Canary Wharf Archives - Page 11 of 19

January 13, 2023January 13, 2023

Poplar: How SJ Cycles brings bike maintenance right to its customers

Stefan Johnson created a pedal-powered business to help encourage people to care for their rides

SJ Cycles founder Stefan Johnson – image Matt Grayson

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

Stefan Johnson cuts an athletic figure on his cargo bike.

Sourced from a Danish company via the Netherlands, it has to be robust to carry the 60kg of equipment and tools he uses for business.

Raised in Mile End and Forest Gate, the east Londoner created SJ Cycles to bring bike repairs, care and servicing to clients at their convenience via the power of his legs.

“I’m trying to encourage people to maintain their bikes more often,” he said.

“A lot of people run their bikes into the ground and then have big bills of £200 or £300 or they just buy new ones, which can also cost them a lot of money.

“I’m trying to offer something in between – there are benefits to the customer and to the environment.

“Depending on usage, having a service every six to eight months and cleaning the bike makes a big difference.

“It’s not just about how your bike looks. Grit and muck on the road can get into the mechanics – the chain, the braking system – and it slowly wears away the metal.

“That can cause long-term damage, which equals new parts and that means big bills.

“It’s also wasteful, so I’m trying to prevent that happening – maintaining your bike more often will save you money.”

Stefan originally wanted to be a car mechanic before turning to bikes – image Matt Grayson

Stefan began riding himself while studying car maintenance at Hackney Community College – now part of New City College.

“I was planning on being a car mechanic, and after four years of study I went into an apprenticeship, but unfortunately I didn’t find any opportunities in that industry,” he said.

“Instead I got my first job as a sales assistant at my local bike shop – Halfords.

“There was a mechanic there who was willing to teach me after hours about working on bikes so that’s how I started.”

Stefan went on to work at a number of independent bike shops but felt he was often recruited in a bid to broaden their customer base as they attempted to attract customers from a wider range of backgrounds.

A pattern of mistreatment and broken promises left him wondering what to do.

“Being a Christian, I decided to pray about it and start again,” he said.

“Was I going to accept this behaviour in the industry or would I set new standards?

“I took a positive leap to be passionate about what I’m doing without sacrificing my humanity.

“My faith definitely played a big part in that.

“I knew about 10% I could get to the point of launching SJ Cycles – making a Facebook page, announcing I was doing it.

Stefan carries all the equipment he needs with him on a custom cargo bike – image Matt Grayson

“The other 90% was faith that I could sustain it, live off it and make it a part of my life.

“Even though I had less confidence in myself and more confidence in God, I took it forward, made it happen and I’m here now.

“I’d started working as a bike courier, which was a very flexible thing to do and allowed me to make enough money to live on.

“It was very hard work but it made the money so I could buy all the tools and equipment to start the business in 2017.”

Stefan offers a general Tune-Up Service for £45, which lasts about an hour and a half and includes diagnostic checks, brakes and gears tuning, tyre maintenance and a deep clean of the frame and various systems, delivered either at a client’s home or office as convenient.

SJ Cycles also offers a Puncture Repair Service for £25, which includes a new inner tube and the option to be taught how to change one.

While merchandise is also available online, world domination is not on the agenda.

“I’m a very simple man, so I’m not looking to be a big entrepreneur and expand with different branches and many employees around London,” said Stefan.

“This business is about encouraging people to maintain their bikes more, for me to live off it and remain in east London, take care of my wife and earn a modest living to make it sustainable.

“If anyone needs support in maintaining their bike, I post a lot of tips on Facebook and Instagram, such as advice on security.

“That’s just to let people know that when they own a bike they’re not alone and can talk to me about it on social media.

“I would definitely encourage people to get a bike.

Stefan can service bikes at customers’ homes or offices – image Matt Grayson

“It’s very convenient – one purchase, you buy your bike and you can go wherever you want. It’s great for fitness as well.

“You can jump on a bus and pay, but for some people – when you add that up – it’s as much as a bike over one year.

“I understand why people may be hesitant, because of the infrastructure of the roads, which may not be the safest, but it’s come a long way since I started.

“Then I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my abilities, but I was very aware of my surroundings, how the traffic flows and where to position myself – my confidence grew over time – it became quite natural to me.

“I do ride for pleasure but it depends on how much I’m working – the business can be quite busy, especially in the summertime.

“After a day of working on people’s bikes I like to go skateboarding, which is my second hobby, as well as bouldering – indoor climbing.

“I’m quite a physical person, so the bikes I ride aren’t electric – that and having a strong metabolism, definitely doesn’t make the food bills easy.”

SJ Cycles’ services can be booked online via the business’ Facebook page.

You can find “the mobile bike mechanic that’s always on the move” on both Facebook and Instagram @sjcycleslondon.

He offers a range of services to help people keep their bikes in order – image Matt Grayson

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

January 11, 2023January 11, 2023

Canary Wharf: How Dishoom’s latest east London opening is totally narrative-led

Brand co-founder Shamil Thakrar talks financial scandals, fictional characters and 1970s Bombay

Shamil Thakrar says Dishoom’s restaurants are all about stories – image Matt Grayson

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

Dishoom is different. Over the course of 18 years in journalism, I’ve asked countless people to tell me about their businesses.

Typically they communicate how they came to start their company, what it does and why.

However, when asked to tell me about the opening of Dishoom Canary Wharf, which recently arrived at Wood Wharf, the brand’s co-founder Shamil Thakrar simply said: “It’s a story.”

A simple, but completely serious point. This is no marketing flim flam.

Before the company opens a new restaurant, its founders sit down and develop its back story in detail – a fact that hints at why this is the brand’s first opening in London for five years.

But why not? After all, isn’t everything, to some extent, stories?

The ones we tell ourselves to understand the things around us, the ones we tell others to explain the world to them and the ones they tell us to illuminate their own impressions.

We grow up being read and reading them and seeing and hearing them on all kinds of platforms. Now we are increasingly encouraged to create our own myths via social media.

Dishoom’s approach, which sees each individual cafe fleshed out exactly in line with its narrative, has won the brand significant success.

It’s known for patient lines of eager customers outside its venues and has a reputation as a generous employer that looks after its staff.

You can visit the Canary Wharf branch without knowing any of the back story – nobody will refuse to serve you and the spiced chai will still taste great.

But, so rich is the narrative, that it permeates the whole experience, making it impossible to spend time in the restaurant without feeling its impact, even if that is subconscious.

Every detail of the interior flows from the back story at Dishoom Canary Wharf – image Matt Grayson

“The story of the Canary Wharf cafe is a bloke – Nauzer – who has been living as a character in my head for quite a few years,” said Shamil. “Now the right place has come up for him.

“He’s a really cool young guy, whose father owns an Irani cafe near the Bombay Stock Exchange.

“He sees some of the high rollers coming in and thinks he wants to be like them. He’s quite a canny kid, so eventually learns how to invest and does quite well for himself.

“Then his family, friends and the local community start asking him to invest on their behalf. He does that and does really well – he makes good money for them and they’re getting wealthier, until one day, he does a bad deal and everything goes south.

“He doesn’t want to tell anyone because he’s so embarrassed and that sense of shame he has, which is an Indian thing, means he can’t face them – so he invents a Ponzi scheme where new investments are used to pay out fake returns to existing investors.

“Everything seems fine, even though it’s built on lies.

“Anyway, he makes the scheme work for a while and, with the winnings, he builds this restaurant – we imagine it’s his, hence the 1970s Bombay feel of the decor.

Dishoom Canary Wharf also sells items such as chai, condiments and cookbooks – image Matt Grayson

“He invests in art and other cool stuff, and his friends are up-and-coming stars. It’s a place for them.

