Docklands Archives - Page 19 of 36

May 3, 2023May 3, 2023

Canary Wharf: How the WaterAid Dragon Boat Race is coming to South Dock

The Canada Square-based charity is inviting teams to raise funds for its cause and paddle for glory

The WaterAid Dragon Boat Race takes place at West India South Dock

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With so much water in this part of London, it’s easy to imagine it as a universally available resource.

Canary Wharf and the Isle Of Dogs are embraced by the lazy meander of the Thames.

Then there are the vast pools of the docks themselves and canals that connect them, which carve up the landscape.

The stuff is everywhere and – as evidenced by Love Open Water’s project in Middle Dock last year – easily clean enough to swim in, even if glugging down huge quantities is probably unwise.

Everywhere there are shiny new apartments with rainfall showers, designer toilets and taps pumping the stuff up 50 floors so we can live in towers. It’s literally available on tap.

So it’s easy to forget that about one in 10 people globally live without access to clean water close to their homes.

This basic human right is unavailable to some 771million people globally, with the battle simply to slake their thirst and stay alive a terrible brake on almost all aspects of their existence, be it education, work, health – the list is endless.

Teams raise funds, then compete for glory at the event

The mission of WaterAid is simple.

Within a generation, the charity is working tirelessly to make sure everyone in the world has sustainable access to both clean water and decent toilets – the integrity of the former, dependent on the latter.

Founded in 1981, it has helped more than 28million people get clean water and 29million people get decent toilets, helping lower the percentage of those without access from one in eight, to one in 10.

“I got involved with the charity because my family is from Bangladesh and I’ve seen first-hand what a lack of hygiene and clean water can do,” said Aminur Rahman, supporter care advisor at WaterAid.

“In Bangladesh it’s very common for under fives to die from lack of clean water.

“Children tend to go to local ponds with dirty water to drink. I’ve had personal experience of that with a relative.

“I’ve been to Bangladesh a few times, so for me this cause is something personal that’s close to my heart.”

“You can’t really argue with what we’re trying to do,” added Fiona Lavery, the charity’s change and employee experience director.

“We work in 27 different countries around the world, predominantly in Africa and south-east Asia, including Mali, Bangladesh, Madagascar and Colombia.

“Each one is different, which makes the challenge a complex one.

“It can be about a lack of infrastructure in rural or urban areas – or it might be that there are marginalised people who can’t get at it because of the situation they’re living in.

“It can be about taps and toilets, but water is also a political issue and a cultural one. As an organisation, we only employ local people to deliver our projects and that’s the right approach because it is community led.

“We empower people to have access to solutions, rather than flying in, giving them something and then going away again.

“That would not be sustainable.”

Various prizes are up for grabs, including best dressed team

HOW TO HELP

In order to do this work, WaterAid needs a constant flow of funds and recently announced the return of its Canary Wharf Dragon Boat Race.

Teams of between 11 and 17 will do battle on the waters of West India South Dock on July 6, 2023, from 11.30am to 6.30pm.

In addition to an entry fee of £350, teams are set a fundraising target of £1,500 and challenged to exceed it.

On the day, each team will race at least three times in a series of heats, with the fastest three teams taking part in a grand final.

Prizes will be handed out for the three fastest boats, best-dressed team and, of course, most successful fundraisers.

The event also includes lunch and a post-race reception with a welcome drink.

“The events fundraising team at WaterAid wanted to create a water-themed event in Canary Wharf since we moved to the area in 2020,” said Corinne Stone, the charity’s senior community and events officer who is organising the race.

“As dragon boat racing is becoming one of the most popular corporate sports in the UK today, we thought it would be a brilliant opportunity to use the water on the docks and engage with our corporate neighbours in Canary Wharf whilst raising vital funds for our cause.

“Last year was a huge success and I’m so excited to welcome even more teams for 2023 for what is a fun, competitive and great team building experience.”

Sponsored by Canary Wharf Group, the event raised £26,000 for WaterAid last year with 15 teams competing and aims to exceed that in 2023.

“It’s the perfect setting for the community to get involved,” said Aminur.

“It’s a competitive challenge but it’s also fun and we’re raising awareness at the same time.

“It’s not just about financial support either because just having that visibility can lead to people doing things like petitioning their MP or local authority to highlight this issue.”

Teams of between 11 and 17 are given a funding target of £1,500

“We took part last year and it was brilliant,” added Fiona.

“It was harder than I expected and got highly competitive, but I would say that, for any organisation that wants a proper team-building day, this is perfect.

“You have everyone in the boat and you have to learn to think together.

“We had people from across the organisation in the boat – some I’d never met in 11 years of working at WaterAid – it’s fantastic for people who want to do more than sit in an office.

“What people expect from an employer has changed – they want companies and other organisations to care about the world we all live in.

“Events like this offer them a way to demonstrate that they do and for their employees to get out and do something beyond the day-job.

“There are so many challenges that remain worldwide and we need this help to work to mitigate things like climate change.”

Registration for the event is now open, with teams encouraged to try to raise more than 50% of their target by June 8, 2023.

Canary Wharf Group event manager Camilla McGregor said: “We are delighted to welcome back WaterAid’s Dragon Boat Race to Canary Wharf.

“Following a successful partnership last year, we are overjoyed to see the event increase in popularity with many teams already signed up for this year’s event, helping to raise much needed funds for this fantastic charity.”

Follow this link to find out more about the event or register.

Aminur Rahman and Fiona Lavery of WaterAid

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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

April 20, 2023April 20, 2023

Canary Wharf: How Skillwork provides software services to companies of all sizes

Jan Gasiewski and Ali Youssef created the Level39-based firm after meeting at UCL on the estate

Skillwork founders Jan Gasiewski and Ali Youssef

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Business is all about relationships and it’s pretty clear there’s real strength at the heart of Level39-based Skillwork.

It’s also emblematic of how London provides the crucible that allows individuals to come together, fused and more powerful as a consequence.

In a nutshell, Skillwork provides software development services to startups, small firms and corporates looking to run innovative breakaway projects that fall outside their main areas of operation.

But at its heart lies much more than technical prowess. It’s the enthusiasm, energy and passion of two men – co-founders Jan Gasiewski and Ali Youssef.

From Poland and Bulgaria respectively, the pair met and founded the business in 2020 while both studying for their masters degrees in entrepreneurship at University College London’s School Of Management in Canary Wharf’s One Canada Square.

