Choosing the right office location is paramount for any business. A well placed office has great transport links for employees and clients, a vibrant local economy, highly qualified workers nearby, and so on; however, as many people find out, these prime locations come at a price. Balancing the benefits of a great location without emptying your wallet is easier said than done.  It’s a great thing you’re looking at White City, then. White City – and indeed, West London in general – does a decent job at balancing both benefits and costs. It’s much less expensive than Central London, but offers similar benefits – it’s no wonder why so many large corporations, such as the BBC and Unilever, have their headquarters in West London. There are many commuter routes to White City, too.

If you don’t live in London, we know what you might be thinking. Maybe London is too far. Maybe you think it’s a pain in the ass to get to. Maybe you can’t stomach the sight of weird words such as “organic” or “artisan”. We can’t solve the last issue (you’ll have to get used to it), but we can explain why the first two issues aren’t necessarily as big as you’d think.

You see, White City is actually very accessible from many areas in the South East of England. So, what are the best commuter routes to White City?

The Best Commuter Routes to White City

First things first, for reference White City is most easily accessed by rail from three stations:

• White City, on the Central Line
• Wood Lane, on the H&C and Circle Lines
• Shepherd’s Bush, on the Central Line, the Overground and National Rail

Clapham Junction to White City:

A direct journey via the London Overground from Clapham Junction to Shepherd’s Bush takes only 12 minutes (we’re not going to recognise the abhorrent new line names for the Overground). So, if you can get to Clapham Junction easily, you can get to White City easily!

Southern/South Western Railway serve Clapham Junction very frequently, so if you live in the following areas, White City should be easily accessible via the Overground from Clapham Junction:

• South London (such as towards Balham and Croydon)
• Further south towards Brighton (such as Redhill and Haywards Heath)
• Along the South Western Main Line (such as Surbiton, Woking, Farnborough or Basingstoke)
• Towards Guildford and Godalming
• Towards Wokingham and Reading (such as Richmond, Feltham and Staines)

North and West London to White City:

White City and Shepherd’s Bush stations are easily accessible from North West London, too. The Central Line serves the former and is useful for travel from:

• Acton and Ealing on the southern branch westwards
• Perivale, Greenford, and Ruislip on the northern branch westwards
• Central London eastwards

Meanwhile, from North London, Shepherd’s Bush station is extremely useful. Southern runs a service through the station from Milton Keynes Central, meanwhile the Overground runs from Stratford via the North London Line.

• Use the Southern service from Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, Watford or Wembley
• Use the Overground from places such as West Hampstead, Camden or Dalston

The Tube offers many more possibilities to White City!

Via the Central, H&C or Circle Lines at White City/Wood Lane stations, it’s possible to get to White City from basically anywhere in London with a connection to the Tube. The beauty of modern times is that there are many apps out there to help with your journey. Simply look up a route to somewhere notable in White City, such as Venture X’s offices, and see how it tells you to get there!

Bus Routes into White City

London’s bus network is remarkably extensive and well run. As you might expect, White City is well served by bus from many areas in West London, and even from Central London. There’s so many we can’t go through them all, but some notable ones to remember are:

– C1 and 148: The C1 connects White City to areas towards Central London such as Victoria Station, Knightsbridge, and South Kensington. The 148 can take you to the West End and Westminster.

– 72 and 95: these connect White City to local areas like Shepherd’s Bush and North Ealing.

– 207: this route is useful if coming from areas further west, such as Ealing or Acton.

– 49: this links White City to areas to the south such as Clapham, Wandsworth, and Battersea. They work as a (slower) alternative to the Overground.

– 31: the 31 links White City to Camden via Kilburn.

– 260: this links Golders Green to White City via Willesden Green.

What Awaits You in White City?

Obviously, the best thing about the entirety of White City is Venture X’s offices! Jokes aside, the area is known to be vibrant, business friendly, well connected and prestigious. Westfield Shopping Centre is absolutely massive and has many great options for food, as do some other areas which are home to more independent eateries. 

Many of the world’s largest and well-known companies have their UK headquarters in West London, in places such as Chiswick Park (psst, Venture X also has a location here!). Venture X offers fully customisable office spaces tailored to meet the needs of mid-to-large teams, or if you want something simple, use our coworking facilities instead.

If you’d like to know more about our facilities and packages, look here.

Hotdesking is becoming an increasingly popular way of working, as modern work life evolves post COVID. But what exactly is it, and how could it benefit you?

Many workers are moving away from rigid traditional office spaces, instead opting for coworking spaces. In fact, London has more coworking spaces than any other city worldwide! Hotdesking facilities are most commonly found in coworking spaces. 