“In the story we join him one day when he’s stressed out. The phone is ringing, he’s sweating and I imagine him in his room, traumatised because a journalist is on to him and that’s who’s calling – that’s where the story begins.”

Read Chapter One of Nauzer’s story here

Dishoom has now published all three instalments of the hapless investor’s tale on its website – but it’s in the restaurant where things really take shape.

Walk in and you’re immediately hit by the scent of burning incense, the energy of a bustling bar and bright smiles all round as staff guide diners to their tables.

Everywhere there’s activity – it’s not much of a stretch to imagine this as an establishment just over the road from the busy stock exchange in Bombay.

But there’s more. Look deeper and you’ll find house rules on the wall that outlaw Ponzi schemes, historically accurate ads in the menus, coloured porcelain in the washrooms and modernist 1970s decor.

The bar is called the Permit Room, recalling the legal hoops owners had to jump through to serve booze and there’s also a Family Room – an echo of the only spaces women were allowed to access in Irani cafes of old – complete with vintage photos of the owners’ relatives.

Everywhere there’s detail aimed at placing the visitor snugly inside the narrative.

The bar serves a “scandalous” trio of miniature Martinis dubbed The Commander, The Lover and The Wife, inspired by a jealous Parsi naval officer who shot the man his other half was seeing illicitly before turning himself in.

There’s a glint in Shamil’s eyes as we talk – it’s just this sort of material that reflects Dishoom’s flair for the dramatic – ultimately all part of the owners’ ambition that visiting the restaurant should be a memorable experience.

“The most important thing, regardless of whether the restaurant is busy or not, is whether the guests are leaving happy and sated,” said Shamil.

“We have to create the conditions that allow diners to have an experience that’s amazing and that they are going to tell all their friends about.

“The best way to do that is to make sure our team is happy and that’s our job.

The Permit Room bar at Dishoom Canary Wharf – image Matt Grayson

“We have really good people working for us who have an enormous amount of heart and determination in the current economic environment, so the right thing for us to do is look after them.

“Then, collectively we look after our guests and that, hopefully, keeps people coming back.

“We are conscious that sometimes we have a lot of people who stand in line for our food in queues – it’s lovely to have that although sometimes I’m embarrassed by making them wait.

“But we’re providing something people really want, and the key to that is to make sure that our food is really fantastic, our spaces are wonderful and our service is really warm – that is all down to supporting our team.

“That’s something we’ve been thinking about ever since we started the business. Running the company, it’s our responsibility to make sure our staff really love and enjoy the environment they’re working in.

“We like to pay well, but we also make sure we look after the other benefits – the less tangible stuff – so we do regular mental health workshops, for example.

“Then a little while ago, we had the idea for The Bombay Boot Camp where we’d take anyone who stayed with us for five years to the city and show them all the good places.

“We didn’t know whether we would ever take anyone when we started, but this year we’re taking 180 people.

“Some of the places we visit can only fit 15 or 20 people so we don’t quite know how the logistics will work yet, but it’s a trip that money can’t buy because we work really hard to visit places people would never normally go and that everyone who does feels special, welcome and rewarded for the work they do.”

Mini Martinis: The Commander, The Wife and The Lover at Dishoom

For Wharfers who can’t get over to Mumbai itself, Dishoom serves up an expansive menu of flavours to transport diners in spirit.

“We bring guests into the story and give them food and drink,” said Shamil.

“But the dishes and beverages we serve also have their own stories.

“My cousin Kavi and I now run the business and, when we were setting things up, we came across the heritage of the old Irani cafes, set up by Parsi immigrants from Iran.

“We wanted to pay homage to them, their inclusive ethos and spirit, while at the same time riffing on the stories of Bombay.

“Take Pau Bhaji, for example. It’s mashed up vegetables with buttered Portuguese buns.

“There were colonists from Portugal in Bombay and their influence has become part of the city’s most delicious dish – all those stories are there.

“I think placing food in its cultural context is very important – you come along, eat it with the right music amid the right architecture – I want to give people a real taste of Bombay.

“We, the British, think we know India, and there are a number of cliches – Bollywood, cricket, curry houses, palaces, maharajahs, but I’m not sure that Britain really does know India.

Dishoom Canary Wharf features 1970s-style furniture – image Matt Grayson

“Do we know about the Bombay Stock Exchange, or that there was a great Art Deco movement post independence that signified liberty and modernity, to get rid of the old gothic architecture?

“On the food side, where we think of India as curry, there’s so much more. We don’t serve that much of what we would call curry today because there are so many other things to be said.

“Canary Wharf isn’t exactly a natural fit for us, but we’re excited to be here.

“The architecture in Wood Wharf, especially, is very cool, and I think we can bring a bit of fun and pizazz to this end of town.

“Then we’ve got a couple more good stories that we’re dreaming up for future openings.”

Dishoom Canary Wharf is open from 8am until at least 11pm on weekdays (midnight on Friday and Saturday and from 9am at weekends.

Dishoom co-founder Kavi Thakrar has selected his favourite dishes to order for Wharf Life readers

KAVI’S MENU PICKS

With so much on the menu, we went straight to the top and asked Dishoom co-founder Kavi Thakrar to pick out a few of his favourite dishes to help Wharfers make their own decisions:

1. First, the Malai Lobster. this is only available at Canary Wharf. It’s a great dish to share with friends as it feels celebratory, but won’t break the bank. Fresh daily from Billingsgate, it transports me to some of my favourite spots in Bombay to eat fresh seafood.

Malai Lobster – Priced by weight at £7.50 per 100g

Malai Lobster, £7.50 per 100g at Dishoom Canary Wharf

2. Chilli Cheese Toast. We took this off the menu for a while but I’m so happy to see it back. It’s totally delicious with a Dishoom IPA – a sneaky snack when I’m by myself, just like sitting in an Irani Cafe at the end of a long day in south Bombay.

Chilli Cheese Toast – £5.70

3. And finally, I really love our Double Bacon And Egg Naan Roll. It is a great match of salty, sweet, a little heat and then the richness from the egg. I love having it with a house chai if I start my day at Dishoom

Double Bacon & Egg Naan Roll – £11.60

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

January 11, 2023January 11, 2023

Hackney Wick: How Rainbow Snake: Adventures In Love tells a magical story

Written by Christabelle Lomas, with drawings by Samuel Miller, the book can be purchased online

Christabelle Lomas and Samuel Miller at the launch of their book in Canary Wharf – image Jon Massey

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

This is a love story.

Around about the start of the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Christabelle Lomas found herself trapped in India having just finished training as a Yoga teacher.

Short on funds from various attempts to leave the country, she approached a group of strangers at the airport for help.

With international flights cancelled, they suggested she take an internal connection with the aim of heading to eco-resort Bhakti Kutir in South Goa as a refuge from the ravages of the pandemic.

One of the group had a friend staying there – Jules – and gave Christabelle her details.

As the world shut down, Christabelle began receiving calls from concerned friends, one also knew Jules and gave her another contact at the resort, a man called Samuel Miller.

She reached out to him midway through a tortuous journey to get to the resort and he was there to greet her.

However, with the threat of disease at the forefront of everyone’s minds, she isolated for two weeks before eventually joining the group properly.

“When I first arrived there I was in this jungle hut and Sam was bringing me my meals and water,” said Christabelle.

“I was really grateful and I meditated a lot, practised Yoga and found myself surrounded by inspiration.

“It was at some point during that period that I started writing what would become Rainbow Snake: Adventures In Love.

“Then I came out, we hung out. It was all lovely and then they started sending rescue flights, but I wasn’t quite ready to be rescued.”

The book draw's inspiration from the couple's time in India — The book draw’s inspiration from the couple’s time in India

While pulled in different directions, artist Sam ultimately decided to board a flight back to London,

“I came back three months later to London and we reconnected,” said Christabelle.