Both had previously studied in the UK – at Lancaster (Jan, business administration) and Northampton (Ali, computer software engineering) – before heading to the capital with perhaps a sense of something unfinished.

“Lancaster is a great university,” said Jan.

“But what you need if you want to go into business is exposure and the nearest city is Manchester. Even that is just far away enough that nobody goes.

“I’d applied for placements at Microsoft and HP. At the assessment centre for the former I didn’t know how to approach it – everyone just said: ‘Be yourself’.

“But the feedback was that all the product work was done in the States and that I didn’t show much human emotion, so I got into HP instead.

“It remains my only ‘real’ job, but there wasn’t much work to do so I wound up mostly reading books rather than getting experience.”

Ali said: “I’d gone back to Bulgaria, thinking I was going to be a software engineer and I got a job.

“But on the day I was supposed to start, I called the guy and said that I didn’t want to do it.

“Then I told my dad that I wanted to study entrepreneurship instead and his response was that business courses were for people who didn’t know what they wanted to do in life.

“But I applied to UCL, got in and that was my first experience of London – coming to Canary Wharf I was so shocked because I had never seen a place like it in my life.

“It was a place you could talk to anybody – I was having a coffee with a guy and he turned out to be a fund manager in control of millions of dollars.

“When he asked me what I did, I had to say I was a student.

“In Bulgaria I thought people like these were superheroes that I would never meet in real life.

“But London showed me you could talk to people who were very successful. It changed everything.”

Jan, in a “rare display of extroversion” messaged his course mates at UCL to see if any of them would be up for meeting over a drink.

Ali was the only respondent, and they bonded over food at Honest Burgers swapping tales of their fathers.

Skillwork’s London base is at Level39 in One Canada Square

“Both our dads had businesses,” said Jan.

“We both grew up looking up to them and both were screwed over quite badly by their business partners.”

Their friendship flourished and they decided to go into business together, with Skillwork founded in 2020 while they were still studying at UCL.

Now based at Canary Wharf’s tech community, Level39 at One Canada Square, it employs some 17 people in London and Bulgaria.

“We always say our partnership is the cornerstone of the business,” said Jan.

“Because of our fathers’ experiences, we created a set of rules when we started to ensure that nothing like that could happen to us.

“We are very transparent with each other and love working together.”

“We really wanted to be very entrepreneurial from the start,” said Ali. “We were surrounded by people in that environment both at UCL and at home.

“It’s also about an acceptance of potential failure and an appetite for risk.

“To start with, we had no experience, so we decided to plug ourselves into the world of startups and build up knowledge as we went, using that as a catalyst to create something.

“Today we work with small businesses and corporate innovation labs and the core of what we do is software development for those clients.

“We like to mix pragmatism with technology.

“You get people who come to us all guns blazing saying that they’re going to build an AI model to do something incredible but they haven’t yet got any traction.

“So we might apply the brakes there and persuade them to go one step at a time. On the corporate side, we are leaning towards what’s called venture building, where a big company decides it needs, for example, a digital presence, and brings in help from outside to help it develop one.

“So we sit down and discuss with them problems which they are interested in solving, and then we help them to see what ideas might be a potential business plan.

“Then we help them build that product up, and then they take it over and run it.

“We’ve been around now for a little over three years and in that time we’ve been able to work with the likes of pharmaceutical giant GSK and fusion power company Helion.

“We’ve also managed to build all this without any investment. We now have employees who rely on us and fortunately we have a good, strong network of mentors.

“Generally speaking what’s happened is that our success comes from our clients’ success.

“We’ve worked with the majority of our clients since day one and many have seen a huge degree of success.

“They’re all big-name people, so it’s all going very well as far as our reputation is concerned.

“We’re now in a much healthier position, with strong cash-flow and a sound profit margin. We’re now looking outwards to expand.”

While Skillwork’s technical operations take place in Bulgaria, London remains key to the business’ plans for growth.

Having studied at UCL on the 38th and 50th floors of One Canada Square remaining in the tower was a natural step.

“It was quite prestigious for us to come to Level39 – it was a marketing thing as well, because meeting clients here makes a good impression,” said Jan.

“I also think it’s one of the best spaces in London. If your working environment is good, then your work will be good and we’re very fortunate that we can afford to be here. We have some clients in Dubai and that might be a place we expand into.

“Our strength lies in the fact that we have contacts in so many countries and the ability to access them.

“One thing to remember is the UK is and always will be a global power.”

Ali added: “That was the key benefit for us of coming to the UK – when we came here, we were exposed to all these different cultures.

“London isn’t going to go under anytime soon. The reason we’re looking outwards is that we’re a bootstrap business, with not too much cash in the bank, so we have to keep expanding.

“There are only two choices – you go up or you go down. Out next step is to become innovation leaders in the Middle East for anything digital – that’s our ambition.”

Who would bet against them?

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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

April 20, 2023April 20, 2023

Greenwich: How Outrivals creates a place to train with community at its very heart

Founder Matt Lo’s gym on The Tide offers workout facilities, small class sessions and personal training

Outrivals is located on Greenwich Peninsula

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Matt Lo’s vision is one of community.

Having dropped out of university, bored by his business course and keen to avoid getting into debt, the entrepreneur tried his hand in various sectors.

Following stints in estate agency, stockbroking and helming a failed website business, fitness beckoned.

“I fell into personal training,” he said. “I was always sporty – basketball, football and athletics at school and basketball for my county, Essex.

“But then you get into standard living, so it was nice to get back into fitness.

“What I learnt from the website business was that I wanted to gain some experience for a few years and earn my stripes before launching something.

“So I worked for Virgin Active in Moorgate, spent all my spare time studying, did my personal training qualifications in 2013 and that was it.”

From those beginnings, Matt started hosting outdoor fitness sessions in east London parks before successfully crowdfunding and opening his first physical gym in Old Street in 2016.

“I took my personal training clients, went freelance and that’s how things evolved,” he said. “Walking through those doors on opening day was beautiful, but also so stressful.

“We had plumbing problems – the changing rooms leaked into the gym floor and when we first opened I was there for several nights in a row lifting floorboards with water gushing out.

“I didn’t know what to do, but that’s part of the game – the unexpected stuff, the random scenarios. If you don’t want those challenges, then you shouldn’t run a business.”

