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Royal Albert Wharf shared ownership, a first-time buyer case study

How history teacher Farhana Mallick put down roots in east London at NHG Homes’ development

Image shows first-time buyer Farhana Mallick, pictured in a white kitchen at her home. She is wearing a grey top and black trousers and has long black hair
Fahana Mallick, pictured in her apartment at NHG Homes’ Royal Albert Wharf

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“I would still be renting or living with my parents if it wasn’t for shared ownership – it gives you a lifeline, especially in your 20s or 30s,” said Farhana Mallick.

The history teacher turned to affordable housing provider NHG Homes when she began looking to put down roots in her home city.

Having been raised in east London, she’d spent her early 20s living in this part of the city and so initially looked at properties in Tower Hamlets and Ilford.

However, it was Royal Docks that ultimately turned her head, opting to purchase a quarter of a three-bedroom apartment in 2021.

“I decided I was done losing my money on rent,” said Farhana, who now teaches at a school in Barking And Dagenham. 

“I wanted to invest in a property, and have a home I could make my own.

“Shared ownership really appealed to me because it meant I required a much smaller deposit than if I was buying privately.”

Image shows a show home living area including a balcony with a view of the Thames
More shared ownership homes are set to become available at Royal Albert Wharf

a deposit, a mortgage and rent

Farhana, then aged 25, used a £13,250 deposit to buy her share of a property at NHG Homes’s Royal Albert Wharf scheme, taking out a mortgage to cover the remainder of the £132,500 cost.

The apartment, which was then valued at £530,000, costs her £1,391 per month which breaks down as £606 on the loan, £497 in rent and £288 in service charge.

“As a first-time buyer, NHG Homes really helped me to understand the process, and what the steps were,” said Farhana.

“I think many people aren’t aware of what shared ownership is or its benefits, but NHG Homes was so transparent and happy to answer all of my questions – the whole purchase was smooth and enjoyable, with wraparound care from the team.

“As a young person, living in this city, this home gives me great flexibility to either increase my share or sell it based on the market – I could definitely see myself raising a family here. 

“With shared ownership making my home more affordable, I’ve now got a spare bedroom and a great community on my doorstep.

“If I was to move homes, I think my next purchase would also be with shared ownership – I can’t recommend it enough.” 

Image shows Royal Albert Wharf at sunrise with the Royal Albert Docks impounding station in view. The buildings are brick-clad and around six storeys high
The development is located at the end of Royal Albert Dock and is on the banks of the Thames

selecting Royal Albert Wharf

NHG Homes and other affordable housing providers offer multiple locations where buyers can purchase shared ownership homes, so what made Royal Albert Wharf stand out? 

“I’ve stuck to my roots as I grew up in east London and the Royal Albert Wharf community has got a really modern and stylish twist to it,” said Farhana, who has now lived in the area for more than two years.

“I do travel into central London, but often I feel like I don’t really need to, because I’ve got so many things on my doorstep.

“If I am going into town, then I’ll take the DLR as it has so many connections.

“I shop locally a lot, including at Gallions Reach Shopping Park and also Beckton Triangle Retail Park, both of which are very close.”

The development is well connected, with Gallions Reach DLR station less than 10 minutes’ walk offering connections across east London including to the Elizabeth Line at Custom House.

From there, Canary Wharf is three minutes’ away, while Liverpool Street is nine minutes.

Royal Docks itself, which is currently undergoing billions of pounds of regeneration, offers multiple amenities including watersports, events at Excel, restaurants, bars and a new strip of attractions at Immerse LDN – find out more here about The Friends Experience: The One In London, which recently opened there.

More locally, Royal Albert Wharf is home to exhibition space Art In The Docks, Cyrus Todiwala’s Cafe Spice Namaste and The Well Bean Co.

Image shows Royal Albert Dock at night with lights reflected in the waters of the dock
Royal Albert Dock is an established community

fitting into a community

Farhana said: “Residents have created a great community here and that’s really rare to find, especially as a young person.

“We have our own group, which is great as you can get to know other people living here.  

“When I have friends or family visit, there is so much to do on the doorstep – from brunch to Yoga classes and a regular food market on Fridays as well as events happening in Royal Docks.

“There’s a children’s playground being built at the moment as well, and there’s a gym planned – I feel like it’s constantly evolving.

“I’m trying to get into my fitness these days and living here has helped that because it makes me want to get outside.  

“It’s so rare to see open water like this in the city. It’s a lovely area to be in.”

As a location to buy, Royal Docks makes a solid case. With much regeneration taking place locally and further transport links proposed, demand for homes is only likely to grow.

Image shows Farhana sitting in a wood-lined cafe enjoying a cup of coffee from The Well Bean Co
Farhana enjoys a coffee at The Well Bean Co, her local cafe

key details: Royal Albert Wharf

NHG Homes is set to launch a fresh collection of shared ownership properties at Royal Albert Wharf in September.

A new show home is set to launch at the scheme on August 31, 2024.

Apartments are also available for private sale at the east London development with prices for one, two and three-bedroom homes starting at £375,000, £494,995 and £660,000 respectively.

Call 020 3733 3571 to register your interest or find out more here

Read more: How Vertus continues to evolve its brand

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- 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
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Docklands Sinfonia lines up concerts in aid of St Anne’s Limehouse

Orchestra founder Spencer Down talks learning brass from his granddad and preparing to conduct Handel’s Water Music at the nautical venue

Image shows Spencer Down conducting the string section of the Docklands Sinfonia with a keyboard player and harpist in the background
Spencer Down conducting the Docklands Sinfonia

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St Anne’s Church in Limehouse is set to host a programme of events to help raise £3.6million towards the restoration and transformation of the building.

These include the Lonely World Youth Festival (August 31), a performance by the multicultural east London-based Grand Union Orchestra (September 7) and the Thames Festival: Sail Out (September 21) where young people will celebrate the building’s proud Docklands history.

We’re forward planners at Wharf Life, however, and so are looking even further ahead to an evening with St Anne’s resident orchestra, the Docklands Sinfonia on September 28, 2024.

“It’s our home – it’s where we rehearse and it’s been really important for us over the past 15 years,” said Spencer Down, the orchestra’s founder and musical director. 

“After our first concert in 2009, we got a call from the BBC to ask if we’d do a programme for them and we ended up playing in the Royal Albert Hall.

“Then loads of things started to happen – we played for the Queen at Buckingham Palace, we did a concert with Katie Melua at the London Coliseum and performed at the Barbican, but it is really important that we remain grounded in this community.”

That’s something especially close to the conductor’s heart, given his journey into music.

Image shows Spencer Down, a man in a white t-shirt and grey coat wiht close cropped mousy hair
Spencer was introduced to playing music by his granddad who worked as a shipwright in Docklands

from generation to generation

“That was through my granddad – he was a shipwright in the docks and then would play in the working men’s clubs at night,” said Spencer.

“He was a trumpeter and he’d take me and my brother along to the local brass band at Tilbury Docks – they gave us free instruments and got us going.

“I played the trombone and euphonium and my brother the trumpet.

“I started at seven and my granddad and members of the band taught us.

“We made great mates and that’s what kept us going back each week – not just the music, but the social side.