“I’d written this book and I was looking for someone to do the illustrations – Sam’s a fabulous artist so it made sense to ask him.”

Christabelle’s story follows the journey of Rainbow Snake as he attempts to discover what love is by seeking wisdom from a succession of other creatures he meets along the way.

She and Sam collaborated – he produced 12 paintings for the book – and fell in love as they continued their work together, inspired by their experiences in India.

“There was a little snake in the roof of one of the jungle huts in Goa,” said Sam, who is based on a glass-roofed boat at Hackney Wick.

“Then there were a lot more when the monsoons came. We also found this weird little beetle that turned out to be a scorpion.

“Having read the book, I just wanted to deepen the words and open them out with mysticism, jungle magic and strange things.

“I’d been painting jungles for ages so doing this book was very apt. Normally I would take a lot of time to create a piece, and this task was to do 12, which is a big body of work.

“At first I was worried the paintings were too dark, too melancholic for children, but you have stories like Grimms’ Fairy Tales, which are just awful and this is actually a very sweet story.”

Detail from one of Sam's paintings for Rainbow Snake — Detail from one of Sam’s paintings for Rainbow Snake

“It’s quite hard to bottle up the magic,” added Shoreditch resident Christabelle.

“The book is very enchanting and has a beautiful message. People often ask what age it’s for, but I suppose it touches people of all ages.

“It’s a message about trusting your inner guidance rather than looking outwards, and that was a big theme for the times we went through during the pandemic – it was a time for introspection.

“In the end, love carries you through. Rainbow Snake goes on his quest and everyone he talks to has a different interpretation of what love is.

“He wonders how it can possibly be all of these things but then comes to his own conclusion.

“He’s slithering around trying to find answers and is about to give up when he finds what he’s looking for within himself.

“I’m quite a deep thinker, with a creative mindset, and I’m always looking for answers to the meaning of life and love.

“I’ve worked with children quite a lot and they have inspired me, so that’s where this piece of writing came from.

“Although it’s a book that is mostly for children, the artwork and the messages are there for everyone.

“Being in the city, it’s easy to get wrapped up in things, but looking at the stars and all the animals can help you put things into perspective.

Rainbow Snake: Adventures In Love is on sale now for £22.11

“Hopefully, the pictures and the words will expand people’s minds. I write a lot of personal projects, but this is the first piece I’ve put out there.”

Sam has been a painter since he was a child, creating work from his east London base despite the recent winter chill that saw the glass roof of his boat freeze inside and out.

“My canal boat at Hackney Wick is a studio space I’ve built myself – a project I took on when I got back from India,” he said.

“It’s like a Disney palace, a place that’s pretty mad, but it was a lot of fun to do.

“I painted as a kid and just never stopped. Then I went to the Royal Academy Of The West Of England and have continued to work ever since.”

Rainbow Snake: Adventures In Love is published by Christabelle Lomas and Samuel Miller and is currently available online, priced £22.11.

The couple have promised to donate 1.2% of their profits to the Indian Wildlife Trust.

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

December 13, 2022December 13, 2022

Canary Wharf: How Third Space’s major update is all about quality and fine detail

General manager at Canada Square, David Burrow, talks lighting, equipment and high expectations

Third Space’s weights machines area has had a facelift

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

Health and fitness clubs are, at their root, about maintenance and change.

Nobody joins a gym to see their body deteriorate or their performance decline.

We want to stay in condition and see steady progress towards our goals.

Similarly, people expect their clubs to provide that – they have the right equipment, classes, facilities and staff to help them get to where they want to be.

Members at Third Space in Canary Wharf will pay £220 per month from January 2023 for access to Europe’s largest luxury health club.

The task of ensuring the Canada Square facility consistently meets their expectations falls to general manager David Burrow.

“We are constantly upgrading – there are always new things coming onto the market, so it’s about asking how we can use them and whether it’s right to have them,” he said.

“We get loads of feedback from our members and we use that to consider what to do next so we can offer an even broader range than what’s already here.”

The club is currently in the midst of a major update that’s seen it refresh the decor and equipment in its free weights and weights machines areas.

It’s halfway through upgrading its vast cardiovascular training areas and is already looking forward to the crowning glory of the project, which will be the remodelling of its changing areas, saunas and steam rooms.

Third Space Canary Wharf general manager David Burrow

David said: “We started with free weights, which we have completely refurbished with new flooring and lighting.

“We have all-new equipment from a company called Eleiko, who are the best in the industry and a firm we’d already been working with in our Olympic weightlifting areas.

“As part of this project we took the opportunity to review what equipment we had, what was best in class and what we wanted to acquire.

“So for our pin-loaded machines we have replaced our offering with products from a company called Pulse.

“It’s an English firm who have been brilliant where we’ve wanted modifications.

“Their machines feature a digital read-out, which gives users a guide to their range of motion alongside feedback.

“That’s what most people are looking for – members can see how they’re performing, how they can do better and get reassurance that they’re using the machine correctly.

“Of course our staff are always on hand to help people with any of the equipment on the gym floor.

“We think Pulse’s machines are great for people at all levels – you can sit on one even if you’re brand new to fitness and be confident that what you’re doing is correct.

“Many people who join a health and fitness club will be slightly nervous, but having the ability to know that they can just plug the pin in, push or pull the equipment and see that their range of movement is correct, is very comforting.

“Our aim is to make everything as simple as possible for advanced athletes or complete beginners.

“The idea is that people can use it without needing to speak to someone or to watch dozens of YouTube videos, so the focus is always on the exercise.”

This philosophy underpins everything David and the team at Third Space do.

While the update will see major changes and improvements to the club, many will be barely perceived directly by members – designed instead to create an overall sense of wellbeing in the gym and its facilities.

An artist’s impression of how the upgraded changing rooms will look

“Next year we’ll be upgrading the changing rooms, which is pretty much the biggest thing you can do with the club still open,” said David.

“We’re changing the lighting completely, which is one of the things members probably won’t notice.

“It will be linked to the circadian rhythm – it will change throughout the day so the amount of illumination will feel right to people in a way they can’t quite quantify.

“With a club like this there’s a great amount of work that goes on in the background to create the correct atmosphere.

“The carpet is also being ripped out and we’re having a beautiful new floor.

“Again, it’s something people will walk over, but we’ve spent six months testing products to ensure people won’t slip and that it can be cleaned effectively.

“We’ve gone to enormous lengths to find the right flooring because once it’s down it’s impossible to replace.

“There’s been a huge amount of cooperation between our designers, architects and operations people to make sure it’s fit for purpose.

“It may look beautiful on day one, but we’re interested in day two, day 200, day 2,000 – can it cope with the footfall and trolleys with towels rolling over it every single day.

“That’s why we test and test and test until we’re certain.”

David has been working in the fitness industry for nearly a quarter of a century which has included building his own business in the Netherlands and stints at director level for big chains.

He came to Third Space six years ago, attracted by the opportunity to do the job he loves.

Third Space Canary Wharf’s free weights area now has Eleiko equipment

“For me it’s about the day-to-day interaction and operation,” he said. “When this job came up it was quite an easy choice.

“The challenge of a club this big is unique – there’s nothing else that’s the same.

“I’ve worked in incredible clubs for incredible companies, but there’s no club like this – the range of products, the range of offerings and the challenges that creates.

“I love that I have the opportunity to build and grow this club and I’m extremely lucky to work with the most incredible group of colleagues I’ve ever worked with.

“Members join this club because it has all the toys, but they stay because of the people – the atmosphere really is amazing.”

The upgrade should make it even easier for Third Space to foster that atmosphere with lighting that can be controlled via Bluetooth across the club.

The new cardio area features top of the range Technogym equipment and an updated layout with a more open-plan design.

“The project also features new Woodway treadmills and an upgraded Wattbike studio.