With the leaks stopped, his first gym performed solidly up until the pandemic when, like many businesses, its model was upset by unprecedented circumstances.

When the Old Street gym closed permanently in 2021, buffeted by lockdowns and home working, the next chapter in Matt’s story was already unfolding.

“I first saw the space on Greenwich Peninsula about five years ago – but we couldn’t get funding for it back then,” he said.

“So I reached out to developer Knight Dragon as it was still empty and they said they were looking for an operator.

“We came in and opened in 2021 – I feel we’ve created something really solid for the community here.”

That something is Outrivals – a health and fitness space located on the Thames with its entrance facing elevated public space The Tide.

“When the agent showed me the unit in 2018 it looked really promising – especially with everything the developer was doing to create a community, building it up from scratch,” said Matt.

“I wanted to be a part of that. Outrivals has been set up as a place where people can come together to make friends and connections through fitness.

“Essentially, it’s a community-based gym.

The gym offers a range of membership options

“We offer small group classes and personal training with a team of people who are all specialised in their fields.

“It’s down to them that we have got where we are today.

“We’ve tested many different classes – sussing out exactly what people like.

“We wanted it to be a very strong facility, where people come knowing that they’re getting excellent training from very good staff, but having fun at the same time.

“We do strong-man and strong-woman classes where people lift 50k balls – stuff you wouldn’t be able to do at home on your own.

“We do an hour and a half endurance class and we have a leg-day on Monday.

“So we’ve worked on what we want to be about, but at the same time made these things fun for the people who are doing them.”

Memberships at Outrivals start at £30 per month for gym-only access – available for anyone who works, studies or lives in Greenwich.

Standard open gym memberships are £55. Small Group Training memberships start at £60 per month for four classes with eight session and unlimited options also available.

One-to-one personal training packages start at £99 per month with three hour-long sessions included.

“We also offer dedicated packages such as our 12-week strength, weight loss or post-natal programmes,” said Matt, who also runs Choy House, an Asian street food restaurant now based at Design District’s food hall Canteen, a little further south on the peninsula.

“We feel we’re on a really good journey here at this gym.

“When I first came here, there weren’t many buildings – the community was very new. Since then lots of people have moved in and lots has been built.

Outrivals overlooks The Tide park and the Thames

“To help boost that we create events, summer socials and charity challenges that help bring people together, not just in the gym but outside it as well.

“Personally, I understand the importance of fitness although I admit I’m hit and miss with how much I train.

“When I miss a session, though, I really feel it both mentally and physically, so I know what an effect it can have.

“Ultimately I’d like to grow the brand, launching in other new developments so we can widen out the community and bring even more people together – whether that’s in London, other cities or even internationally.”

Outrivals has a number of offers for those considering taking out a membership.

Prospective clients can try out the gym’s facilities for three consecutive days, including open access to training spaces and small group classes.

Members can also get up to £50 cashback for referring new clients who then take out a membership.

On the personal training front, in addition to packages for individuals, Outrivals offers sessions for couples or people who simply want to train together.

A £150 per month fee covers two sessions for two people with an Outrivals coach. Packages covering more sessions are also available.

For individuals who need more flexibility, the gym also offers blocks of personal training that can be used over a two-month period instead of the usual one-month expiry date.

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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

April 19, 2023April 19, 2023

Royal Docks: How The Greenhouse Theatre is set for a run at Thames Barrier Park

Zero waste venue will be a creative hub to house three of the four artistic commissions for Sea Change

The Greenhouse Theatre is set to come to Royal Docks

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There’s about to be a lot going on to the east of Canary Wharf.

The Royal Docks Team (RDT) has officially unveiled its At The Docks programme – an umbrella for numerous events and attractions set to come to fruition in E16 between May and September.

These include the likes of the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, the London E-Prix, the Dockyards Summer Series and Newham Heritage Month.

It also includes Sea Change – an RDT collaboration with University College London (UCL) that has seen four new artworks commissioned.

These have been curated by Invisible Dust, which has brought together a quartet of artists with scientists at UCL to respond to the climate crisis.

Finally, after what feels like a blizzard of stakeholders and acronyms, that leads us to May 11-June 4, 2023, when these installations will be available to view for free.

The Greenhouse’s co-founder and artistic director, Oli Savage

Rather than a gallery, however, three of the works will be on show at The Greenhouse Theatre – a zero-waste travelling venue that, even as you read this, is being built at Thames Barrier Park.

Having spent time in Canary Wharf in 2021, it’s a structure typically used as a space for live performances, which has meant a few changes for its latest incarnation.

“We’ll be this really exciting creative hub for those weeks down in Thames Barrier Park – a space where people can engage with the amazing artworks that Invisible Dust has programmed,” said Oli Savage, co-founder and artistic director of The Greenhouse Theatre.

“Physically, this is the same venue – built from recycled materials – but there will also be some new spaces for 2023.

“One of the pieces – Flotilla by Melanie Manchot – will be shown in our new screening space, a very lovely repurposed shed.

“We’re also introducing our first zero waste bar on site where people can come and hang out and stay sustainable while they’re having a drink.

“Our message is that the site is open – we’re encouraging people to come down and enjoy all the things that are on offer.

“We want to make it a space that people really want to come and spend time in.”

The core of Sea Change will be four artworks, with three housed at The Greenhouse.

Biotopes by Simon Faithfull explores habitats with the artist using 3D printed sculptures of his body adapted for other species to reside in.

Power In by Dana Olărescu promises an exploration of energy equity with input from local people.

Manchot’s Flotilla comprises a film of local women afloat on boats on the night time waters of the Royal Docks, inspired by the history of protests for equality in the area.

The fourth artwork – The Waves Are Rising by Raqs Media Collective – will be viewable at Royal Victoria Dock and sees an augmented reality wave superimposed over live video footage of the still waters in front of City Hall. All are free to access.

Sea Change will also include Forecast 2023 on May 19, 2023 – a symposium during which writers, artists, scientists and cultural commentators can explore the nature of stories and how they might shape the planet’s future.

A full schedule of events is set to be announced soon. As part of the overall programme, The Greenhouse will be hosting a free youth festival on May 14, 2023, aimed at people aged 14-30.

“This will be a full day with workshops, events and refreshments available,” said Oli.