“It was multi-generational. On Sunday nights we would go with my mum and sister and everyone would spend the evening together.

“That ethos was very important when I was setting up the Docklands Sinfonia.

“Until he died, when I was 19, my granddad took us to so many concerts and rehearsals. I think he would be immensely proud.

“If he was here now he’d have been able to sit back, listen and enjoy himself.” 

Image shows the Docklands Sinfonia on stage mid-performance
The orchestra, which is based at St Anne’s has performed in all sorts of places

from brass to the baton

After cutting his teeth as a brass musician, Spencer went on to study at the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama in the City. 

He eventually specialised in conducting, before embarking on a career at the music college’s junior department that has seen him take charge of various ensembles and co-ordinate its brass operation for the past 25 years.   

“I was born in Grays, so it’s always been east London for me,” he said.

“At the time I was thinking about starting the Docklands Sinfonia, I was living on the Isle Of Dogs – a vibrant area that didn’t have an orchestra. 

“Setting one up was always a dream and finding St Anne’s was actually down to my wife, Kirsty Walker. 

“After our first child was born, we were out walking and went past the church.

“She popped in and came out saying she’d found the place for the orchestra.

“Then, along with her mum, she helped me set it up. 

“We met with the vicar and he was very helpful, telling us that they were coincidentally doing work to clear the altar, which would allow us to fit an orchestra in there.

“It was a bit like fate.”

Image shows St Anne's church in Limehouse, a white building surrounded by green lawns
Proceeds from the concert will go towards supporting the restoration of St Anne’s

creating the Docklands Sinfonia

“Putting it together was great. I got loads of mates involved – professional musicians and students from Guildhall and Trinity,” added Spencer.

“Over the years we’ve put on all sorts of concerts that have attracted lots of different crowds with film music, sitar concertos and Cuban pieces.

“We were the first British orchestra to do a whole programme of Persian music,

“It’s about playing and understanding music from different cultures.

“Across London there’s a lot of different communities, so it was important for us not to just perform classical pieces that everyone knows.

“Music’s a great way to bring people together – a language we can all understand and enjoy.

“We also want to bring people into St Anne’s so we can help raise the money and make it an even more amazing place.”

To that end, the orchestra will perform Oceans Of Sound: A Nautical Night At The Proms next month.

Spencer said: “The concert is part of the Thames Festival and so we’ll be playing Handel’s Water Music.

“It was written for King George I and was actually played as he went up and down the river on his barge in 1717.

“There was another barge filled with musicians and the story is the Thames was covered in boats with everyone listening to the music.

“The king went from Whitehall Palace up to Chelsea and then back again and is said to have been so pleased with it, the musicians had to play it a further three times.

“We won’t be doing that at St Anne’s.

“There will be other pieces too including Fantasia On British Sea Songs arranged by Henry Wood in 1905 to mark the centenary of the Battle Of Trafalgar.

“It starts off with bugle calls and ends with Rule Britannia. 

“There will also be some lighter music including the theme from Pirates Of The Caribbean. It all fits because the church has such strong naval connections.” 

key details: Docklands Sinfonia at St Anne’s

Oceans Of Sound: A Nautical Night At The Proms is set to take place on September 28, 2024, from 7.30pm.

Early bird tickets cost £18, rising to £25 for general release. Children’s tickets cost £12.  

Docklands Sinfonia will also perform a candelit concert in aid of St Anne’s on October 24 at 7.30pm.

You can also find out more about the Hawksmoor 300 campaign and its efforts to restore St Anne’s and its gardens for the people of Limehouse via this website. 

Find out more about the orchestra here

Read more: How Vertus continues to evolve its brand

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

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- 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
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Black Eats Fest returns to Woolwich Works with weekend of flavour

South-east London venue set to host street food and shopping event on September 14 and 15

Image shows Black Eats founder Jackson Mclarty at Woolwich Works, a man with a full beard and tightly cropped dark hair
Black Eats founder Jackson Mclarty at Woolwich Works

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Black Eats was born from a hobby.

Working at a marketing agency, Jackson Mclarty enjoyed lunches and dinners with clients.

Outside office hours, he liked visiting restaurants, bars and cafes – posting his favourites to social media as many do.

But that changed in 2020.

“During the pandemic, we had the George Floyd incident in the US and the Black Lives Matter movement that emerged,” said Jackson. 

“I was trying to support local, black-owned businesses as much as I could with my own personal spending.

“But I thought that, if I could encourage other people, then that would have a greater impact.

“So that’s why I created Black Eats as a directory – a place to educate and share information with people on where to go.

“I wanted them to know that they didn’t have to order online, that they could just go down the road and get food from a local supplier.

“We started with 100 restaurants in August 2020 – it seems such a long time ago now.

“At the time the Government’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme was offering 50% off and we launched a marketing campaign for the 45 businesses listed on Black Eats that were participating.

“That provided an incentive for people to visit those restaurants – we were saying: ‘Go on, try something new, get out of the house’.

“There was no financial benefit for me, I wasn’t gaining anything – it was just about educating people, which is the first step for anything.”

Image shows a man in a hood cooking food at Black Eats Fest
Black Eats was formed to support black-owned businesses

so what then for Black Eats?

The next step – building on the directory – was telling more people about it. Jackson increasingly used social media to promote black-owned hospitality businesses and generate an audience.

Today that stands at more than 70,000 followers and a directory of just over 500 restaurants.

However, the online presence was not an end in itself. Jackson had added a second string to Black Eats’ bow in 2021 by entering the world of live events.

“With the first Black Eats Fest in Hackney, I was going into unknown territory, I’d never run anything like that before,” he said. 

“I hadn’t even put up a gazebo. All I had was an audience – customers – and a concept.

“It was a massive risk, but I had a vision of what I wanted to execute and I was going to find out how to do it.

“At that first event, we had something like 25 traders and 2,000 ticket registrations across the weekend.

“That’s quite small compared to where we are now, but it felt impressive.”

Solid growth and success then saw two things happen.

Firstly, Jackson was able to leave his day job and focus full-time on Black Eats and, secondly, crowds of up to 15,000 people meant the live events needed to expand beyond Bohemia Market’s capacity to accommodate the footfall.

Image shows a tray of ribs from a recent festival in Woolwich
A tray of ribs at a recent festival

the right location

“For what we do, we had to look for a very particular space,” said Jackson.

“For us, having food of the correct quality means having an outdoor space so dishes can be cooked fresh.

“When you come to Black Eats Fest, you’re going to see the barbecues, the jerk pans and the fryers – all these different delights from different countries made right there.

“Woolwich Works is perfect because we have the courtyard, but there’s also indoor seating just in case we get attacked by rain.

“We never push the venue to full capacity, because we want the festival to be a place people can move around easily, so that they can try four or five different things over the four hours.

“There is real warmth in a carnival atmosphere where people are shoulder to shoulder, but this is a food festival and we want guests to be able to get around more easily than that.

“There’s so much to try.

“Back in June we had a Zimbabwean barbecue, a couple of jerk chicken vendors, a couple of Nigerian vendors, Guadelupean cuisine, Ethiopian cuisine and so much more.

“There are bars serving cocktails, one stall was doing drinks in pineapples and the cane juice was flowing.

“However Black Eats Fest also goes beyond food – there’s a whole cultural celebration.