“Personally I’ve reached an age where I like to mix my exercise sessions up,” said David.

“I do a static cardio day, a strength stability day – something like TRX – and some kind of Hiit-based session. Those three will be locked in and then I will do something I feel I need.

“That might be something strength-based, followed by a steam room or sauna.

“Sometimes it’s about that balance between physical and mental health – asking what is right for me at that moment?

“As you mature, you learn to listen to your body more and I’ve definitely got better at that.”

In addition to the remodelling of the floors in the changing rooms, the upgrade also includes new showers, steam rooms and saunas to help members relax and refresh themselves after their workouts.

An artist’s impression of how the new saunas will look

“It’s the ultimate part of the whole project and it will come in at the beginning of next year,” said David.

“We’ve got high budgets and a high number of members who all, quite rightly, have high expectations.

“That means we have to deliver an experience to them while the work is going on that is acceptable, while totally renovating the facility.

“That is a challenge but one I am confident we can meet – a lot of research and preparation goes into getting things right here – everything should feel great without people knowing exactly why or realising how much work there is behind it.

“It’s not just about chucking new equipment in – we’d never do things that way.

“Then, after everything is finished, and with Wood Wharf opening in due course, it will be about asking how the two Canary Wharf sites complement each other to offer even more.

“There’s always something that needs considering, updating or improving – but I love it.”

Standard membership works out at £7.23 per day. Find our about more member benefits here.

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

December 8, 2022December 8, 2022

Canary Wharf: How Clays is set to blast into Canary Wharf with its target shooting game

Virtual clay pigeon shooting venue is preparing to open its doors at Credit Suisse’s One Cabot Square

An artist’s impression of how Clays Canary Wharf will look

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

“We know the game is the thing that captures you and why you want to come, but once you’re there we want people to feel that they don’t want to leave,” said Jon Calabrese, operations director at Clays.

The virtual shooting venue is set to open its second branch in Canary Wharf in December, following the success of its debut in Moorgate.

The new bar will be located overlooking West India North Dock on the ground of One Cabot Square – a building it shares with Credit Suisse – and is set for an official launch in January.

It will offer 90-minute digital clay target shooting for groups of up to 22 people in semi-private or completely private pegs.

With five games to choose from, it’s the latest in a succession of hospitality businesses in Canary Wharf to put competitive socialising at the heart of their operation.

First Electric Shuffle opened with a 21st century take on shuffleboard and then the vast Fairgame joined it this year, with its nine funfair-themed games.

It’s a trend that’s here to stay as people look for venues that offer other attractions besides food and drink.

“The foundation of what we’re doing is the target shooting game and the quality of that experience is really important to us,” said Jon.

“We wanted to make it as authentic as possible and it’s incredible.

“Clay target shooting is great and I would encourage anyone to go and try it.

“What we wanted to do was to create something immersive in the heart of London that would reflect that experience.

“Players use real guns that have been decommissioned with all of our technology that tracks them and delivers accuracy to within less than a millimetre.

“The clays within the game are subject to wind, aerodynamics and gravity and players stand in front of a three by four-metre screen.

“It’s honestly as though you’re standing in the English countryside and we control the sound and images so we can adapt to the weather outside.

“In autumn, for example, you’ll see leaves falling. We’ll keep working on the experience to make it even better.”

Clays, which was founded by CEO Tom Snellock in 2019, is expanding its operation following the warm reception customers have given its Moorgate branch.

Jon said coming to Canary Wharf was an obvious decision for the business.

“I grew up in north-east London and I’ve been coming to the estate for about 20 years,” he said.

“Even then on a sunny day it was absolutely alive.

“I think there’s this perception with Canary Wharf that’s it’s very much a business district, and at the weekend it’s dead, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“There are incredible residential hubs locally, shopping areas, amazing hospitality operators here and the Elizabeth Line has just come in.

“I think it’s one of the fastest moving parts of London and with the density of people here it’s a no-brainer. It’s almost better to ask: ‘Why wouldn’t you want to be here?’.”

While the game is central to Clays’ appeal, there’s more to the venue than blasting away at virtual targets.

As the son of celebrated bartender Salvatore Calabrese, Jon has a pretty robust background in hospitality but initially spent time pursuing a different path.

Having embarked on a career in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, he joined the Met after a former girlfriend’s father – who happened to be on the murder squad – turned Jon’s head with stories of his work.

But, having worked as a police officer in Newham for three years, the world of restaurants, bars and hotels proved irresistible and quite a contrast to his time wearing a uniform.

One of the pegs at Clays’ Moorgate branch

“When I came to hospitality in 2009, it was anarchy – chaos,” he said.

“People would work hard and be rewarded with management roles – then they’d have to work out how to do them.

“That meant often you’d either get people with authoritarian approaches or micro managers because they’d have imposter syndrome, which was weird.

“At Clays we have a career tree approach that means we will give people the skills and knowledge they need to be a departmental expert and to hone your craft.

“We won’t hinder you if you want to move between departments and try different things either.

“Ultimately we want to grow a business with culture, consistency and expertise so we can deliver on customers’ expectations at a very high level of quality.

“We want people to come to Clays for the game, but then to stay for the food and drink they’ve enjoyed alongside that experience.

“On the drinks side we use techniques such as clarification to produce crystal clear liquids we can pour like a coke but that have an amazing taste and mouth feel.

“That means we can maintain our rapid speed of service without sacrificing quality.

“These are the kinds of things you only see in small artisan bars.

“Our cocktails are signatures and what is important for us is the quality of ingredients and that our drinks reflect the British countryside using produce grown and created in this country wherever possible”

Players use real decommissioned shotguns to play

Wharfers can expect tipples such as Clay Burst, a sweet and sour pink gin creation, Jack’s Orchard, combining the taste of toffee apples with a whisky kick, and the Precision Punch, a banana spiced rum cocktail.

Food-wise, Clays will serve a menu created by culinary director Roger Olsson formerly of The Dorchester, The Ritz and Pied A Terre.

Dishes include Sweetcorn Ribs with paprika salt and a lemon and chilli dip, Cobble Lane Charcuterie and “KFC” tempura cauliflower as well as Loaded Breads topped with Middle Eastern, Indian and Italian flavours.

Jon said where possible Clays would use produce for the UK with a focus on sustainability, quality and provenance.

“We know the farms where our vegetables are grown and our meat is produced and the boats that catch our fish,” he said.

“You’ll find old favourites like scotch eggs and the calamari is melt-in your mouth.

“Everything is made in-house – it’s about elevating the calibre of the experience.

“Next year we’ll be installing an outdoor terrace so guests will walk in through green foliage, an outdoor bar and past heated tables.

“Then the venue itself is on several levels.

“There will be a tree house where a DJ will play, a reception desk with living moss under a glass top, a bar with a 3D scene that plays on the English countryside and the pegs themselves.

“The main bar is at the far end of the venue and looks over to West India Quay. There are also three pegs that can be closed off privately with bi-fold doors for private parties when needed.”

Clays is taking bookings from December 13 online.

The Canary Wharf branch has eight pegs with off-peak bookings for small groups starting at £30 for an hour’s play.

Peak rates for groups of six to 22 cost £70 for 90 minutes of play.

Jon and the team have developed the drinks menu at Clays

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

November 24, 2022November 24, 2022

Canary Wharf: How The Cocktail Club offers Wharfers a place to party

Founder JJ Goodman talks drinks, growth and swinging lights at the new Cabot Square venue

Founder of The Cocktail Club, JJ Goodman – image Matt Grayson

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

The lights dangling over the bar at The Cocktail Club in Canary Wharf’s Cabot Square tell a story all of their own that dates back to the brand’s creation in a Covent Garden basement in 2008.

There’s something of the showman about founder JJ Goodman and almost the first thing he does when I turn up for our interview is to energetically swing each pendant by its metal shade out into the bar above the heads of customers.