“There will be live music too and this is very much by and for people aged 14-30 – we’d love a great crowd of young people along to come and hang out with us.

“In fact we want as many people to come down and see us as possible throughout our time here. It is a lovely, lovely park on the river and right beside the Thames Barrier itself – an iconic piece of architecture, so we’re really lucky to be there.

“There’s also a fantastic community locally, which we’re really excited to engage with and serve.”

The Greenhouse Theatre is also expecting to return to Canary Wharf in June before heading to Battersea in August.

“We’re expecting the Wharf run to go ahead, which will be a return to theatrical programming with a festival feel,” said Oli.

“We’ll have two or three shows each day – a range of different fringe artists – alongside headline show To The Ocean, which will be on at 7pm.

“It’s a modern retelling of the Selkie myth – a musical about how we connect with each other, with family and with the natural world.

“It will feature original music and it’s all about a young girl’s journey to find herself who on her 16th birthday discovers her dad hasn’t been entirely truthful about where she’s from.

“She sets out on a mythical, magical journey to the ocean to meet her mother and discover her roots.

“One of the really exciting things is we’ll be holding open rehearsals people can come to for free while we’re in Royal Docks as well as preview performances at a reduced rate from June 2-4, 2023.”

The Waves Are Rising by Raqs Media Collective

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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

April 19, 2023April 19, 2023

Canary Wharf: How One Touch Collective brings something fresh to Cabot Place

Cory Saunders has brought together a community of artists, enthusiasts, designers and retailers

One Touch Collective co-founder Cory Saunders

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Cory Saunders is a singular man, driven, a trailblazer, a one-off.

But the co-founder of One Touch Collective is paradoxically anything but insular.

He’s all about building and growing a community, showcasing and celebrating others’ talents.

That individuality, however, is worn proudly – not least in the Cabot Place unit he took on as a pop-up, now extended due to demand.

“At heart it’s an independent concession store,” he said.

“We source high-end brands but we also specialise in premium sneakers, creative artwork and developing brands.

“We keep it like a hub – it’s more than a store – we’re building a community for the marathon not the sprint.”

Co-founded with his mum’s nephew, Kyle Wynter, One Touch is unquestionably about people – artists, traders, enthusiasts and like-minded folk whose energy and products come together in the space.

It’s a radically different retail experience to shopping at a shiny high street store and Canary Wharf Group deserve recognition for adding a fresh ingredient into its blend of shops.

“It all started from my mother,” said Cory. “I was quite privileged as a child – a lot of my clothing came from Bond Street.

The One Touch Collective store in Cabot Place’s lower level

“So the eye I have today – how I look at things, fashion, clothing and toys – it’s all from what my mother provided for me.

“She was into clothes and before she was pregnant with me, she got into the London College Of Fashion but didn’t end up attending.

“To this day, I bring her with me to get my clothes if I’m going out, she has got that eye, my father too.”

Cory’s journey in fashion began around 2008 when he decided to drop corporate work in favour of customising sneakers – a key component of One Touch in its partnership with trader Hypezeus.

“I don’t class this store as mine, it’s for everyone,” said Cory.

“I curate it. I open the door for each individual brand to do what they need to do.

The store stocks a range of collectibles as well as clothing

“If they don’t want to step on it, then that’s down to them. If people want to embrace it, they can.

“When I first came down to see the space at Canary Wharf I thought there would be a big difference to what was here – a shock. But there has been a good response.

“I’m not surprised because what we’re bringing here is the new pop culture of the streets.

“Since we’ve been here people have embraced it and there’s a demand for what we offer.

“Even the majority of people coming to work in Canary Wharf have trainers on their feet – the bowler hat and the suit are gone.

“Our ultimate aim is to be established, but for all the right reasons – to create something that has longevity that’s authentic.

“Our doors are open for everyone and it’s all positive.

Leather jackets by Exhibit 69, on sale at One Touch Collective

“Moving forward I’ll be working with Hypezeus and that’s the plan for this space.

“It’s taken me 10 years to find someone who’s on the same page as me and that’s Chris Ng – the top sneaker seller on TikTok.

“We clicked just like that – we collaborate and it just works. It’s very important to have the right people around you.

“Another example is Mark Anthony, the artist Exhibit 69.

“His work is on another level and we’re proud to stock his hand-painted leather jackets.

“When people come in here we tell them he’s not a fashion designer but an artist.

“The creativity and energy he puts into his work is amazing – I’ve seen people fall on the floor looking at the jackets.”

And that’s really the message.

To feel the vibe at One Touch, the best thing to do is pop down and check it out.

There’s bound to be someone on hand to guide you around its exclusive selection of products you definitely won’t find elsewhere.

Follow @onetouchcollective on Insta

PART OF THE COLLECTIVE

EXHIBIT 69

Artist Mark Anthony works under the name Exhibit 69 and sells his vibrant painted leather jackets at One Touch.

“I use my art to manage my mental health – it calms me,” said Mark.

“The beautiful part for me is when you know someone is wearing one. That’s a proud moment.

“Fashion and art are related and it’s always fun to do something as a group, so I’m very happy to have my jackets for sale here.

“I paint leather jackets because I’ve always liked punk culture – I remember going to Camden and seeing people there.

“I loved their boldness, the DIY attitude and that they didn’t conform to society. I think there’s something beautiful and brave about that.”

Follow @exhibit69 on Insta

HYPEZEUS

Hypezeus sells limited edition sneakers, streetwear, designer clothes and collectables.

“I founded it while I was doing my PhD in mechanical engineering,” said Chris Ng, who has become a top seller of footwear on TikTok and is a key collaborator for One Touch.

“It’s so hard to get hold of limited edition sneakers, but I wanted it to be accessible for everyone – not just people who have connections.

“Initially I built up my own collection and then a lot of my friends were asking me how they could get these shoes.

“I see sneakers as works of art that you can wear.

“I wanted to help create a community where we share the same vision – Cory, Mark, and so on – artists who have a real talent, and that will offer something for everyone, with all price points covered.

“Then we want people to come in so we can tell them the story behind each brand.

“We believe this is very important, because it’s the designers’ artwork, and you want to share that with the customers.

“We also want them to come in and have fun, and discover new brands which people will like, not just the big corporate names that they will also want to see.

“Getting a new pair of sneakers feels like when you’re a young kid and you get the toy you always wanted.

