HEAD OFFICE RELOCATION

The formal closure of Overground House last month was a big milestone in our head office relocation project.

Final preparations are currently underway at Palestra, the TfL building in Southwark that will soon be our new HQ. We caught up with Peter Jackson, head office project manager, for the latest on head office’s big move.

Hi Peter! Please tell us a bit about the project, why are we relocating our head office?

It is a very exciting time, we are moving our head office from Overground House in Swiss Cottage to Palestra in Southwark, where we will occupy most of the fourth floor. We are currently working hard to ensure that this new office works well and improves our team’s working environment.

There are several reasons why we are relocating. Firstly, it allows us to relocate with control and will reunite our operations in to one location. It will also deliver industry cost efficiencies – we have been working closely with Network Rail and RfL across a number of areas for the last 12 months to identify where there may be opportunities to deliver industry savings.

In addition to this, Engagement Survey feedback has consistently rated working conditions at OGH poorly. The new Palestra office allows us to address this feedback and provide an improved working environment for colleagues.

And finally, it helps us realise our industry objective to work more collaboratively with our TfL colleagues and client in the same building, raising the profile of the Overground within TfL.

How is the project progressing – what exciting milestones have we reached?

This is a very busy but exciting part of the project, as we have just completed the transfer of the furniture from Overground House to Palestra and the new office is almost set up, ready for us to begin working from. It is great to see the office taking shape after so many colleagues have been involved in the project.

What will be happening next?

Our next key milestone is to complete the final few tweaks to make sure the office is ready for us to start working from. We will also begin to transfer all our IT equipment across shortly.

What have been your favourite parts of working on this project so far? 

There have been quite a few hurdles to get over, but the project as a whole has been a highlight. We have a great team spirit here and it is brilliant to work with so many colleagues, suppliers and contractors, all pulling together to achieve this improved working environment.