“We have black-owned businesses selling everything from skincare to clothing, art, educational books and sunglasses.

“We try to be as diverse as possible, because we don’t want our visitors to see 10 of the same thing and the brands don’t want to be competing.

“It’s about people interacting with their customers – that’s what we really love.

“The whole point is to not be like a typical market or event where people come and it’s just transactional – a financial relationship.

“We want people to come here and feel fulfilled. Right now, those coming to Black Eats Fest will find around 15 food vendors and plenty of other businesses.

“It’s about coming and having an experience.”

Image show women enjoying drinks at Black Eats Fest at Woolwich Works' Fireworks Factory venue
Woolwich Works has space to eat indoors and out making it weatherproof for traders

expansion and growth

While the popularity of Black Eats Fest itself seems assured, its parent organisation is also in fine fettle.

Black Eats – alongside championing the businesses in its directory – has also diversified into supplying traders for events and this year sent businesses to some 10 festivals in two weeks, including the likes of Wireless and UK Black Pride.

“Running events around the UK would be the next step – we could do my home town of Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield,” said Jackson, who has relocated to Woolwich from north London.

“We need to find the right spaces and balance of traders, but that would be great.

“Then we’d love to look at major European cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.”

From there, who knows…

Image shows Every Fish Bar, serving up food at a Woolwich event
A wide range of traders feature at Black Eats’ events

key details: Black Eats Fest

Black Eats Fest returns to Woolwich Works from September 14-15. Each day features two sessions – from noon-4pm for families and from 5pm-9pm for over 18s.

Tickets cost £16.50 and are available on Black Eats website.

Sign up for the mailing list to access the early bird drop (£3 off) or follow @blackeatsldn on Insta.

Previous events have sold out, so stay sharp.

Find out more about the event here

Read more: How Vertus continues to evolve its brand

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to our free Wharf Whispers 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
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Friends The Experience: The One In London opens at Excel

Exhibition and conference centre’s kilometre-long waterside entertainment district, Immerse LDN, welcomes its first attraction

Three people sit on the orange Friends sofa in front of a fountain at Friends The Experience: The One In London
Friends The Experience: The One In London has opened its doors in east London

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“It’s comforting, welcoming and inviting – many people watch Friends again and again and have told us it’s the last thing they see before going to bed,” said Kathleen Wallis, vice president of global themed entertainment at Warner Bros. Discovery and one of two people heading up the creation of a new attraction in east London.

Together with Stacy Moscatelli, CEO of OGX Productions, the pair have taken a space at Excel’s newly minted Immerse LDN waterfront strip and conjured forth a little bit of sitcom magic. 

The Friends Experience: The One In London opened its doors this month (August, 2024), offering visitors the chance to pose and snap away in a series of painstakingly recreated sets from the show.

Not only that, there’s a chance to enjoy themed refreshments in a New York-style space after exploring the attraction and a gift shop. 

That this experience should be launching some two decades after the final episode aired, is testament to the comedy’s enduring popularity – the fact it has found fresh fans as younger audiences fall for the trials and tribulations of Rachel, Ross, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey.

Image shows three people posing at a table in Monica's apartment at The Friends Experience
A series of Friends sets have been painstakingly recreated at Immerse LDN

the mass appeal of Friends

“It’s got universal themes and many people use the show to learn how to speak English,” said Stacy.

“Everyone growing up experiences first love, room mates, navigating apartments, jobs, choosing careers, falling out – it’s just very relatable.

“The show was really well done and has held up – it’s still very enjoyable to watch.”

The attraction at Immerse LDN – which will house a number of visitor experiences as well as a food hall at the east London conference and exhibition centre – has its roots in a New York pop-up.

“We were talking around the studio about the 25th anniversary of Friends, so we decided to do something like a pop-up in New York City for 30 days in Soho,” said Kathleen.

“That was in 2019 and it was massively successful. I think everyone is a Friends fan on some level. 

“We’ve been creating these live experiences in different locations for a few years now, so we see the emotional reaction people have when they come into the spaces.

“The novelty of that never wears off – watching people being in the space, their reactions and where they take their pictures.

“With this one, we started off by thinking about what a fan would be disappointed by if we didn’t have it in a location like this – what should be in London?”

Image shows three people posing with mugs on the Friends sofa at Central Perk
Visitors can relax on the sofa at Central Perk

£20 entry to Friends The Experience

Visitors who pay the £20 ticket price will find a selection of sets such as the fountain from the title sequence, the characters’ apartments and a faithful recreation of coffee shop and sometime gig venue, Central Perk.

What’s fresh for this edition of the experience, however, are some significant nods to London including a tribute to Joey getting lost with his camcorder and Emily and Ross’ wedding.

“This is more than a pop-up, it’s a flagship creation here in London, where we bring to life all of the iconic sets and some of the fun from some of the episodes that people loved the most,” said Stacy.

“They get to immerse themselves in those places and relive what they loved about the show.”

Kathleen added: “While it’s a show that everyone has watched at some point, people haven’t stepped inside the physical spaces before.

“We start with the opening credits, the fountain, the music and then all the things you would expect.

“But we also fly visitors to London and we’ve got the interior of the chapel where visitors can recreate Ross’ wedding.”

While the altar isn’t real – you have to hop on the DLR to Shadwell to visit St John’s Church in Wapping, which was used for the location shoots in the series, for that – the romance certainly is.

“My favourite thing about these experiences we’ve created is the proposals,” said Kathleen. “We’ve had 270 across all our locations so far, which is amazing. 

“I think it shows the emotional connection people have with the series, that it makes sense for them to do that in our sets.”

Image shows two people posing at an altar in a church from Friends
Locations from scenes in London have also been recreated

emotional scenes

Stacy added: “I’ve seen the doors open and people just break down crying because it’s so emotional for them to be here on a set.

“We really hope that people have a joyful experience.

“As you walk through, we have a lot of episodes playing and you can’t help watching,  laughing and smiling.

“We’ve been around the world, and we still stop and laugh.

“We’re both Friends fans – my favourite episode is when Ross has trouble with his leather pants.

“We know we can’t disappoint people who love the show, so we created the sets with a forensic level of detail – we have to get it right, because the fans know – and we’ve worked really closely with Warner to make that happen.”

All this means that when you open the fridge in Monica’s apartment, Rachel’s traditional English trifle is right there lurking.

Jam, good. Custard, good. Beef, gooooood… 

Image shows two women stood in Central Park at Friends The Experience at Excel London
Kathleen Wallis, left, and Stacy Moscatelli of Warner and OGX

key details: Friends The Experience: The One In London

The Friends Experience: The One In London is now open, with bookings for dates all the way into February, 2025, available.

Tickets start at £20. VIP packages (including professional photography, which is typically extra) cost £65. 

Find out more about the attraction here

Read more: How Vertus continues to evolve its brand

Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here

Subscribe to our free Wharf Whispers 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
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Greenwich + Docklands International Festival ready for ‘all change’

We catch up with artistic director Bradley Hemmings as east and south-east London prepare for a full programme of free performances

Image shows spectacular fireworks being let off for GDIF production Silence
Silence is set to open Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2024

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Once again areas across south-east and east London are set to be filled with free, often breathtaking performances.