“It’s a fresh feeling because every pair is different but it’s also a bit like a sticker book because you want to complete your collection.

“I’ve lost count of how many pairs I have personally.

“Now it’s about making them available to everyone else.

“Go back 10 years and people who collected trainers were sneaker-heads.

“But now everyone on the street has a pair – this is how the trend is going.

“I clicked with Cory because we share the same vision and want to work as a team to give people what they want.

“That’s what Hypezeus and One Touch Collective are all about”

Follow @hypezeus on Insta

EXODUS PAS DE CE MONDE

Founder Inder Paul Sandhu created the brand as a response to not being able to afford the clothes he wanted.

He makes hats, jackets and scarves – all for sale at One Touch.

“Exodus is from the bible and the French means ‘not of this world’ so there’s a duality in it,” said Inder.

“There’s a coolness and also my spirituality because God has put me here.

“I’m used to being misunderstood, underestimated, so that’s what the brand is for.

“I wanted it to be the cool kids club, with the caveat that we’re all cool kids.

“I’m London-based and my main background is music, but I couldn’t afford the clothes I wanted so I thought I would go and make them instead.

“I met a couple of tailors and they gave me the time of day.”

Follow @exoduspdcm on Insta

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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

April 6, 2023April 6, 2023

Canary Wharf: How personal training at Third Space delivers the right results

Eliter personal trainer Tim Hart talks focus, science and goals as he puts our writer through his paces

Third Space Canary Wharf elite personal trainer Tim Hart

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SESSION TEST

Imagine driving your expensive car to a garage, paying a fee and then being let loose on the tools to fettle and prod at your vehicle in the name of maintenance.

Unless you already have a fairly decent body of knowledge, it’s unlikely such activity will yield positive results except in the most basic of jobs.

Now consider how different that is to taking your body – a vehicle you’re born into and will ride in your whole life – to the gym.

Sure, there’s plenty of equipment there, but how well do you really know how to use it? Crucially, will you be doing more harm than good? The logical step is to seek help.

Members at Third Space in Canary Wharf, in addition to an induction session with a trainer, essentially have two avenues to explore in this regard.

There’s an extensive timetable of group classes.

But for those really looking for something bespoke, there are the personal trainers offering one-on-one sessions.

An hour-long session with elite personal trainer Tim Hart was enough to convince me of the benefits of such sessions.

Trained in nutrition and health science, he has a wealth of experience in helping people to reach their goals, tackle physical weaknesses and prepare for intense expeditions.

Consequently, when I told him I wanted to address a bit of knee pain on the right hand side, he was well-qualified to suggest some relevant rehab exercises to improve strength and stability around the joint.

Following a few mobility drills, he soon had me skipping up and down the gym’s track, then leaping sideways from foot to foot, struggling to hold my balance while he watched for signs of instability.

From there, we went to work the core, chest and arms by using moves on a cable machine to ensure all of my body was involved in the exercise.

Then came a series of side-to-side squats with a bar and single leg deadlifts.

During every exercise Tim was constantly keeping an eye on my form, offering corrections and encouragement to ensure I was learning the right movement.

He also explored the range of motion to identify exactly where any discomfort in my knee was occurring – a process that enabled both the modification of the exercises and a far greater awareness of my capabilities than before.

At the end of the session, I left with an arsenal of moves designed to work the affected area without damaging it – a programme that has since seen a big reduction in pain and a great increase in confidence.

That focus, really, is the power of personal training.

It allows, more than any other form of exercise, an ability to address specific issues or goals in detail with the effects multiplied by subsequent, dedicated sessions.

Personal training sessions are charged as extra to membership.

Third Space Canary Wharf is very well-equipped, but how best to use its facilities?

FULL FOCUS – TIM’S THOUGHTS

>> For Tim, who has more than a decade of experience in the health and fitness world, the key to good personal training is putting his clients’ goals front and centre:

>> “From my perspective it’s to provide some science and solid theory behind the process,” he said.

“Your goals will always be your targets, and there may be some worry that a personal trainer is going to hijack what you’re looking for and all of a sudden you’ll be doing exercises you’re not interested in.

“My advice is to find a good personal trainer to start with in an establishment that will have a high calibre of individuals and professionals working in it.

“A client’s aims should always remain the focus and as a customer, you should look for an efficient scientific method being used by the trainer that you feel streamlines the process of really getting to where you want to be.

“For example, if it’s a knee injury and you want to lose weight, then the theory will combine quite nicely by finding exercises that will facilitate a reduction in pain and aid recovery, but will also get you to lose body fat as well.

“Your trainer should not be putting their own goals on you, but be using science and theory to optimise your own goals and help you achieve those results.”

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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

April 6, 2023April 6, 2023

Greenwich: How Wizard Works sew a little magic into all their bike packing bags

How co-founders Veronica Lowe and Harry Major run an open-hearted manufacturing business

Harry and Veronica in their workshop at Design District on Greenwich Peninsula

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The author Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen, V For Vendetta and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen maintains magic is very real.

It’s just that it lives in our minds rather than the real world.

A visit to Wizard Works at Design District on Greenwich Peninsula, however, does a little bit to confound that notion.

On the face of it, co-founders Harry Major and Veronica Lowe and their team hand-make a range of bike packing bags for cyclists in a bright and airy ground floor workshop.

Wizard Works is now a team of six at Greenwich Peninsula

But look more closely and there’s a little bit of magic running through the thread on every seam.

That’s because everything this company does has a purpose – design that stems from a real world problem or a lived experience.

When I arrive for our interview, Veronica seems buoyant.

A Crowdfunder prize draw she’s set up is gaining some traction and it’s for a cause close to her heart.

She and Harry had travelled to her native New Zealand at Christmas – the first time she’d been able to see her family for four years, due to the pandemic.

Sadly, not long into their trip, her father died suddenly. The couple extended their stay to be with family before Harry flew back, with Veronica set to follow on.

But then, in February, Cyclone Gabrielle hit, devastating the Esk Valley where she was staying – the floodwater rising so rapidly she and those in the household where she was staying had to take refuge on the second floor, before being rescued by boat the following morning.

In a blog post she wrote: “Eventually the rain eased, the water stopped rising and in the morning I was rescued.

