Midtown stars: meet the clever creative quarter

London's 'new' district plays host to today's business talent
Jennifer Healy from Mindshare
Adrian Lourie

It’s the clever central quarter where creatives spark off colleagues in commerce and the law, while bold dreams and buildings take shape.

Here, we meet some of the movers and shakers of today's Midtown...

Jennifer Healy Chief Talent Officer, Mindshare, a global media agency

What’s exciting about your workplace?

We describe ourselves as a playground where employees can invent the future of media. From receptionists to senior leadership, everyone’s encouraged to share ideas.

Is having a work-life balance important to Mindshare?

Very, but we want to look beyond that. We don’t want people to leave their home-self when they come into the office: we want to benefit from the personality and experiences they have to create in the working environment. We absolutely support home-working and working remotely - if people are inspired by the British Museum, then go and work there! Or, if you like to hold walking meetings around Holborn then we encourage that too.

Do you think people today worry more about the ethics of their workplace?

Definitely. Last year we were founding partners in Giving Tuesday, where we encouraged employees to use their skills to support charities that wouldn’t necessarily have a marketing budget.

What’s best about working in Midtown?

The amazing variety of shops and places to eat! From Covent Garden to Oxford Street, Bloomsbury to Holborn, it can be quite dangerous!

Tass Mavrogordato Chief Executive, inMidtown

Tass Mavrogordato Chief Executive, inMidtown
Matt Writtle

What sets Midtown apart?

The central location, the growth and investment. As Crossrail develops, Tottenham Court Road will become the front door to central London. Other districts are just associated with one industry, but we have a healthy mix from tech giants to world-leading museums, finance, law and big corporate brands, which is pretty exciting.

What’s exciting you right now?

We want to use tech to help people discover the area and to give those working here a competitive advantage – we’re working with Arup on way-finding.

Why did you create the Big Ideas Exchange, now in its second year?

To celebrate this vibrant community. The biggest asset any company has is its people and we wanted to give these l organisations the chance to share knowledge and to learn from one another.

Julia Runagall Senior director, The Moment, an international content company

What about your job makes you tick?

The variety. I film Horizons for BBC Worldwide, about science and technology, and it can be so mindboggling. One day I can be talking about feeding the world with a petri dish burger, the next I’m in Chengdu, China documenting the levitating Super-Maglev train.

What’s meaningful about your job?

People just open their doors and let me hear their stories. I’ve been inspired by Bill and Melinda Gates (standing talking to the world’s richest couple, people you’d never rub shoulders with), talked to Richard Branson, and met people who are bringing change to the world.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen?

A machine printing 3D organs was extraordinary. I saw them print an ear!

What’s best about working in Midtown?

It has an energy and a buzz that makes you feel right at the centre of things. It’s well-connected, fun and a great place to network. The local pubs are great!

Sally Britton Partner, legal firm Mishcon De Reya

Why is Mishcon a great place to work?

It really invests in people. Everyone is encouraged to have a life outside of work and our learning is not just focused on the law - various well-known figures come in and talk to us, from political and industry leaders to celebrities. We get the chance to use our skills for pro-bono work, such as mentoring emerging fashion designers showing at London Fashion Week through the British Fashion Council. There are more unusual things too, such as looking after the bees on our roof and our chickens in Coram Fields.

What’s satisfying about your work?

Helping people navigate intellectual property law, which can be complex. It’s great making a real difference to people and their businesses. Janine McDowell CEO, Justice, Sodexo UK and Ireland

Tell us about Sodexo’s commitment to women in the workplace?

Gender balance is increasingly seen as something that delivers growth and profit, rather than just a ‘women’s issue’. We found from internal research that gender balanced teams delivered better results. We set up SWIFt (Sodexo Women’s International Forum for talent), a group of senior managers from across the global business tasked with increasing female leaders. Currently, 30% of our senior managers are women. We also have a WomenWork Network to promote issues and professional development.

Is there work/life balance?

We recently profiled employees who had flexible working arrangements precisely to show it’s not just for working parents. One had agreed a set working pattern to manage his second career as a DJ.

Any Midtown haunts?

For a business lunch, Coopers in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. For meeting up after work: the Hoxton Holborn.

Robin Partington Architect, founder and director of RP Architectures

Architect Robin Partington
Emilie Sandy

Why’s your slogan ‘built around people’?

I love architecture, but in equal measure I enjoy the people I work with. We design buildings, yes, but they have to work for their users and community.

What excites you about Midtown?

It’s a dynamic place to be, in a constantstate of flux, yet retaining its strong sense of community, identity and place.

Samantha Cloake Happiness consultant, lecturer and changemaker, the School of Life

What’s key to happiness at work?

Feeling valued - if all we feel is that we’re human beings on a spreadsheet then we run the risk of not being happy

How can employers promote happiness?

Anything from mindfulness classes to being more open and collaborative - people are more fulfilled when they feel they’re contributing to overall goals.

What do you love about Midtown?

Being part of a vibrant and creative intersection where people from all walks of life criss-cross constantly - students, older people, locals, and tourists. The food’s good too - the quiche at Fork Deli on Marchmont Street is incredible.

Owen O’Rorke Solicitor, Farrer and Co working with clients in the arts and cultural sectors

What’s good about working with museums?

The chance to see some beautiful things. I work near the Sir John Soane’s museum in Lincoln Inn’s Field and pop in when I get the chance. I like the Hogarths.

Are museums part of the digital age?

London’s museums are very much part of the modern world - the retail opportunities, their use of social media, and the way they interact with visitors.

Where do you eat in Midtown?

Chifafa Kebab. They’re fresh and incredible: how it should be done.

Caroline Criado Perez Journalist, broadcaster and feminist campaigner

How can women push to be heard more in the workplace?

Sometimes it’s finding one thing we can change. I just heard from somebody whose daughter challenged the wording of an internal policy document changing the pronoun from “he” to a more neutral variant.

What’s the biggest barrier for women in the workplace?

We’re part of this big gender structure that does discriminate against women and is obvious in the work place. You only have to look at the pay gap that exists after women hit 30 and start having kids.

Where do you love in Midtown?

Fleet River Bakery - the coffee there is incredible.

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