Hotdesking within coworking spaces gives members the ability to set up their office for the day wherever they please; in other words, there are no set places for members to sit. This provides a convenient and affordable option for busy entrepreneurs and freelancers to obtain a professional business address.

The Benefits of Hotdesking

Networking Opportunities: Members of coworking facilities can vary from entrepreneurs to freelance workers, or may even include small businesses. One key advantage of this is that networking opportunities come naturally from day to day, plus many coworking spaces offer dedicated networking events on top of this. These interactions can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and even friendships, leading to a vibrant professional community.

Access to Facilities: As you may expect, coworking spaces offer quality services that you wouldn’t be able to get at home. At Venture X, for example, we offer lightning-fast WiFi connectivity, IT support, private meeting rooms, and phone booths. These facilities ensure that you have everything you need to work efficiently and professionally, without the distractions and limitations of a home office.

Lower Costs: Compared to dedicated desk packages, hotdesking packages come in a lot cheaper as you don’t require a desk to be allocated to you on a permanent basis. This cost-effectiveness makes hotdesking an attractive option for startups, freelancers, and small businesses looking to minimise overheads while still enjoying a professional workspace.

Flexibility: If you don’t wish to commute daily, or to even work in the office for a full day, then not to worry – hotdesking is extremely flexible. Simply turn up whenever suits you and grab a desk in one of our London coworking spaces! This flexibility allows you to balance work with personal commitments, reducing stress and improving work-life balance.

Quality of Life: Many coworking spaces offer additional facilities within their offices to enhance quality of life. This may include free tea and coffee (maybe even a barista!), games such as table tennis or pool, comfortable lounges, and meditation spaces. These amenities create a more enjoyable and relaxed working environment, which can boost productivity and overall well-being.

Increased Productivity: The dynamic environment of a coworking space can lead to increased productivity. Being surrounded by other motivated professionals can inspire you; you’d probably feel a pang of guilt if you see people working on spreadsheets around you, but all you’ve been looking at are cat memes on Facebook for the past 15 minutes. 

Professional Image: Having a professional business address and access to meeting rooms can significantly enhance your business’ image. It provides a level of professionalism that is hard to achieve when working from home, which can be crucial when meeting clients or partners.

Community and Support: Coworking spaces often offer events, workshops, and social gatherings that can help you learn new skills, stay updated with industry trends, and build a support network. This sense of belonging can be particularly beneficial for freelancers and remote workers who might otherwise feel isolated.

Coworking spaces often come with many other benefits as part of their packages – ours can be read about here. Book a consultation if you believe hotdesking may benefit you!

Flexible workspaces have become ever more popular over the last few years; in fact, London has over 1400 coworking locations alone, making it the city with the most coworking offices globally. These office spaces are far from the rigid nature of traditional office spaces, with different packages available for those ranging from individuals looking for a proper desk during the day, to a small business which needs its own dedicated space.

One benefit of flexible workspaces that is often overlooked are how they can positively impact your work-life balance. How can they do this?

Why having a good work-life balance is important

For those who fail to maintain an adequate work-life balance, the risks can be larger than you may expect. This mainly comes in the form of burnout. Burnout can have far reaching consequences on your mental wellbeing, but it can also take its toll on your physical health. Concerningly, 77% of employees admit to having experienced burnout at some point in their current job.

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As stress continues, you begin to lose interest and motivation. Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give.

Burnout is associated with a 180% increased risk of developing depressive disorders, and an 84% increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. 

Work-related factors can contribute significantly to burnout, especially if you have a high workload, little control over your work, or a lack of recognition for it. Your work atmosphere, commute, quality of office facilities, and desk space can also be large contributors to burnout.

What can you do to prevent burnout?

There are a number of steps that can be taken to manage burnout. Recognising the early signs of stress is crucial; this can include symptoms like headaches, muscle tension, or an upset stomach. 

Setting clear personal boundaries – and sticking to them – is another important step, by managing workloads, and taking regular breaks during the day. Ensure that those around you, such as those who provide you with work, are aware of this and do not be afraid to challenge them if you believe you are being overworked. 

Outside of work, self-care practices such as regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating can have a huge effect; it sounds like we are stating the obvious (and we are) but it’s sometimes easier said than done! 

How can flexible workspaces improve your work-life balance?

Flexible office spaces offer a unique environment that blends the functionality of a traditional office with the flexibility of remote work as well as other benefits, which can significantly enhance work-life balance. These shared offices provide a dedicated workspace away from home, which is crucial considering that working from home isn’t always ideal for productivity.