“I cried as I was jet-boated to safety, through the vineyards I worked in as a teenager, the valley Dad spent his whole life cultivating, completely engulfed by the little river we grew up playing in.

“The devastation is heartbreaking, there are people and families that have lost everything, including their lives.

“My dad’s house, with all his special things, that only days before we’d organised and lined up in his hallway to collect – reminders of our lovely father – all totally destroyed.”

I mention this deeply traumatic set of events because Wizard Works’ reaction to it says everything about this small, independent company.

It’s created an AllBlack collection of bags with 50% of net sales donated to the Hawke’s Bay Foundation Cyclone Relief Fund and set up a prize draw to contribute to the relief effort for a disaster that killed at least 11 people, displaced some 10,000 and left homes, businesses and farmland in ruins.

While born of adversity, this latest project is perhaps emblematic of the open-hearted way Harry and Veronica run Wizard Works – a business that grew from a passion for cycle touring adventures, a bout of miserable winter weather and a desire for a creative outlet.

The couple’s business was born of cycling adventures

“We met in London,”said Veronica. “I was on a working holiday and my visa expired in 2011, by which time we’d been dating for a while and so he said he’d come with me when I left.

“We were not strangers to hare-brained schemes, like going round the world with someone you’d only just started dating.”

“We’d been in Melbourne for a few months and we did our first big ride together – maybe one and a half miles from a neighbouring suburb to have brunch in a cafe,” said Harry.

“We realised we’d ridden from there to here – it felt like we could do anything. We thought we might get a rainbow-coloured tandem and cycle round the world.

“Although we prefer two bikes, the feeling of that conversation stuck with us and we planned our first multi-day cycle around Mornington Peninsula.

“It was awesome and my first time camping – Veronica was the outdoors person.”

Hooked, the couple began planning – reading blogs and making lists – as they set their sights on a year-long journey by bike from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur.

Although they didn’t know it, their experiences on that trip were the foundation for what would become Wizard Works.

Wizard Works makes bike packing bags for commuting and adventuring

“After that trip we got holiday visas and moved to Vancouver to stay with a friend we’d met in Melbourne who told me we were going to need an indoor hobby because the winters in Canada are shit,” said art school graduate Harry, who grew up in London.

“He was right, it rained every day that October.

“So, having spent most of our trip around Asia talking about the gear we wish we’d had, we decided to do something about it and we bought a little Singer sewing machine and started making bags.

“I thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t – everything I made was terrible, but it was mesmerising.

“I loved that combination of technical problem solving and creativity. We started off making bags for ourselves and they slowly got better.”

The hobby turned into a side hustle with Harry and Veronica back in London gradually increasing the time they were spending on the business.

Finding success through online sales, they hired staff to cope with demand and took space in Peckham before outgrowing that and moving to Design District.

Today, Wizard Works is a team of six producing a collection of core products as well as custom-made bags.

The bags it makes are inspired by the Bike Packing movement, which aims to place luggage within the frame of the bike rather than having to rely on unwieldy panniers.

But it’s not just about function.

Veronica said: “Something that really felt difficult when we were buying things for the trip was that everything was black or brown.

“You could buy bags that were fun, but they were at the lower end of the quality spectrum.

“We wanted to do something which was more colourful and that fitted with our brand name.”

“Right from the beginning we just wanted to make the bags that we wanted ourselves,” said Harry.

“The name partly comes from Veronica’s older brother who used to say: ‘You’re a wizard, Harry, and a thumping good one at that,’ when he saw me because that’s what a British ‘Harry’ is.

“Wizard Works got a name and went from being a hobby to being a business – but we were always coming at it as the end user.

“We knew what worked, but we wanted it to have an aesthetic that lined up with the kind of bikes we were riding and the stuff we were wearing.

“In about 2017 and 2018 there was a kind of culture around kooky bikes – things people had built themselves. We wanted to be the luggage brand to go with that type of cycling.”

As you might be able to guess, there’s an enormous amount that won’t fit in this article – Wizard Works’ tireless battle to make its Cordura bags more sustainable, for example – but suffice to say it’s a brand well worth checking out.

A SELECTION OF WIZARD WORKS’ BAGS

Shazam Saddle Bag

Ideal for adventurers or commuters who carry larger loads – £195-£205

Alakazam Basket Bag

This bag easily expands and comes with straps for bigger loads – £148-£215

Lil Presto Barrel Bag

Mounts either to saddles or handlebars, ideal for the light packer – £68

All Wizard Works’ bags are made by hand in Greenwich

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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

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023

Canary Wharf: How The Qube is delivering a quiet revolution with Wood Wharf studios

Co-founder Amin Hamzianpour on creating a membership model for creative content creators

The Qube is set to open 24 studio spaces at Wood Wharf

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The ever increasing numbers of people strolling though Wood Wharf will likely remain mostly unaware that a revolution is taking place on the first floor of a Park Drive office block.

It’s not that Canary Wharf hasn’t welcomed creative endeavours in the past.

It hosted a TV station in the 1990s – Live TV, complete with eponymous show Canary Wharf, a sort of soap opera-meets X-Files affair with a woeful budget and acting to match.

It’s served as a backdrop to numerous films including both 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later as well as Welcome To The Punch with James McAvoy and Mark Strong facing off as a grizzled detective with a gammy knee and a notorious, violent criminal respectively.

Its Tube station stood in for the Death Star in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with Adams Plaza popping up again in TV show Andor as part of an evil Imperial base.

With the exception of the odd media company, however, what Canary Wharf has never had is a series of spaces dedicated to creative content generation.

Enter Amin Hamzianpour – musician, music producer and former Morgan Stanley analyst, who is bringing The Qube to the estate.

In a nutshell, it offers flexible, plug-and-play studios for rehearsal and recording 24 hours a day. But it’s also much more than that and here’s how it happened.

“I have a bit of an eclectic background,” said Amin.

“I did a degree in human sciences at Oxford and then, encouraged by my parents, I went to work in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, ironically in Canary Wharf.

“I didn’t like it at all. I liked being around hard-working, ambitious, intelligent people, but the work wasn’t what I wanted to do.

“I’d always created things – I was a musician, I played, wrote songs and also made animations when I was young.

“Working in banking felt as though I wasn’t making anything, so I eventually quit to pursue a career as a songwriter.

Qube East offers fully equipped facilities including rehearsal studios

“My parents knew how hard-working I was, so they were very supportive.