“We had similar lights at Covent Garden and one night we swung them and the place went off,” he said. “It’s been a thing ever since.”

That’s why you’ll see staff throwing the light fittings around at the Canary Wharf branch. While the company JJ founded is now part of emerging hospitality giant Nightcap PLC – which also owns The Adventure Bar Group and Barrio Familia – this simple anarchic act is a reminder that there’s personality woven through the links of the chain.

Bartenders get to pick the music and each branch gets a bespoke interior, the Wharf’s being heavy on stained glass, graffiti and low lighting.

The drinks it serves combine theatre with precision – a mixture aimed at pleasing both serious drinkers and those up for a heady party.

Old favourites – Mojitos and Espresso Martinis, for example – cost £9.75, while more complex creations are about £13.

These include the likes of the Truffletini – a blend of rum, coffee liqueur, tonka bean syrup and espresso with a chocolate truffle sat on the side of the glass.

It’s a menu that in many ways encompasses JJ’s history as a bartender.

The interior of the Canary Wharf branch – image Matt Grayson

“I’ve been a barman since I was about 16 in my old home town of Worcester,” he said. “I made my first cocktails when I was 17 – it was a Grasshopper.

“There was a shitty little manual on the back of the bar where I worked so I decided to learn to make a few drinks.

“If someone wanted something interesting, I’d make a drink full of sugar and covered in umbrellas and that was good fun.

“Then I got into the Flair world – spinning bottles, all of that. I started entering and winning competitions.”

But JJ was serious too. Moving to London he immersed himself in the bar industry, going on to win the Cocktail World Cup in 2008.

That was the same year he and business partner James Hopkins featured on and won BBC’s The Restaurant and opened the Covent Garden Cocktail Club.

The TV show connected the pair to chef Raymond Blanc and Dragon’s Den investor Sarah Willingham, who became the founder and CEO of Nightcap in 2021 – now The Cocktail Club’s parent company.

“We’ve got 18 branches now alongside the other brands and I think we’ve stumbled on a really nice home for ourselves at Canary Wharf,” said JJ.

“In due course we’d love to bring the rest of Nightcap’s crew to the party.

Finished drinks at the Cabot Square venue – image Matt Grayson

“The area has evolved so much and so quickly in the last couple of years. In terms of hospitality, you now have the top operators in the country and arguably Europe, here.

“We’ve found a brilliantly engaged audience, and if you’re really passionate about what you do, you want to be in the mix, shoulder to shoulder with the best guys out there.

“I’m excited for everyone in Canary Wharf to come, check us out and let their hair down.

“There’s a lot of madness going on in the world, and I promise we’re a fabulous little escape for them, as many times a week as they fancy it.

“We stand out from everybody else on the high street – there are plenty of places where you can go and have a quiet drink with your mates or that after-work catch-up with someone you haven’t seen for a time. We’re never going to compete with that.

“When you create a space with such high energy and fuel it with enough booze, you’re going to make new memories. People will leave their inhibitions at the door.

“So I feel like you should be able to come in here in whatever you want to wear, with whoever you want to come in with.

“We’ve got a really broad demographic as well – it’s a place where you can have a giggle, have some fun, and that’s encouraged by our staff.”

It’s also encouraged by the menu which starts with familiar drinks and delivers a twist.

“We wrote it post-lockdown,” said JJ.

“We looked at our top six classic best-selling cocktails, including the Old Fashioned and the Martini, and we chose to take each of those on a journey.

“So, we’ve got the house classic, then we’ve got the top shelf, where we experiment with more premium brands, and then we’ve got the theatre section, which we championed in the years before Instagram.

“If you love a Mojito, you can go on a journey of discovery, with fabulous variations on something that you know and love and trust.

A bartender creates a drink at The Cocktail Club – image Matt Grayson

“I think trust is really important when you’re charging people £10-£14 a drink – you really have to deliver something great.

“So what we chose to do is present the menu in such a way that people can feel comfortable travelling through a few variations on something they already love.”

Like every business, The Cocktail Club faces staffing pressures and is addressing that through education.

“We launched the Nightcap Bar Academy this year at a facility in Camden with another one on the way in Shoreditch,” said JJ.

“The idea is that we can take people with limited experience and show them the way we like to work.

“Lots of young people have missed out on being exposed to nightlife due to the pandemic and I really feel for them.

“What we can do is educate them on the style of service we give so they can see a career in this industry.

“Being behind the bar is my happy place and I really miss it loads.

“But we strive for very high standards and I’m a bit rusty so I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself, although I’d love it.”

That said, JJ can’t suppress his anarchic edge completely, slapping lampshades and ordering shots for everyone behind the bar, all the while keeping a careful eye on the quality of the drinks going out.

This is carefully choreographed wildness and it’s great.

One of The Cocktail Club's infamous swinging lampshades — One of The Cocktail Club’s infamous swinging lampshades – image Matt Grayson

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

November 15, 2022November 15, 2022

Canary Wharf: How Kerb’s West India Quay operation has gone social

Street food business sets up not-for-profit to help traders start and grown their operations

Wandercrust founder Gavin Dunn is running Kerb Social Enterprise

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

BY LAURA ENFIELD

Buy a meal from a street food trader at Kerb On The Quay and you will be doing much more than filling your stomach, from now on.

A year ago, Kerb made a radical change.

After nine years of running markets across London that championed food startups – including the popular West India Quay spot – the business decided it needed to do more.

So it set up a not-for-profit social enterprise arm and hired Gavin Dunn, founder of pizza company Wandercrust and graduate of its own Inkerbator programme, to run it.

“I’ve always been really passionate about the ethos of Kerb – of breathing life and vitality into otherwise quiet areas of London and supporting a really diverse ecosystem of great foods from around the world,” said the 49-year-old, who is managing director of the company Kerb Social Enterprise.

“When I saw the job on LinkedIn, I felt pretty well placed to apply.”

Kerb already knew Gavin had experience with street food and his own consultancy in business development and HR, but its managers were impressed to find out he also had an extensive background with social enterprises and charities.

Gavin said it meant his experience perfectly matched the extremely niche role.

“There’s not that many food-based social enterprises so, not to blow my own trumpet, but I knew as soon as I saw the role it was quite nailed-on for me,” he said.

The first step in creating the new company ecosystem was “engaging” and, over the last 12 months, Gavin has worked to find more charity partners across four areas – youth unemployment, ex-offenders, refugee support and homelessness.

The aim is to discover hidden talent among the most disadvantaged communities in London to join its programmes and help diversify the street food scene.

“That early stage of the ecosystem is really important to me,” said Gavin.

“I went through the Inkerbator programme but was absolutely fortunate enough to have been able to afford my own pizza truck.

“I had a certain level of privilege to be able to set up Wandercrust while running my consultancy.

“I’m well aware that early stage presents such a barrier to individuals in being able to pursue their dream of running their own food businesses.

“We’re reaching out to these charities to see how we can remove those barriers, work with them and offer support to get them onto our Inkerbator programme and trading at our markets.

**Meatstop founder Benjamin Page began barbecuing aged 11. He now serves burgers, made from the finest ingredients and graduated from Kerb’s Inkerbator in October**

“That’s where we are really plugged in to parts of London that we otherwise would have overlooked in the past.”

The new era, which dawned as Kerb began celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022, relies heavily on its West India Quay market.

It restarted in March and is now where all Inkerbators must cut their teeth every Wednesday from 11.30am to 2.30pm.

Full Kerb members trade at the site every Thursday from 11.30am to 2.30pm.

So far this year it has produced 23 graduates, including The Yeast Brothers, who have now opened their own restaurant in Deptford.

The last cohort graduated in October, so the Wednesday market is paused for now, but will return in 2023 with a fresh set of traders for Wharfers to try.