Now in its 29th year, the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival (GDIF) is back for 2024, bringing its traditional blend of awesome spectacle and thought-provoking shows to locations straddling the Thames.

In charge since the very first show, artistic director Bradley Hemmings and his team have put together a series of blockbusters and smaller happenings aimed at delighting residents, local workers and visitors.

We sat down with him to go over a few of the highlights to help you plan your diary.

“We’ve long been associated with very surprising and unusual events that pop-up and happen in locations across Greenwich and east London,” he said.

“This year we’re opening with a phenomenal performance by a French company – Les Commandos Percu.

“The show is called Silence and will take place at 8.30pm on August 23 at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich. 

“This awesome parade ground space will be filled with a fusion of pyrotechnics and percussion.

“With people going though difficult times, having something joyous and uplifting like that will be just the tonic.

“They’re a company we’ve worked with before – way back in 2016 – so we’re very much looking forward to welcoming them back.”

Image shows an artist's impression of a kiosk at Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2024
GDIF will feature World Kiosk in Green Street

Greenwich + Docklands International Festival – the small things

“We work across all sorts of different scales, it’s not all about large spectacles,” said Bradley

“For many people who come to the festival, it’s about having transformational experiences that disrupt the rhythm of the everyday.

 “This year’s theme is All Change – we’re inspired by Gandhi’s message to be the change you want to see.

“We’re going through seismic times and something that brings people together to reflect, think and have a great time is really important.

“One of the highlights for me will be smaller in scale, but very intimate and considered.

“World Kiosk will be in Green Street from noon-6pm from August 29 to September 1. 

“It invites people to take a breath – a moment outside the busyness of life – and provides a window into other people’s lives.

“Visitors are welcomed to the kiosk, which then serves them tea in a very ritualistic and beautiful way.

“Then they listen in to voices from people in other parts of the country who have been through this same process, sharing stories.

“It’s a sublime and beautiful experience, a wonderful reprieve from daily life.”

Image shows a performer on the edge of a 2/5 tonne block of ice suspended from a crane
Thaw takes place on top of a 2.5 tonne block of ice suspended from a crane

melting away

“At the other end of the scale, at Royal Albert Dock, we have an extraordinary spectacle from an Australian company called Legs On The Wall called Thaw,” said Bradley

“This production takes place on a 2.5 tonne block of ice suspended above the dock on a crane.

“Each day it runs for eight hours with a performer on top trying to navigate the changing shape of the block as it starts to melt.

“There’s a sense of jeopardy but also a wonderful soundscape that provides a chance to reflect and think very hard about what’s happening to the planet and the climate emergency.

“I think this will be one of the abiding images of this year’s festival – it runs on August 24 and 25, from 1pm-9pm at the University Of East London’s Royal Docks campus.”

Image shows dancers in tartan kilts, white shirts and blue trousers
Dancing City is set to take place in Stratford this year

miraculous movement

On September 7, from 1pm-6pm, a number of areas in Stratford will be awash with many forms of movement.

“Dancing City is an event that is really dear to my heart,” said Bradley.

“We set it up at Canary Wharf in 2003 and people have come to really love that event.

“This year it will take place at East Bank, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and in Stratford town centre.

“There’s a phenomenal range of dance companies taking part.

 “We’re working very closely with Sadler’s Wells East and East London Dance as well as other partners including Stratford Cross, UCL and the London College Of Fashion. 

“What will be wonderful about it is that it will be taking place in the midst of the Paralympic Games in Paris.

“I co-directed the London 2012 Paralympic opening ceremony, so there’s a personal history there and we’ll be presenting work led by deaf disabled artists.

“It feels wonderful to be continuing that Olympic legacy 12 years later.

“One of the pieces is called Synergy and has been choreographed by Mark Smith, who worked on the Paralympics with me.”

Image shows a woman with a pram participating in a Parkworks event at Greenwich + Docklands International Festival 2024
Parkworks is set to bring a day of family fun to Stratford

this year and the future

“One of the things that we will be doing next year is marking our 30th anniversary,” said Bradley.

“It’s enormously satisfying to see that GDIF is still there thanks to our partners.

“It seems to me that this will be a moment where we should be taking stock and thinking about what the next three decades will look like.

“Back to this year and we have A Ballad Of Thamesmead on September 6 and 7 at 8.30pm.

“It typifies what we aim to do – to create something miraculous and wonderful that reveals the story of this emerging part of London.

“Dante Or Die have created a piece around a clock tower, which originally sat in Deptford before the GLC transported it by barge down the Thames and rebuilt it as the centrepiece of Thamesead town centre.

“An 18th century structure improbably located in the middle of the 1980s development.

“Then my final highlight is festival of family fun – Parkworks, which takes place on August 25 and 26 from 1pm-6pm in Stratford Park.

“There will be a giant interactive climbing frame built from bamboo and parents with prams choreographed with headsets.”

key details: Greenwich + Docklands International Festival

The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival runs from August 23 to September 8, 2024.

All events are free to attend. These highlights are the tip of the iceberg.

Find full listings for the festival here

Read more: How Toby Kidman created a pub with soul at the Pacific Tavern

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- 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
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W’air Sneaker Laundry offers sustainable cleaning in Canary Wharf

Brand has expanded its east London operation using air, tapwater and detergent to get stains and muck off fabric trainers

A man cleans a fabric trainer with a W'air device at the brand's Canary Wharf branch
A W’air device is used to clean fabric trainers at the Canary Wharf branch

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The world increasingly lives in trainers.

Rewind 20 years and a typical Tube train on a weekday would be filled with commuters in smart leather shoes.

This was the boom time for cobblers and manufacturers of shoe polish. 

But the world turns. The pandemic accelerated a process that was already well underway.

A more casual attitude to clothing in many workplaces has now found its feet – for comfort, for style and for simple economic reasons, the trainer has won out. 

The logic of having a completely separate wardrobe for work and play, when so many industries no longer demand it is faltering.

But that also leaves us with a problem.

While a brush and a pot of polish were enough to refresh a pair of brogues, sneakers come in a much wider variety of styles and materials, providing a greater challenge when it comes to cleaning.

One might spend a painstaking evening with an old toothbrush, purchase an esoteric collection of products for the purpose or chuck them in a washing machine in a pillowcase – the latter not great for either the footwear or the appliance.  

But there are other options. Recently opened in Canary Wharf, W’air Sneaker Laundry offers services specifically tailored to shoes featuring fabrics in their design – elements that are especially prone to staining.

It all started with a machine developed to clean clothes.

W'air Sneaker Laundry in Canary Wharf, with two men working behind the counter
W’air Sneaker Laundry is located under One Canada Square in Canary Wharf

the origin: W’air Sneaker Laundry

“The device started life at Unilever, where it was designed before being picked up by Pilot Lite Ventures, which launched it as the world’s first eco-friendly handheld fabric care device,” said Kate Rixon, retail lead at W’air Sneaker Laundry.

“It uses cold tapwater and air with a bit of detergent, so it got its name as a blend of water and air. 

“I’d spent 30 years working for retail giant Arcadia until it went into administration in 2021 and joined Pilot Lite as a consultant.”

Initially, Kate sold the W’air  services into retail businesses such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, using it to spot clean stains and refresh garments in their stores.