“With finance, if you wait around long enough, the money gets so good that it’s difficult to leave and I could see that happening to me.

“I thought that because I was working such long hours in banking, that, if I applied that effort to music, I might get 50% less money, but I would have a much more fulfilling life.

“I was quite naive about how difficult it was to build a career in the music industry.

“I rented a basement room from a friend and tried to soundproof it, but it was a bit of a disaster.

“Still, I started making music every day, emailed every single blogger and every single label, trying to get my name out there.

“After about six months someone very well connected on the blogging scene miraculously reached out and said they really liked my stuff.

“So I met with him, made one house record, he sent it out to the blogs and we made the alias quite anonymous.

Qube East also boasts a bar area, open to non-members on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights

“ The blogs picked it up and it exploded online, and the next thing I knew, I was getting offers from every major record label.

“It went from one day when nobody knew who I was to me having meetings with Universal, Sony, Warner, which was the dream.

“Having now had a career in music for five or six years, I now realise how ridiculously improbable that was, and it was a probably a bad thing, because at the time I thought that was just how easy it was.

“I signed to Spinnin’ Records – a Dutch label – and Polydor picked it up and put it online.

“It got something like a million plays, which at the time was quite good. So I built my career thereafter and became a house artist when electronic music was really flying.

“I released quite a few singles on different labels – Ministry Of Sound, Universal, Polydor – and while nothing was majorly successful, I was making a living.

“Then I started writing and producing for loads of different artists.”

It was at this point Amin discovered how difficult it was to find good studio space at an affordable price with the only offerings seemingly £1,000 a month contracts for a year or substandard dingy basement rooms with non-existent soundproofing.

Then he met co-founder of The Qube, Nick Sonuga, who was building studio spaces that would fill up immediately due to demand.

The studio spaces are plug and play with equipment in place ready to go

“Initially, I thought that if I did one or two studios with him, I could make a base salary and then continue making music,” said Amin.

“One of the most frustrating things about being a musician is the variability in income, which could be 300% either way, with no way of predicting it.

“That was difficult as I was starting to get older.

“So I started talking to Nick about finding solutions to these problems.

“How could we come up with a space that provides everything creative people need, that is affordable, flexible and provides a community?”

The pair came up with the blueprint for The Qube, found a warehouse in west London and put down their joint life savings as a deposit before going out to investors to raise £2million.

Launched in 2020, it houses 40 studios designed for everything from creating music to podcasts and photography.

The spaces come fully furnished with equipment with members paying between £75 and £2,000 a month for varied levels of credits that are translated into studio time.

“It’s open 24 hours a day and it did really well – miraculously it turned a profit within six months, which was quite staggering,” said Amin.

“I think it was a testament to how much people want this product and there’s no-one really doing this apart from us.

“While it is challenging to serve all the different markets – the podcasters, vloggers and musicians – we have a team of really experienced people from all walks of life to look after them.

“Every startup is an experiment. Everyone involved with The Qube is creative and we’re developing products that we would want to use.

“We’re trying to stay true to that. We think there’s a huge opportunity here – already if you’re a YouTuber, a podcaster or a music producer your parents will more likely be telling you to go for it than laughing at you.

“These people will need places to go and create work and wherever they want to do that there should be a Qube in their nearest city.”

On that path to global domination, Amin and Nick selected Canary Wharf as their second site due to the ease of travel in and out and the safety of its environment.

Amin said: “The obvious choice would have been Hackney or Shoreditch but we wanted to give people the best experience possible.

“What we noticed about Canary Wharf is how unbelievably well connected it is, and that makes a huge difference, because people from all over London can get here quite easily.

“We also like the fact that we’re so different to other businesses here and can be an oasis within a totally different culture.

Qube East is open 24 hours a day for content creators to come and go

“Canary Wharf Group has been unbelievable in helping us get to the point where we can offer affordable pricing and build our dream as we wanted.

“While people love our west London warehouse because it feels organic, we’ve spoken to our creators – many of whom are women – and we are aware they can feel genuinely uncomfortable accessing some spaces, especially at night.

“It’s a huge problem, but here it’s so safe.

“A lot of our members are using these facilities at night, starting at 9pm and leaving at 4am.”

It’s perhaps because community is so central to The Qube’s model that this is one of the driving factors in its decision to open in Canary Wharf.

“We are a members club and we curate every single application that comes in,” said Amin.

“At the moment we reject around 70% and we take people purely on the basis of talent – whether we think they have high potential and are creating high quality content.

“It has nothing to do with how many social media followers someone has and it is somewhat subjective – would you be happy being stuck in an airport lounge with them for an hour – but that means membership isn’t just about the value of the studios, it’s about every other person you meet and knowing that they’re going to be doing something really cool.

“We’re trying to filter out all that pretentiousness and bravado in the industry – we hate that.

“It also means our bar will be a great place to be and we’ll be opening that to non-members on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until 11pm, with an open deck policy on Thursdays and a resident DJ on Fridays.”

Applications for memberships at The Qube are open now.

Qube East is set to launch on March 24.

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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

March 9, 2023March 11, 2023

Blackwall: How The Gun pub is helping customers discover its wine list

Venue plans regular monthly tastings dubbed The Grape Escape hosted by deputy manager Fabio Scarpa

The Coldharbour pub is set to host more monthly wine tastings

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The Gun is a pub that has long been about bringing people together.

That might be the illicit meetings of Lord Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton (whose trysts remain immortalised with their names on the toilet doors), rugby fans indulging in pints while watching the game or locals catching up around the fire or out on the terrace in the warmer months.

Recently it’s been experimenting with wine tastings – refining and ageing its formula ahead of the launch of a regular series on the last Friday of the month, set to kick off in earnest on March 31, 2023.

Having recently attended one of the warm-up events, I’m happy to confirm that The Grape Escape features no uncomfortable tunnelling beneath the Thames or Steve McQueen impressions.

Rather, it was a snug evening in the company of fellow wine enthusiasts, heated by an open fire and set to the gravelly tones of deputy manager Fabio Scarpa, whose rich drawl proved as deep and rewarding as the notes in a well-aged Cabernet Sauvignon.

We tasted seven wines, nibbled on cheese and took turns to tour the pub from top to bottom – enjoying its views, nooks and cellar to get an appreciation of the place’s history and continuing appeal.