With amenities like high-speed internet, meeting rooms, ergonomic furniture, communal areas, free tea/coffee (and beer?), they also deliver a more comfortable office environment that traditional office spaces rarely provide. These are all factors that can go a long way to reducing burnout. The inherent flexibility of coworking spaces allows professionals to create a work schedule that fits their personal life, enabling them to attend to family needs or personal errands during the day, helping to improve work-life balance.

Additionally, since coworking spaces are full of like-minded professionals, there are plenty of networking opportunities. This may come in the form of casual conversation in any of the communal areas, or at dedicated networking events held by those who run the office space (we do this at Venture X!).

So that’s how flexible workspaces can improve your work-life balance! We can even offer our services as a virtual office if you’d still prefer to work from home, more about which can be read here. So what are you waiting for? To find out more and start the process to transform your work life for the better, book a consultation today!

What do they do?

Spark!’s Move to Venture X

• Businesses: Partner with us to shape the next generation of talent and gain access to motivated young professionals, by emailing rachelmcadam@spark!charity.org.uk.
• Volunteers: Make a meaningful difference by mentoring and empowering youth.

In the post-COVID era of remote working, hybrid meetings are becoming a new practice in the workplace. Hybrid meetings represent 46% of total meetings in the USA, compared to 12% being purely in-person; however, if you aren’t familiar with what they entail, in this article we will explain exactly what they are, and how you can take advantage of them.

What are they?

Simply put, hybrid meetings have both in-person attendees and virtual (i.e. remote) attendees. In today’s age of hybrid working in general, where employees often come into the office but for fewer days than the pre-COVID expectation of 5 days each week, the rise of hybrid working makes sense. This is because in many companies, on any given day, the necessary people required for the meeting are likely mixed between working from home or from the office.

According to Forbes, in 2022, 25% of UK employees worked from home at least some of the time, up from just 4.7% before the pandemic. This statistic is consistent with the increase in hybrid meetings being among the most common types of meeting.

Hybrid meetings often resemble their fully online counterparts, with all participants sitting in front of a laptop connected to the online meeting, the difference being that a certain fraction of these participants will be sitting in the same physical room when doing so.

The advantages of hybrid meetings

Better work life balance: hybrid meetings facilitate all preferences, whether individuals prefer the convenience of working from home or whether they prefer the more personal and efficient nature of in person meetings. Having the ability to accommodate all preferences makes hybrid meetings extremely flexible.

Better attendances: by facilitating all preferences, hybrid meetings encourage more employees to participate, leading to higher attendances.

Wider talent pool: firms can include a wider talent pool due to the ability to include those who cannot make it to the office, such as those who have disabilities or live far away.

How to run hybrid meetings effectively

Plan Thoroughly and Set Clear Objectives: Before scheduling a hybrid meeting, define its purpose and objectives. Consider whether a meeting is even necessary (the majority of senior managers believe that the majority of meetings are wastes of time!). Create a detailed agenda that outlines the topics, time allocations, and desired outcomes. Share this agenda with all participants in advance.

Encourage equal participation: Given the format, naturally in hybrid meetings those attending in person will have more of a say compared to online participants. This is because it is easier to converse in person. 

Another reason is because those online have to unmute themselves before speaking, meaning that many rarely speak unless specifically asked their opinion. In your team, delegate someone to coordinate meetings. This coordinator will tell people when they can speak, and make clear the required etiquette to ensure all voices can be heard. 

Rotate meeting times: Due to schedules of hybrid working, you may find that if you hold a meeting on a set day and time, you disadvantage those who work from home those days. 

Switching the rota means that attendees take it in turns to attend in person or online. In person attendance in general should arguably be encouraged instead of remote attendance where possible, due to the benefits of in person interactions. 

As a result, if your team has differing days where they can attend in person, it makes sense to switch the rota to ensure all members of your team have the chance to contribute more effectively.

Hold the meeting in an appropriate space: Meeting basics, really. Just because the meeting is hybrid doesn’t mean that your meeting space should be any less professional. 

The correct environment can really help set the tone and help productivity, so for the in person portion of the meeting, you should find an appropriate meeting space to do so.

Speaking of meeting spaces, we at Venture X have professional, beautifully designed meeting rooms. At either our Chiswick Park or White City locations in West London, you can book a private meeting room with state-of-the-art AV, IT tech support, hospitality services.

The meeting rooms can be booked for a half day, full day or hourly. If you’d like to learn more, click for Chiswick Park or White City.