“The whole ethos of W’air is sustainability,” said Kate.

“Garments in shops can get stained from children’s sticky fingers, make-up and even blood.

“Historically, those might be sent to landfill if they weren’t cleaned. W’air is about preventing that and also about reducing water use.

“Often garments don’t need washing, the stain just needs to be removed. 

“The W’air device only uses cold water and air plus a mild detergent which gives clothes a fresh smell so you’re saving on water and electricity.”

Adding another string to the company’s bow, the decision was made to target trainers with a consumer-facing venture.

Image shows W'air Sneaker Laundry operations manager Oliver Grout, a man with long brown hair and a moustache in a blue top
W’air Sneaker Laundry operations manager Oliver Grout

dipping a toe in

“We decided to diversify into sneaker cleaning and opened a kiosk at Westfield Stratford City to test the market,” said Kate. “Now we’re in Canary Wharf too.

“People are wearing trainers a lot more now, so that’s one reason we went down this route alongside our garment cleaning business.

“The W’air device is a pressure pump and it works a bit like a steam cleaner only with cold water. It flushes out stains on fabric like oil, make-up, red wine and soy sauce.

“Then you just need to let whatever you’re washing dry overnight and it’s ready to go.

“Because there’s a slight fragrance with the detergent, it also refreshes clothes and sneakers, removing any odours without using chemicals like Febreze.”

As operations manager, Oliver Grout is the man charged with running the Canary Wharf and Stratford sites.

Now aged 21, he embarked on a retail career with Waitrose before swapping the supermarket for W’air. 

“After training, we started off in Westfield and had a really good year before deciding it would be worth dipping our toes in Canary Wharf,” he said.

“The W’air device is part of our cleaning toolkit – it’s not a magic machine that can get rid of everything.

“But it does an amazing job on fabric trainers including suede and canvas, where the dirt can be embedded.

“It’s a targeted cleaner, and works very well with old stains which might otherwise be difficult to remove with your normal equipment. That’s where it really shines.

“It’s also good at removing excess dirt.

“If you’ve been out in fields with your shoes caked in mud, using a brush can just embed the dirt more deeply in the fabric.”

blasting away

“With the W’air device, you aim it at the dirt and it blasts it up and away from the shoe, rather than smudging it in further,” added Oliver.

“In addition to cleaning, we also offer deoxidisation.

“For example, white soles on trainers can start to bleach from exposure to direct sunlight, so we have machines which will reverse that process and restore the shoes back to their proper colour.

“Having had staff members with connections to Canary Wharf, we thought it would be a good area for our services.

“You get a lot of people passing through the malls whether they live here, work here or are just visiting.

“It’s hard to pinpoint our typical customer, but we see a lot of lifestyle sneakers because they get taken out and worn so much.

“People do bring in shoes that have been lying there for ages or hidden away in cupboards for anything up to a year.

“We won’t always be able to make shoes look like new, but we can smarten them up so they can be worn again.”

W’air recommends purely leather trainers are best taken to the cobbler, as its technology is much more geared towards cleaning fabric.

To that end, the firm also offers spot cleaning for garments and handbags at its sites.

The focus, however, is on trainers and W’air Sneaker Laundry will be popping up outside Waitrose on August 14, 2024, to demonstrate its cleaning powers to Wharfers in more detail.

Alternatively, drop into one of its branches and find out more.

key details: W’air Sneaker Laundry

You can find W’air Sneaker Laundry’s Canary Wharf branch in the mall underneath One Canada Square.

The business is weekdays from 8am-6pm and from 10am on Saturdays and 11am on Sundays with the same closing time. 

Standard cleaning services for sneakers start at £30.

The business also has a branch at Westfield Stratford City.

Find out more about the brand here

Read more: How Toby Kidman created a pub with soul at the Pacific Tavern

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- 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
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Creative Industries Festival set to bring jobs and inspiration to UEL

The University Of East London’s Alison Lowe on founding an event driven by collaboration

Image shows a face with stylised makeup, blue hair and a matching outfit with purple highlights
UEL’s Creative Industries Festival is set to take place in September 2024

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“One of the biggest challenges in the creative industries is not knowing who to connect to – it’s still very much who you know,” said Alison Lowe, director of careers and enterprise at the University Of East London’s School Of Arts And Creative Industries.

“The other main one is confidence.”

Both, however, will be firmly in the crosshairs early next month as UEL’s Creative Industries Festival arrives at the institution’s Royal Docks Centre For Sustainability. 

Billed both as a careers fair and a major networking opportunity, the four-day event aims to attract those working in art, architecture, performing arts, fashion, media, advertising, illustration and business as well as those seeking opportunities in those sectors. 

“While it was my idea, we have an amazing group of students and interns that have worked on it – it’s really all about their generation,” said Alison.

“Anyone who is creative can come along.

“For students and alumni it will be about getting on the career ladder.

“We’ll have recruiters here and talent scouts looking for the next generation of talent, so it will be a brilliant opportunity.

“Then there will also be lots of workshops, learning and networking.

“It’s tough to get a job in the creative industries and there’s often a gap with graduates not having the right contacts, so we want them to come along and meet people.

“It will also be for people working in the creative industries.

“It’s not always easy to see who’s doing what, so we want lots of big organisations to come along so we can all learn about each other – what are we doing and how we can collaborate.”

Image shows Alison Lowe of UEL, a blonde woman wearing a black dress with an amber necklace
UEL’s Alison Lowe has created the event to bring students and creative professionals together in east London

the Creative Industries Festival, a natural move

It’s an area that Alison is well-placed to operate in, having spent much of her career connecting creative people with employment opportunities and helping brands communicate their stories to customers.

“I started in performing arts at 16 at the Birmingham Rep as an actress,” she said.

“I had no training, went along to an audition and got my first job.

“Working in the performing arts for several years, I discovered I’m also a natural entrepreneur. 

“After a few years, I realised that while I could always find work, a lot of people I knew couldn’t, and they were far better actresses and singers than I was.

“So I started helping other people and founded my first business, Chameleon, which was a recruitment consultancy for creative people.

“I’ve had seven businesses, all of them consultancies or recruitment firms.

“My last business, Felicities, ran for 25 years supporting fashion designers, which saw me awarded an MBE for services to the industry.

“Initially I came to UEL to write some new programmes such as an MBA in fashion entrepreneurship and an MA in creative enterprise and came to the director’s role from that.

“The festival will be partly a path to jobs, but also to help build relationships within the creative sector.

“Luckily, with the work I’ve done, I’ve got quite a lot of connections, so I can reach out to people and ask if they’ll be part of it, so it’s building those community links.

“It’s also to get the young people in and ask them what their challenges are – to find out what they are trying to overcome in 2024 when they’re trying to get an interview or an audition.”

Image shows the Royal Docks Centre For Sustainability at UEL, an angular building with a black clad and glass exterior
The Royal Docks Centre For Sustainability at UEL will host the majority of the festival

manifesting a future

“Something that I learnt many years ago when I was starting out was to tell people I was an actress rather than talking about whatever other work I might have been doing to pay the bills,” said Alison.

“The word now is ‘manifesting’.

“I remember going to a party and someone asked me what I did.