Fabio Scarpa hosts the The Grape Escape at The Gun

Perhaps the most striking thing about the evening, however, was its role as a catalyst for interaction – bringing long standing local residents together with east London newbies, to much merriment.

Lubricated by three reds, three whites and a fizz, the atmosphere was open and welcoming as a diverse group of attendees talked about the wines, themselves and a certain amount of nonsense (me) in good cheer.

Having come through two years where talking freely to strangers was pretty much an impossibility, it was refreshing to see how easily and enjoyably the world has returned to normal.

Looking around at smiling faces, with fast friendships formed, it was also a moment to reflect that people have been enjoying such pleasant evenings at the venue since the 1700s.

With a lazy fire smouldering in the grate and the scent of wood smoke in the nostrils, perhaps some things don’t change so very much.

The final format (and price) of the forthcoming tastings is still in production but will be announced on the venue’s website and social media channels in due course.

WHARF LIFE’S PICK OF THE WINES

Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot, £65

Stellenbosch, South Africa

This wonderful, rich companion should be drunk in leather armchairs by an open fire in fine company.

Eins Zwei Dry (Best Buy)

Riesling, £41

Rheingau, Germany

Crisp and refreshing with a pun in the name, this was the wine of the night as well as being the most modestly priced

Bolney Estate

Bubbly Brut, £50

West Sussex, England

This fizz is a true delight on the tongue and a wonderful way to start an evening. Refreshing and approachable

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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

March 9, 2023March 9, 2023

Canary Wharf: How Sixt now offers car rental deep beneath Wharfers’ feet

Worldwide brand expands to Canada Place’s Level -3 car park, offering a range of vehicles for hire

Sixt is located on Level -3 in Canada Place car park, Canary Wharf

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Those who don’t drive to Canary Wharf are unlikely to have made it to the glamorously named Level -3 of Canada Place’s car park.

But Wharfers who have recently descended so far via the lifts to the right of Waitrose may have been surprised to find a vibrant splash of orange in the deep.

Car rental firm Sixt has joined UFO Drive in offering vehicles for hire on the estate – and it’s created a glossy, disco ball of a space, all vibrant colour and shining LEDs.

In celebration of its arrival the company offered to lend Wharf Life a car for a couple of days to demonstrate the process. So I accepted.

Stepping through the glass doors of the brand’s richly kitted out unit – complete with bright orange desks, a sliver of bustling flatscreen and smiling staff – it was easy to forget I was in a car park.

Everything inside was clean, shiny and new.

Inside Sixt’s latest opening at Canary Wharf

Due to poor organisational skills, I’d managed to turn up a month early for my booking, but the patient staff simply made a few calls and sorted things out with minimal fuss.

I’d been expecting a lucky dip economy car – a VW Polo or similar – but was also offered an upgrade to Tesla’s long range Model Y.

A chunky all-wheel drive electric, it’s capable of zipping to 60mph in less than four seconds from a standing start.

The staff took me through the rudiments of the vehicle which, after some jerky pulling away, I managed to pilot gingerly out of the car park avoiding any bumps.

My plan was simple. First, survive the journey home. Then decide on a destination out of the smoke to find some winter fresh air – nothing fancy, just a jaunt.

Both went entirely to plan. The Tesla turned out to be almost too easy to drive.

Its lack of dials was a little peculiar at first, with a large touchscreen in the centre of the car handling all necessary read-outs.

Bristling with cameras to aid manoeuvring and a curious video game-like graphic of the position of other motorists, cyclists, traffic lights and traffic cones, it was a vision of the self-drive future yet-to-come.

Indeed, there was a sense of the car already becoming self-aware.

I felt it intervene at least once while driving on the motorway to prevent us wandering into another lane.

No bad thing, perhaps, but the wheel moving independently was a little disconcerting.

I opted to travel to Warley Place Nature Reserve as a fair test of a run just beyond the M25.

The Tesla – firm of ride – managed the country bumps well enough and I found myself rapidly delivered to a place less than an hour from London, but also worlds away.

Run by a voluntary, charitable trust, the reserve comprised the remains of the gardens attached to the long ruined house, the family home of Edwardian horticulturist Ellen Willmott.

It was a beautiful spot in the February sunshine, liberally coated in daffodils, snowdrops and crocuses.

While not completely impossible to access via public transport, the only alternative to a car would be to catch a train to Brentwood and arrange taxis to and from its location.

The Essex Wildlife Trust proved a welcoming bunch, albeit a little over sensitive on the health and safety front.

Cheery warnings were imparted as I walked through the gate about keeping to the path lest terrible peril befall the unwary.

This proved to be very much the theme of my visit as fresh terrors were regularly depicted by scary yellow signs flagging deep and dangerous water in every pond, unstable walls and the ever-present threat of CCTV surveillance.

A view towards London from Warley Place Nature Reserve

But despite a flash of hailstones and the fearful cacophony of the warnings, I was charmed by the place.

Clearly loved by its volunteer army, who keep its ramshackle beauty in good order – enough to attract a multitude of birds and other wildlife.

It was the ideal antidote to the formality of the city, although a view of a distant Canary Wharf did pop up from one vantage point.

As for the car itself, it was more or less effortless to drive after getting used to its curious lack of forward crawl.

Unlike standard automatics the Model Y doesn’t creep forward when the brake is released but waits until its accelerator is pressed.

It also brakes when it is released, more akin to a manual petrol car and a feature that essentially lends itself to one-pedal driving.

This was my first experience of renting an electric and proved seamless enough with a full battery supplied on collection.

The only minor faff was having to ensure an 80% charge on return of the vehicle, which took about 15 minutes on one of Canary Wharf’s Level -3 Tesla Superchargers.

Then it was simple to park up, drop the key in the slot and go about my morning.

Sixt also rents petrol cars and hybrids – still its main area of business – with prices for the same length of hire starting at £32.66 per day for an entry level vehicle.

FACT FILE – TESLA MODEL Y LONG RANGE

Cost: £74.66 per day (from Sixt)

Minimum hire: 3 days (from Sixt)

Range: 331 miles

0-60mph: 3.5 seconds

Top Speed: 135mph

Equipment: 15” Touchscreen

Seating: 5 Adults

Hire from UFO Drive of a Tesla Model Y Long Range was £102 per day at the time of writing

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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