“We take a lot of time and care to make sure the businesses that come through the programme have the best experience possible and we can rely on West India Quay for that,” said Gavin.

“Canary Wharf is the home of London’s markets, and street food markets are the original business incubators, where people shared ideas and practices.

“It’s really nice to have brought it back to Canary Wharf this year and long may it last.

“We choose to do it there because of the crowd. The customers love it and recognise its value and you can feel it at an Inkerbator market.”

The Woolwich resident still remembers the buzz of trading there for the first time in 2016 with Wandercrust, which now trades in Greenwich.

“There’s nothing like it really,” said Gavin. “It’s excitement but you are anxious and you can still feel that at Inkerbator markets now.

“It means I know exactly how new businesses owners coming on to the programme feel.”

He also knows first hand the world of opportunities the programme can open up.

“One of the main benefits I found at Inkerbator was just this development of a network of like-minded creative, food-loving small businesses. It enables that collective spirit,” he said.

“It feels incredible for me to now be responsible for it and help rebuild it after the pandemic.”

**Sadish Gurung, left, and Subash Gurung, both worked in IT before launching Nepalese food business Filili which serves up Momo bite-size dumplings, below. They graduated in October**

Kerb, which also runs markets across London and a successful event catering arm with food service group Compass, shut down most of its activities over 2020 and 2021.

During that time it received 750 applications for Inkerbator.

Its team research and chat to each one, but also scout and approach businesses to invite, to ensure they are finding the best.

Those offered a place go through the coaching stage of the ecosystem, followed by six weeks of trading at West India Quay.

Once the incubating stage is complete and traders have graduated into full members, the accelerating stage kicks in.

Many go on to trade at the Thursday market at West India Quay and Kerb also offers regular networking events to its 100-plus members, some of whom have been with the business since its inception.

“It can be a lonely place, being a food business owner,” said Gavin. “So being part of a collective really helps to get everyone’s creative juices flowing.”

Becoming a social enterprise was a big change but Kerb was already working with charities such as Food Behind Bars to find potential members.

“We’ve worked with a guy called Marcus who had the idea of setting up a Caribbean pie and mash business,” said Gavin.

“I first met him in Brixton prison and now he’s working with us to gain work experience to help get him work in hospitality, but also to hopefully one day get onto our Inkerbator programme to set up his own street food business.”

It also works with The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN) and one of its founders is on Kerb’s advisory board.

One of the most popular traders at the Quay is Oshpaz, which was set up by Uzbekistan refugee Muzaffar Sadykov after he was referred by TERN and completed Kerb’s Inkerbator programme in February 2019.

Transforming into a social enterprise means the company now has more money to invest in its work with these charities as there are no shareholders or dividends.

“If you buy a bowl of plov from Muzaffa, not only will the the money go straight to him, but any pitch fee he pays Kerb is reinvested back into supporting early stage food businesses to help them grow through the Inkerbator,” said Gavin.

Kerb partnered with both charities and new partner homeless charity The Connection at St Martin In The Fields, to launch its first big move for the new social enterprise in the summer.

It partnered with McCain for initiative Streets Ahead offering free workshops to 100 less advantaged people.

“We’re already seeing individuals that The Connection has worked with referred to us and we’re supporting them either into work or talking about how they would go about setting up their own food businesses,” said Gavin.

**Jan Manrique from RiceON.LDN serves Korean bulgogi and graduated from the Inkerbator in March**

“We’re always looking for new partners and more support and we would like to do a lot more because there’s so much food talent out there and individuals that would love the opportunity to do it.

“But there are still a lot of barriers in the way, which we’re working really hard to remove.”

Gavin said next year was going to be a big one for Kerb.

“There’s loads of things in the pipeline that we’re excited about,” he said.

“Not least, working with all of the charities I’ve mentioned and removing those barriers to entry into food entrepreneurship for individuals who are just leaving prison or have refugee status.

“It really does feel as though we’re in a unique position – we’ve got so much to offer.”

He added: “I’m passionate about supporting small, independent businesses and have yet to come across a business that is better at doing that than Kerb.

“It’s a privilege to be able to be the person doing this for Kerb.

“It’s had such success over the first 10 years and I’m determined to make the next 10 years equally as successful and ground breaking.”

He hopes West India Quay will continue to embrace its new traders as they diversify and hopefully extend the number of days they trade there next year.

“We’ve had such amazing support from the customer base,” said Gavin.

“It hasn’t been as busy this year because with hybrid working not everyone’s in the office all the time.

“But what we have seen is real support from people who want to make sure that we remain there.

“People tell us they plan their days in the office around market day and some people come over and order 30 different meals to take back and make it into an office event.

“Kerb’s remit has always been to breathe life into spaces, to bring some colour, diversity and flavour to an area that might otherwise be less vibrant.

“I really think we’ve done that at West India Quay but also in the wider Canary Wharf area. You see so many more small food businesses there now and I like to think Kerb played a small part.”

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Laura Enfield is a regular contributor to Wharf Life, writing about a wide range of subjects across Docklands and east London

November 9, 2022November 24, 2022

Canary Wharf: How In2Sports provides facilities for the whole community

Charitable trust runs Wood Wharf venue, which includes a sports hall, gym and The Training Room

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

Harbord Square has got a secret.

If you’ve walked through Wood Wharf, past the buildings to the east of its green oblong of grass, you may have spotted In2Sports’ red and blue logo in the brightly lit unit on corner of Brannan Street.

But that space, with its orange chairs and Mars vending machine is merely the tip of an iceberg. It’s all about what lies beneath.

Walk through its glass doors, descend a level and you’ll find an expansive relaxation area, complete with a pool table, ping pong, a bar, bikes, seating, sports memorabilia and tables made from old vaulting horses.

It’s a charming enough space on its own, but this too is just an appetiser.

What In2Sports is really sitting on is a full-size, purpose built sports hall, complete with changing facilities, fitness studio space and even a crossfit-inspired gym.

Some of the facilities will be used part-time by the neighbouring primary school, when it opens, with the remainder of the timetable available for clubs, businesses and individuals looking for functional, affordable space.

The main sports hall at In2Sports in Wood Wharf

“In2Sports is an indoor sports arena that caters for a wide variety of needs, with the ability to deliver a wide array of opportunities for people to be able to participate in sports and leisure activities at every level,” said Callum Wear, In2Sports trustee.

“It’s a place for anyone and everyone to have fun, play sports and then there’s the social side of it as well, which is a very important feature.

“Rather than just coming in, playing your sport and then leaving, players can relax and mingle with like-minded people, share their victories and talk about their next game strategies.

“It might be cricket, football, netball, volleyball, dodgeball or any smaller-sided counterparts to outside games that can be played indoors.

“We will always be evolving to accommodate new trends and demands.

“Our ambition is to become the home for anybody, any club or association that has a need to deliver sports and leisure activity programmes in this area.

“We don’t have an alliance with or allegiance to anyone, and we will work with a wide variety of people.

“Success for us is about participation – people walking out of the door and saying they’ve had a fantastic time.

“Having a fun place with an electric atmosphere is what we want.

“That’s the name of the game. If you’re not having fun playing sport, you’re not going to achieve to the best of your ability.

“When you’re here, you might be playing table tennis, but you might be playing with your football team or talking about the game or your next opponent – we want there to be constant activity around you.

“It’s a place that keeps people entertained and involved socially – sharing experiences with people is key.”

In2Sports is structured as a charitable trust and following a £9.99 registration fee, the sports hall can be hired for between £120 and £160 per hour depending on timing.

Quarter and half-court hire are also available and there’s a 40% discount for local residents with disabilities, those on benefits, who are senior citizens or who are full-time students.

In celebration of its opening, In2Sports is currently offering all courts at off-peak prices.