“I said I was an actress and felt such a twit saying it, because I’d finished the Birmingham Rep job and there wasn’t another one to follow it.

“But he said: ‘Oh, are you?’, and turned out to be a director, so I worked for him for the next two years.

“The lesson is that if you don’t say what you are, it won’t happen.

“If you are confident about who you are and what you do, other people will believe you.

“I think that’s a real challenge for a lot of our students at UEL. Perhaps they come from more disadvantaged backgrounds and might often be first-generation creatives – they may have relatives asking them when they’re going to get a proper job because  they don’t have any experience of these industries. 

“Then there’s the challenge of actually getting paid.

“As a young fashion designer, for example, everyone wants you to do everything for free. But getting paid is about valuing yourself and what you do. It’s vital.”

together to collaborate

Partners for the Creative Industries Festival will include Canva, Lego, GLA, East Bank, the Foundation For Future London, Cine Circle, The Developing Room and creativeLDN.

The three-day programme at Royal Docks boasts free workshops, talks, panel discussions, installations, performances, a pop-up shop, hackathons, showcases and a creative talent careers fair.

“We want it to be fun and to have a real creative buzz,” said Alison.

“We’ve invited as many people as possible from the creative industries. 

“For the Community Day, we’ll be working with Stratford Originals who will be coming up with a map for people to go around different creative spaces in Stratford. 

“We’ll be starting off at St John’s Church Yard, with activities for all the family at the different creative businesses participating.

“It’s really about fostering that community spirit.”

Another key focus for the festival will be how business and creativity interact. 

“Entrepreneurs are creative people, so the festival is also about creative thinking in business,” said Alison.

“What we’ve learned over the last few years is that we have to be creative in our business activities to succeed.

“In a nutshell, the festival presents a platform for change, where creative talent, policymakers, academics, entrepreneurs and students will come together to share knowledge, develop collaborations and initiate innovations. 

“Come and join us to make positive changes throughout the creative industries.”

key details: Creative Industries Festival

UEL’s Creative Industries Festival takes place over three days at the Royal Docks Centre For Sustainability from September 4-6, 2024. Times vary.

This will be followed by a Community Day at St John’s Church Yard in Stratford, running from 11am-2pm on September 7, 2024.

Tickets for the festival are free.

You can find more details and listings here

Read more: How Toby Kidman created a pub with soul at the Pacific Tavern

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- 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
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Vertus set to evolve its Canary Wharf offering with short stay plan

We sit down with Vertus managing director Alastair Mullens to find out how he’s grown and softened the residential brand plus what the future holds

Image shows Vertus blocks at Wood Wharf, clad in brick in front of more residential towers
Vertus’ residential rental operation is a key part of the Canary Wharf estate

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Things move fast in Canary Wharf.

Already, in August 2024, it’s hard to remember a time when people weren’t living on the estate – such has been the interweaving of the blossoming residential community with the fabric of the place, a shift in mindset to becoming a truly 24/7 slice of London. 

But in 2018 it was all still to come.

That’s when Alastair Mullens took on the role of managing director at a newly minted Canary Wharf Group subsidiary called Vertus, created to handle the estate’s crop of build-to-rent (BTR) properties.

At the time, BTR was still a relatively new concept in the capital and, indeed, the rest of the UK.

But, aiming to ape the success of well-established “multi-family” schemes in the USA and elsewhere, it was already gaining traction among developers who saw the potential advantages in terms of easier financing and steady income streams against the big revenue splashes of private sale.

Image shows Vertus managing director Alastair Mullens, a man in a blue suit and a white shirt with blonde hair
Vertus managing director Alastair Mullens

a mountain to climb

“When I arrived, it was just me and one other member of staff,” said Alastair.

“It looked like a very big mountain to climb.

“But now we have more than 75 people working at Vertus – the team did an amazing job and it’s been a really great journey.”

Specifically, the company has completely filled three buildings on the estate – 10 George Street and 8 Water Street in Wood Wharf and Newfoundland, which sits to the western edge of the estate. 

Even within this relatively short space of time, however, there’s been a constant feel of agile evolution.

“Vertus was very much born out of Canary Wharf and initially it felt quite corporate,” said Alastair.

“It was directed at a customer base we thought we were going to attract – the people who worked on the estate, who could afford to rent through us.

“That was very successful and about 70% of the people who moved into the first phase of 10 George Street were those workers.

“Today though, that percentage is around 25% at full occupancy.

“It’s a change that has been driven by two things – the arrival of the Elizabeth Line and the way the pandemic has shifted things.

“People now have more flexibility for work and may not be in the office five days a week.

“They have more of a choice about where they live and many are choosing Canary Wharf, even if they don’t work here.”

a resurgent Canary Wharf

It’s demand that’s perhaps unsurprising.

The estate’s resurgence after Covid has seen a wealth of attractions arrive locally, prompting 67.2million people to visit in 2023.

The latest figures for July show the month was 8.5% up on last year.

Canary Wharf is hot in a way that has nothing to do with the summer weather. 

Its decision to embrace competitive socialising, an enhanced hospitality offering and even kids activities, has turned it from an area that was once overlooked to a place Londoners are actively seeking out.

Less formal, less corporate – more fun, more relaxed. 

While Vertus’s buildings are currently full, its journey is really only just beginning.

In preparation for what’s to come, it’s softened its branding in line with the Wharf of the mid 2020s and to reflect the greater flexibility it’s about to bring to the market. 

Image shows a bed, with an abstract picture on the wall as well as a reading light
The brand is set to launch studios for shorter stays at the start of 2025 under the Vertus Edit brand

softening brand Vertus

“We’ve kept the name with the rebrand but have taken time to understand how our customers see us,” said Alastair. 

“We’re not just a corporate landlord they’re renting from to get a good service.

“Words like  ‘friendship’ and ‘interaction’ – both with fellow-residents and our team – are what we thrive on.

“The brand now feels more homely, rather than just a company providing places to live. 

“Outwardly we’re far softer and we’ve done a lot of work on the tone of our voice so it feels friendlier.

“That’s both in our image and advertising, but also in our communications with residents. We’re delivering the same messages but in a less formal, more direct way.

“This has come from the way we’ve seen residents interact with our team – that they prefer to be addressed by their first names, for example.

“All of this is a shift in mentality – a change in the demographic living with us and, perhaps, the way in which people now feel about being less formal.

“Historically, the Canary Wharf estate has been very corporate.

“Aesthetically it’s been steel, glass and concrete. 

“But in recent years it’s softened too – green walls, green lamp posts and our collaboration with the Eden Project in Middle Dock.

“Then there’s the leisure offer, which has made it a more fun environment.

“A good example was when we held The North Face Climb Festival at Wood Wharf recently.

“Our team said residents saw the buzz and were attracted to it.

“Originally we marketed the area as a private estate filled with peace and tranquillity. 

“Now we’re selling an environment that’s increasingly lively and fun – somewhere people really want to be.”

Image shows a kitchenette in a Vertus Edit property
Vertus Edit studios come complete with kitchenettes

homes in the pipeline

The good news for those who would also like to live locally is that Vertus is by no means done providing apartments. 

“Two new towers at 50 and 60 Charter Street will see more than 750 Vertus apartments available to rent, with around 300 ready by the end of 2025 and the rest by mid-2026,” said Alastair. 

