Plaid implemented…

Layout changes - Plaid opted for two breakout spaces and fewer small tables.
Additional storage - Although standard spaces come equipped with storage, members can add storage options to the office at any time. Plaid opted for low level storage near the office entrance to keep the space tidy.
All Hands space - Plaid opted to bring their own soft furniture with them to create the breakout space for All Hands meetings in the open office.
Logo branding - Plaid’s logo sits pretty on the feature wall next to the front entrance to add some of their own visual identity to their new London HQ.
Meeting room Audio/visual - Logitech equipment, 4K camera and integrated microphones were added to the meeting room to create a seamless hybrid meeting experience.
Acoustic rafts - Sound absorbing fabric was added to the meeting room to increase the acoustic performance of the space.
Phone booths - In addition to the 2x phone booths already in the space as standard, Plaid added two more standalone phone booths to the space.
Biophilia add-on - Plaid added more plants throughout the space to bring the space to life, and oxygenate the air for happier, more productive team members!

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Concept becomes reality

Plaid have managed to create a beautifully warm, cosy yet professional vibe in their London office, with bespoke artwork, lots of colour and, of course, a drinks trolley for team drinks on thirsty Thursdays!

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*Comparing the concept design to reality!*

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As their team in the Netherlands comes over to the UK for in-person collaboration sessions, they’ve found having a space for whiteboard discussion and brainstorms imperative when bringing the teams together as one to solve big customer problems.

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“In November we hosted our first on-site in London for our European teams based in the UK and the Netherlands. We rented a large workspace from the tech space basement so we could all come together for presentations, brainstorming and team activities.” - Molly Swan, Marketing Lead Europe

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The design and customisations have positively influenced employee morale and culture - Individual work spaces were also very important to Plaid so being able to include multiple office pods for one-on-one meetings with teams in other offices was key to our office space being successful with our team.

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Gallery

*Plaid have three phone booths in their office for privacy and quiet during calls*

The breakout spaces are adorned with comfortable sofas, quirky features and artwork adding personality and vibrant colour to the office, while multiple windows flood the room with natural light.

When considering a new office space that truly represents their brand and supports their team's needs, Plaid said:

“Listen to your team - they know best! Ask them directly or create a survey. Understand what is important for working together eg. individual meeting spaces or group discussion areas, and what is important from a visual standpoint eg. A bright and airy space or one that’s colourful and creative” - Molly Swan, Marketing Lead Europe

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