Flexibility is central to the organisation’s model, with The Training Room perfectly summing that up.

“It’s certainly not just a bar and it’s a bit more than a clubhouse,” said Callum.

“It could be the space where you could come for a small community workshop, for presentations, talks, speeches, birthday celebrations or just a place where people can relax after a game and have a drink with friends.

“We’re a licensed venue, but you can also have health drinks as well, such as smoothies. It’s warm and welcoming.”

Callum knows a thing or two about welcoming Wharfers. Originally from New Zealand, he moved to the UK and, while working as an analyst on a financial project management system, met and became friends with accountant Chris Bennett.

The two discussed various ideas but both loved the idea of collaborating on a business related to sports and after about a year and a half of discussions created Play On Sports, launching in 2004.

Stretching to an eventual 50,000sq ft of space on the Wood Wharf site, it all began with a guaranteed 18 month lease.

In the end, Play On stayed until 2014, relocating its operations to Whitechapel when they had to make way for building works as Canary Wharf Group began the regeneration of the area.

The Training Room can serve many functions at the venue

“It’s great to be back in Canary Wharf – everyone has welcomed us back and people have been so supportive,” said Callum.

“I think Canary Wharf Group sees the benefit to the community that we bring and hopefully we’ll be contributing to the vibrant hub the estate has become.

“Now it’s full steam ahead – we have opened and it’s time to develop relationships with businesses and organisations around here and to tell the community that we’re here and we’re available for them to enjoy.

“This isn’t just a facility for corporates, it’s a place for anyone to use and play.

“We’re ideally located, less than a 10-minute walk from the Jubilee and Elizabeth Line stations and there are good bus services along Preston’s Road too.”

In addition to The Training Room and the sports hall, In2Sports is also offering monthly memberships or access on a pay-as-you-go basis to its gym.

“It’s a crossfit-style training room, which is a really inclusive form of exercise,” said Callum.

“Everyone can engage with it because you’re only competing against yourself.

“Then we also have our studio space which would be ideal for Yoga, Pilates and so on.

“We’re also working with various charities so they can use it to achieve their goals and they’ll be utilising that space to get people up and active.

“We have a can-do, all inclusive approach to delivering sports. This is not your square-boxed sports hall, so if someone wants to host a sports activity, we will try to deliver it.

“This is very much a community project, the In2Sports charitable trust is for the benefit of everyone – corporates, social clubs and children.

“We like to work with organisations who are using sports to break down barriers, to give people that self-esteem, that self-confidence and to keep people playing sports on a sustainable basis so that they can have fun and feel better.”

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

October 30, 2022October 30, 2022

Canary Wharf: How Alchemy Machines provides smart transcription services

AI driven platform is set to launch in November 2022 aimed at businesses in the legal sector

Alchemy Machines platform could make note-taking by hand a thing of the past

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

Singer, martial artist, entrepreneur.

These are Dia Thanki’s passions but it’s in the third where our chief interest lies.

So it’s not Motown classics or her practising the graceful forms of Wing Chun Kung Fu that will fill this space, It’s her latest business venture.

Alchemy Machines, the company she founded and runs as CEO, is set to launch its first product in November following two years of development.

Based at Level39 – Canary Wharf’s tech community and workspace at One Canada Square – the idea for the business grew from a personal experience.

“I was involved in a car accident quite a few years ago,” said Dia.

“I was coming off the motorway, going downhill and there was a lot of traffic ahead – it was gridlocked.

“I stopped my car but there was a van going at top speed, which crashed into the back of my vehicle – leaving me with whiplash and chronic back pain.

“As a result I was having a lot of meetings with my personal injury lawyer, but the discomfort I was in meant I wasn’t able to focus on what was being said.

“I decided to look for an app that could transcribe voice to text, but the technology was generally very primitive at the time.

“It was then that I thought how wonderful it would be if meetings could be automatically transcribed accurately with who was speaking and when.

“People could then read or listen back and there would be an audit trail.”

Dia had been exposed to the emerging area of artificial intelligence (AI) as a student, first at Cass Business School (since renamed Bayes Business School) and then later during a masters in management information systems at Cranfield University.

“Back then, no-one really cared about it – it was a research topic, but there were very few real-life implementations,” she said.

“But I was fascinated with its potential and my final year thesis was in the area of multi-agent systems.

“It was all about process modelling using software agents to be able to replicate real-world phenomena to convert them into a virtual world.

“That’s when I began to think about the endless possibilities of a technology like AI.”

However, life took Dia in a different direction, as after graduating, a career as a singer beckoned and she eventually set up a business as the founder of label Diamanté Records.

After pursuing that course for a little over four years, Dia changed heading, going on to discover a strength in project management.

“That’s really my forte – starting with a concept for a web application or a mobile app and taking it from idea to a tangible product,” she said.

“In the process of doing that, I was working with developers, designers both onshore and offshore, globally for organisations such as BT, BUPA and Apple.

“Just before I set up Alchemy Machines, I was working for Tech Nation which is very well known in the tech ecosystem.

“I was its Future 50 programme manager – curating events for the brand and through that work I became fascinated with the world of startups.

“Then Alchemy Machines got a grant offer and there was a need to focus on the company full time and build a team.”

Alchemy Machines founder and CEO Dia Thanki

With machine learning having taken off in the intervening years, it was time for Dia to explore the creation of something that has been in the back of her mind since she sat in the room with those lawyers.

“I’d reached out to various computer scientists, people who had worked at Google and Amazon and senior researchers – had lots of coffees and built up my knowledge,” she said.

“I did a lot of different courses and then found some money to build a prototype, initially from Innovate UK, which is funded by the Government.

“The reason we chose to focus on the legal sector was that there seemed to be a demand, although the product we have developed could be as relevant in healthcare or financial services.

“Alchemy Machines solves the problem of unlocking workflow productivity for corporate professionals.

“The way we do that is to develop a voice intelligence platform that can transcribe sector-specific speech into text, and then also analyse those conversations and summarise them. It’s a feature-rich voice intelligence platform.

“People confuse us with an AI transcription company, but Alchemy Machines is much more than that.

“Given the high rates at which people leave jobs in the legal sector and everything that’s going on in the world at the moment, now is the time for a technology like this to really come to the fore.

“While there are other areas where this kind of technology has been prevalent for a while, that hasn’t really been the case in the corporate and legal worlds.

“I think that’s because they haven’t embraced innovation as fast, although in recent years they have been forced to do so, partly because of the consolidation that’s happening in the sector.

“Legal firms were some of the last to embrace email, for example, but they are now using cloud technology with many companies migrating – it’s only a matter of time before everyone in the market follows.

“People are very risk-averse in the sector.

“There’s a lack of understanding about AI machine learning and sometimes that triggers fear, although it can also trigger excitement.

“There are many offerings out there and it can be difficult for businesses to differentiate.

“But we have a clear focus, we know that being GDPR compliant, for example, is very important for companies in the sector and we have worked with Legal 500 firms to build feasibility scenarios and really test our platform before launch.

“It works like this – let’s assume there’s a dispute resolution case within intellectual property law.

“A group of lawyers – a senior associate, a trainee and a client – are having a virtual meeting to discuss the case.

“Normally, the trainee lawyer would be typing out or writing notes before producing a final version in consultation with the senior associate before it’s given to the client or stored in-house.

“That’s a huge waste of time – especially for trainee lawyers who want to get their hands on high-value casework and not spend their time on boring admin tasks.

“It might be useful for them for a couple of months as part of their training, but afterwards it becomes tedious admin work.

“With Alchemy Machines, all they would need to do would be to press ‘record’ when the Zoom or Microsoft Teams meeting starts.

“The software then sits in the background and, for a one-hour meeting, it would take about 15 or 20 minutes to generate the report in our web application.

“There, the user will find the audio file, the transcription, the analysis and the summaries.