“Then, 40 Charter Street completes at the end of 2027 with more than 550 properties.

“We’ve taken much of what we’ve learnt from our current buildings – how the concierge teams work, rolling out parcel delivery to individual apartments and offering more co-working space – and put this into these towers.

“They will give us another 1,300 BTR apartments in Canary Wharf.

“We’ve also learnt a lot about fostering community and, about a year ago, reimagined our resident engagement programme as Vertus Plus. 

“This includes perks such as early access to new restaurant openings and discounts at retailers on the estate as well as an events team that works to arrange experiences for those living in our apartments. 

“When you see a group going for dinner after an event, you know they have connected – we can bring people together, but it’s our residents who build the community.

“In order to support that, we are very much encouraging longer tenancies in our buildings.”

Image shows a Vertus Edit studio with a bed and a kitchenette reflected in the mirror
Vertus Edit studios are available to book from February 2025

Vertus Edit, a shorter stay

While the arrival of new properties will doubtless be welcome given the demand for tenancies in Vertus’ existing portfolio, the company is also further evolving its offering to appeal to those with different needs.

Vertus Edit offers 378 studios for more flexible, shorter stays – even for a single night.

“These are completing around the end of this year and will offer people the opportunity to stay in a Vertus product for a number of nights or months,” said Alastair.

“The studios are, on average, 17sq m and have everything a visitor needs. 

“They’ve got small kitchenettes, with hobs, combination microwave ovens and enough storage for pots and pans.

“It’s a product that’s fun, colourful and funky.

“We’ve long been getting enquiries about short-term rentals and we are now able to say that there is an option.

“We’re using the equity in the Vertus brand for this because people recognise it and Vertus Edit becomes that place to stay in Canary Wharf.

“Then, if someone enjoys a short-term stay in the area and sees what we have to offer, they may well decide to upgrade.”

next steps

As for the future, with Canary Wharf’s continued growth there’s still much more in the pipeline.

“We are developing North Quay, so the question is how we offer appropriate accommodation for people working in the life sciences space,” said Alastair.

“I’d also like to see a BTR product with reduced amenity.

“We’ve followed the American model and we offer a great product and great service but not everyone wants things like a big lounge, a gym or a cinema room.

“Some people just want to rent a good apartment that’s well managed with high-speed broadband.

“I think if we could do something like that it would be well taken up with people paying a reduced rent for fewer amenities.

“There’s not a lot around like that in the market at the moment. 

“This may also allow tenants to save more easily if they want to buy a property in the future.” 

key details: Vertus

More information about renting with Vertus and stays with Vertus Edit can be found here.

Single night bookings for the latter start at £100 a night for two people.

Discounts for longer stays are available.

Read more: How Toby Kidman created a pub with soul at the Pacific Tavern

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- 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
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Canary Wharf welcomes artwork by Henry Gibbs celebrating Pride

The artist has used reflective aluminium paint and black dots to create intimate scenes of himself and his friends on walls at Wren Landing

Artist Henry Gibbs stands in front of his mural Get Real in Canary Wharf, a young man in a black top and denim shorts
Artist Henry Gibbs with detail from Get Real in Canary Wharf

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Canary Wharf’s Pride month celebrations generally feature vibrant colours.

From the rainbow pedestrian crossings to the multicolour triangles of Lothar Götz, subtly recalling the abuse of LGBTQIA+ people at the hands of the Nazis.

But Henry Gibbs Get Real, painted on three walls at Wren Landing overlooking West India North Dock, presents a different take on queer relationships and intimacy.

Pass by close up and his monochrome dots may well be incomprehensible – a random pattern in black and white.

But move further away and things start to come into focus. 

Two women look at Henry's artwork at Canary Wharf's Wren Landing
Passers-by take in Get Real at Wren Landing

discovery in abstraction

“While I was painting it, I hadn’t really comprehended the image because I was very close to it all the time,” said Henry, who spent three weeks creating the work.

“When I felt something from it was when I went over to the other side of the dock.

“That action of taking a step back is when the emotion comes, not necessarily one particular feeling, but really trying to understand something and getting to know it.

“The act of abstraction and including hidden references is a very queer thing. I could say that the dots are a queer abstraction, which is a theory in itself.

“Then there’s the use of colour in the work – I wanted to create something more understated for this commission.

“With the black dots I was thinking about light, so I used aluminium reflective paint as the base, which literally takes light and colour from the sources around it.

“That’s a queer thing in itself, because of the constant change that is being influenced by the painting’s environment.

“The black dots are also like a newspaper-style print and the mural as a whole has this aspect of absorption, which is a reflection of queer identity.

“The aluminium paint will pick up some colour in different lights – at sunset it can have an orange glow and there will be a similar effect at five in the morning as well as the glow of artificial lights at night.”

Henry is the second artist to create work on the estate through Canary Wharf Group’s partnership with Pictorum Gallery, following the unveiling of Lydia Hamblet’s Together, Basking On The South Quay in 2023. 

A recent graduate of Central Saint Martins, he said he’d developed an increasingly mechanical way of painting, having become interested in technology as a medium.

Artist Henry Gibbs stands in front of his mural Get Real in Canary Wharf, a young man in a black top and denim shorts
Henry says the dots he uses create a ‘distorted, abstract look up close’

joining the dots

“I developed this dot technique, using found imagery and photography I do myself,” he said.

“I half-tone and then project them onto a canvas to create a distorted, abstract look up close.

“Then at a distance – or if you view it online – you get a sense of the image that’s there. That’s also the technique I used for the mural.

“The title comes from the film Get Real, which is about coming out in school – it’s quite a raw 1990s movie that was cheaply made but has a real impact and a strong message about growing up gay.

“The painting’s title is also about Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory of The Real – that your self comes from within and is not influenced by anything else.

“I don’t really believe in coming out, but my real self is found in the images in the work. It features my friends Ed and Tommy as well as me on the thinner wall.

“It references my own queer friendships and intimacies, which have only developed quite recently, so there’s discovery too, which I wanted to celebrate. 

“It’s a strange feeling to have this mural in Canary Wharf. It’s my thing, but it’s also such a public display of the work.

“I would have to go and see people looking at it to understand how that feels – I can’t really imagine it.

“I found the process of doing it very exposing, because there were people watching me doing it. It did feel good to complete it.

“My friends and family all came to the launch and I felt pleased with what I’ve done.

“I’d never been to Canary Wharf before this project, I didn’t know who I’d be working with or where.

“There were a lot of late nights, a lot of work, but we got it done and I feel very accomplished.  

Image shows Get Real from further away with images of men visible in the dots
Viewers can make out images as they move further away from the work

key details: Get Real in Canary Wharf

Get Real can be seen at Wren Landing (between Cabot Square and West India North Dock.

It is a permanent part of Canary Wharf’s public art collection and will be on display for the foreseeable future.

Find out more about the mural here

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- 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
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UCL School Of Management seeks people to take part in studies

The university’s business school is seeking participants for experiments in its Behavioural Research Lab at Canary Wharf’s One Canada Square

Image shows UCL School Of Management Behavioural Research Lab manager Sharmay Mitchell outside One Canada Square in Canary Wharf. A woman wearing a blue and white dress with long dreadlocks swept to the left
UCL School Of Management Behavioural Research Lab manager Sharmay Mitchell

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On the 38th floor of One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, two young men are attempting to build a structure.

