SEED's Head Office Goes Virtual
After nearly 3 years of working remotely, SEED Madagascar has decided to make its small London team officially virtual. As a UK registered charity, SEED’s HQ has been based in London since 2000, located on Beethoven Street in Queen’s Park for most of that time.
The office on Beethoven Street is a modest single room in a converted Victorian terraced house, and until the pandemic was home to a handful of key staff including our Managing Director. From March 2020, the daily commute was paused and quickly a surprisingly efficient virtual team was established.
Why go virtual?
After seeing just how efficient our digital team activity could be, coupled with the rising costs of renting in London, the time and cost of commuting for staff, and how many brilliant minds we could attract to our UK roles without the specification of attending a London office, it seemed like it was time for change. Pre-pandemic we’d require permanent employees and the UK Programmes Interns to be in the London office, but since 2020 we’ve had some of the greatest team members join us from Canada, France, Italy, Scotland and Zimbabwe! Remote working has improved our teamwork and communication and heightened our collaboration internationally.
Our Managing Director, Mark Jacobs, says "Virtual working has been a real leveller, perhaps ironically, our team has become closer and more efficient despite some of us being physically divided by continents."
A new kind of office
Although “virtual”, our new registered office in central London is in fact a real place. Our new address is a physical building that provides a central point for fielding calls, forwarding mail and includes a spacious room for meetings and team working days. This new setup costs a mere £200 per year all in, a huge saving compared to the £740 per month in rent, plus electricity, water, internet, and council tax bills in Beethoven Street - which was also a bargain compared to the area average rent of £1,200/month!
By setting up a new “virtual” office, not only are we saving valuable charitable funds that can be directed into project work as opposed to overheads, but we are also adding to our Positive Footprints commitment of operating more sustainably. By closing the office we’re reducing business travel and significantly reducing the carbon footprint associated with heating (and cooling) a single-glazed, non-centrally-heated office space. Wins all round!
Our new address is: 7 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR, United Kingdom
If you need to get in touch with us, please contact info@seedmadagascar.org or call our new telephone number: +44 (0) 203 633 4208.