“That will include things like the ratio of who is speaking, the total number of people on the call and a sentiment analysis expressed as a percentage, based on whether mostly positive or negative words were used.

“The platform also tracks the duration of the meeting and the accuracy of the voice recognition itself and these are just the things we can measure now.

“I’m super excited for the launch because this wasn’t a product that was easy to create – it’s very complex because of the machine learning elements, but also the amount of time that’s gone into testing it with real-life users to ensure we’ve built something that’s simple, intuitive and valuable.

“The feedback has been phenomenal.

“I was speaking to a firm we’ve been trialling the platform with and they thought that our product was both more accurate and easier to use than a very well funded American competitor.

“Creating this product and this business has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life because it has demanded such a level of focus and resilience – and I trained as a martial artist for five years.

“There have been two really big challenges.

“The first is the same for any tech company selling solutions to large corporations and that’s establishing credibility.

“The second has been fundraising. There are still very few women seeking investment in businesses in general and especially in the tech and STEM sectors and that makes it tough.

“That’s slowly beginning to change and there are a few different initiatives that are encouraging girls and women to embrace technology and see the potential of it.

“As a business, we have some key targets to try and attract more women to join the sector and one of our machine learning engineers is a woman, so it’s been a great experience to share this journey with her.

“I hope many more will come to work in tech for Alchemy Machines or others.”

Dia will be speaking at LegalEx at 2pm on November 23, 2022, at Excel in Royal Docks. Alchemy Machines’ platform is set to officially launch next month.

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

October 28, 2022October 28, 2022

Isle Of Dogs: How Laura Zabo makes jewellery from waste rubber bike tyres

See Laura’s pieces and others from Craft Central makers at its Open Studios and Winter Market

Laura Zabo wears her most popular necklace, the Curlywurly – image Matt Grayson

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

BY LAURA ENFIELD

When Laura Zabo moved to Tanzania in 2015, she was seeking change.

Her business in Hungary had failed and she needed a new passion.

What she found there were dirty old tyres. She loved them.

“Africans recycle everything and, one day, I was walking through the local Maasai market and found some brightly painted sandals made out of car tyres,” said Laura.

“They were so pretty and colourful and I found this a brilliant idea – that such an unwanted material could become so useful.

“I realised I wanted to show the world that we can recycle tyres and we have to, because we just have too much waste.”

She immediately started buying supplies and tools and learning how to transform the rubber into wearable objects such as belts and shoes – sometimes working 15 hours without eating.

“I just felt like: ’Wow, this is the mission of my life,’.” she said. “I was sure, with my creativity, that I could make pretty items people would want.”

By the time she moved to London, jewellery was her focus and she began selling at markets in Spitalfields and Greenwich and at craft events in between day jobs in marketing and hospitality.

It revived the entrepreneurial spirit she had first discovered aged eight – selling beaded jewellery at school – but which had been dampened by the failure of her homoeopathy business.

Earrings at Laura’s Craft Central studio – image Matt Grayson

“When that happened I was really depressed and was just surviving because I really didn’t know what I should do with my life,” said Laura

“I moved to Africa to reset and find something interesting that I could really dedicate my life to.”

After she discovered it, London called to her because of the freedom it offered.

“I come from a much more conservative country – the UK really has the vibe of opportunities,” she said.

“If you come here and believe in something, you can make it happen.”

The 43-year-old has lived across the capital including in Lewisham and Margate – she’s now on a boat in West India South Dock.

But when it came to her business she realised she needed a more permanent base and landed at Craft Central on the Isle Of Dogs’ Westferry Road in February.

“I was making from home before, but it was really uncomfortable, after so many years,” she said.

“Sometimes I would finish working at midnight and the next morning there was rubber everywhere. I knew that if I had my own workspace, I could focus much more.

“I find the space at Craft Central so inspirational and I really like that the Isle Of Dogs is like a piece of countryside in London”

Her supplies mostly come from a tyre recycling firm but she often pops to Canary Wharf to collect supplies from NipNip’s bike servicing and repair shop at Westferry Circus.

You won’t find her pedalling though, as Laura isn’t a fan of cycling – or the cleaning required when tyres arrive.

“Everything is dirty and has to be sorted because each type of tyre has a different purpose,” she said.

“When I’m sorting them I get completely dirty and then the tyres have to be cut in half and soaked for a few hours in disinfectant before I start scrubbing.”

Laura with one of her creations – image Matt Grayson

Once they are dry, the inner tubes are ready for crafting into delicate necklaces and earrings but the tyres, which she uses for belts, have to be painted to make them perfectly black.

Laura can make around 30 pieces a week and her biggest seller is the Curlywurly Necklace, which she said would be impossible to make from any other material.

Prices range from £12 for a pair of leaf earrings to £89 for her statement necklaces and Laura said it had been a conscious choice to charge as little as possible.

“I come from a very poor family and know how bad it is when you like something and you just don’t have money for it,” she said.

“I didn’t want someone to be unable to afford my pieces.

“Also, some customers are unsure how people will react if they buy recycled bicycle inner tube jewellery, so I don’t want the price to put them off.

“More sales means I can spread my message.”

It has been working. Sales have increased fourfold this year and Laura has been inundated with requests for collaborations and photoshoots.

“I am so happy people are valuing my items,” she said. “I really feel the buzz from every direction and like it is becoming something very popular.

“Obviously, this is what I wanted when I started this business, but for many years people laughed at me when I told them my job was to recycle tyres and said I was not normal.

“Now it’s becoming an industry and it’s brilliant.”

Belts made by Laura – image Matt Grayson

Laura believes her success is down to a change in her mindset.

“I have read about 80 books since November about business and personal development and feel much more focused on my goals,” she said.

“I think once your way is clear, you feel more stable in your journey and good things happen more easily.”

Unlike many makers who guard their processes, Laura is now keen to share hers widely.

“My next call is to open a shop and teach my techniques to make people realise anyone can make money out of upcycling,” she said.

“It has been a game-changer in my life. When I craft, it is like meditation.

“Even if you sell it very cheaply, the fact you created something and someone wants to buy it, will really change your life.

“Upcycling also teaches us what we throw away and that our main focus should be on creating instead of useless hobbies like shopping.”

Laura, who buys 95% of her clothes second hand, added: “I find fast fashion so useless and super stupid.

“People work so hard, then buy valueless items nonstop and it just doesn’t make any sense for me. I would love to inspire people to try crafting instead.

“I think every market should have one person who sells upcycled tyre jewellery.

“I hope to be the person who teaches them how to do that.”

Craft Central’s event takes place from November 19-20, 2022

SHOP LOCAL – CRAFT CENTRAL OPEN STUDIOS AND WINTER MARKET

See the work of Craft Central experts, including Laura Zabo, up-close at Craft Central’s home at The Forge from November 19-20, 2022, 10.30am -5pm.

The charity will be hosting an Open Studios and Winter Market event, which is free to visit and includes Silphi ‘s Venetian coloured glass jewellery and Pon Studio’s playful homeware.

The gallery space will be full of items to browse and buy, including Frank Horn’s leather accessories, Sato Hisao’s pop-up cards and paper craft and other products such as home accessories, jewellery, fashion, prints, ceramics, stationery and textiles, from £2.50 to £500.

There will be drop-in, pay-what- you-can workshops from noon-4pm in badge making on the Saturday and Christmas decoration painting on the Sunday.

Also, Carb Club will host Paint Your Own Pieces ceramics workshops all weekend and, on the Saturday, Sarah Richards will run an upcycling DIY Christmas Jumper workshop for £15 adult, £10 child.

Both require pre-booking.

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to Wharf Life’s weekly newsletter here

- Laura Enfield is a regular contributor to Wharf Life, writing about a wide range of subjects across Docklands and east London