Having only just met, they’ve been tasked with raising a marshmallow as high as possible using just dried spaghetti, string and masking tape.

They’re told their creation must stand without support for 10 seconds and be as creative as possible. They have five minutes…

It’s a sticky session.

Ignoring the tape and string at first, they tear into the marshmallow, employing it as a kind of gum to bind the lengths of pasta into flimsy tetrahedrons. 

Attempts to go higher expose the sweet’s limitations as an adhesive and, as the clock ticks down, they tape a single length of spaghetti onto the top of one tripod and place a blob of mashmallow on its end.

They’re done. 

The table is sticky with effort, but the task is complete and there are smiles all round. 

While I’m not privy to the goings-on in all corner offices on the 50 floors of One Canada Square, I’m willing to bet this is the only one that’s a venue for pasta construction.

It’s a reflection perhaps of the growing diversity of the Wharf with financial services firms increasingly sitting alongside organisations specialising in education, life sciences, technology and construction. 

What I’ve just witnessed is a session organised at UCL School Of Management’s Behavioural Research Lab.

Designed to allow the study of how and why humans do what they do in specific situations, the facility is run by Sharmay Mitchell.

Two men sit either side of a tower of dried spaghetti, marshmallow and tape they have just built as part of an experiment at UCL School Of Management's Behavioural Research Lab in Canary Wharf
Participants take part in an experiment at the lab in One Canada Square

a place for experimentation

“Once the professors have designed the studies, they come to me to recruit the participants and work out the logistics,” said the psychologist, who has more than 13 years of experience presiding over such experiments.

“Having run hundreds of studies, I think of the things other people might not.

“For example, a study might require that two participants be strangers, so you wouldn’t want them talking before the session.

“I’d also be watching to see if they were already friends and then split them up and put them with someone else, if needed.

“It’s also my job to ensure people have consented to being involved and to collect the data for the researchers, so it can be analysed. 

“We always need more participants.

“Anyone over 18 can take part, although people need a good command of English so they can interact with others and understand instructions.

“It’s something completely different for people to do – something novel.

“Many don’t know UCL is here in Canary Wharf, so it’s an opportunity for them to find out what kind of research is happening on the estate.

“It’s exciting too. You get to meet new people who may be working or studying here and most of our studies last up to an hour, so it’s something that can be done in a lunch break.

“We usually give participants £10 in cash or a gift card for studies of that length, as a thank-you for their time.”

in person or online

Studies can be in person or online with participants typically unaware of why they are being asked to complete the tasks they are given.

“Everyone gets a debrief at the end so they can understand what they were doing and why,” said Sharmay, who studied at the University Of Westminster, UCL and King’s College London, before embarking on a career in academia at the London Business School.

“It usually takes a while for the analysis and write-up to come through – sometimes a year – but once a study is published I always like to send out that information so participants can discover the findings and how their contribution to knowledge has been used.

“All of our studies are approved by UCL’s ethics committee and the data is anonymous – each participant has a unique ID number and that’s how I’ll refer to them in the data.

“At the start we usually describe studies in general terms.

“For example, we wouldn’t tell them that they’ll be using spaghetti to build a tower, just that they’d be taking part in a creative task within a group.

“I find it fascinating that some people get so dedicated to the tasks they are given – but I like that they take it seriously as well.

“Once there was a study where people were asked to build a house out of Lego, with as much time as they liked.

“One participant spent two hours doing it because they were so into it.

“When participants are being observed they definitely behave differently and, if they think they’re not being observed, they do all sorts of things.

“In the previous lab I worked at, we ran a study where participants were asked to throw a ball into a basket and tell us how many times they managed to get it in.

“They got 10p for each successful attempt.

“The ones who thought they were not being observed mostly lied about the results, although a small percentage told the truth.”

a variety of tasks

Tasks in studies vary greatly.

Sometimes participants will fill in digital surveys or may be asked to do things on their own or in groups.

People wishing to take part enter their details on a database that Sharmay uses to source participants.

“That generates a research account for them where they can log in and choose studies they are interested in,” she said.

“We also send out emails about other studies as well to recruit people. There’s no limit to the number of studies a person can participate in. It can be as many or few as they wish, but some studies will have specific criteria.

“For example, the researcher will be looking for people who are in work full-time or things like that. The more people we have signed up, the more studies we can run.”

key details: UCL School Of Management’s Behavioural Research Lab

The Behavioural Research Lab is part of UCL School Of Management, which is located on the 50th and 38th floors of One Canada Square.

Anyone over the age of 18 can sign up to participate in its experiments.

Those wishing to do so can sign up via the QR code below or are welcome to email mgmt-lab@ucl.ac.uk for more information.

UCL School Of Management offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes in management, entrepreneurship, information management for business, management science and business analytics.

Find out more about participating in studies or sign up here

Image shows PhD student and teaching assistant at UCL School Of Management, Velvetina Lim, weaing a red jumper
PhD student and teaching assistant at UCL School Of Management, Velvetina Lim

case study: an experiment at UCL School Of Management

Velvetina Lim is a PhD student and teaching assistant at UCL School Of Management.

When I arrive at One Canada Square, she’s the one conducting the experiment with the spaghetti, which I witness – a task preceded by a short session where the two male participants ask each other searching questions.

“We try to do interactive tasks – where participants might do things with their hands, conduct surveys, evaluate ideas or have group discussions – and this ranges across different topics, such as social relationships or negotiating in job interview situations,” said Velvetina.

“My PhD is in social networks and creativity – exploring how connecting with each other can help us to discover the big ideas and how evaluating those ideas together strengthens social bonds.

“My hope in conducting these experiments is to see what specific aspects of an interaction we can isolate and manipulate and how that transfers onto specific outcomes, such as how much participants were talking to each other while trying to solve particular problems.

“Ideally during the experiments I’m in the room, but in the corner to make things as realistic as possible.

“With these experiments, the idea is you’re isolating variables in a controlled environment.

“However, hopefully they are also simulations of situations as well – in this case emulating a product design team checking in with each other at the start of the week before engaging in project meetings.

“The first part of the experiment uses established research tasks where strangers ask intimate questions to get them to be friends and really foster a social relationship.

“Sometimes one person in the group might secretly be part of the experiment so I can manipulate what questions are asked and whether the feedback they give is positive or negative.

“That allows us to investigate how those interactions relate to problem solving with the spaghetti.

“One of things I’m looking at is what happens if we label an idea ‘creative’ – how would that feed back into how the next idea is produced?

“I think this is a pertinent question about the relationship between feedback and creativity.

“When we’re looking at startups or advertising agencies, for example, we often notice how such iterative interactions across time have an impact on the creative flow that creatives experience.

“This helps shape the way managers and leaders feed back to them.

“I would certainly recommend people come by and participate in these sorts of tasks. 

“It’s not just one way to earn a bit of quick money, but it’s a nice thing to do on a lunchtime break.

“I think that sometimes doing these tasks can help participants discover who they are or let them learn new things about themselves.

“It can also help people focus on things they might ask one another when forming new friendships.” 

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- 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
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