Lockdown 2020

It has been full circle for me as I am now back working remotely in Juice’s original studio in East Sheen.

As the studio evolved it became known as the Juice Press but as we grew it became clear we needed new premises further afield and we landed in Bermondsey. Now we have ‘studios’ across London and as far west as the Cotswold as we all manage the Coronavirus lockdown.

One of my original business strategies in developing the studio was to ‘expect the unexpected and manage to deal with it’ so as a studio we had a full IT network set up with remote access for the whole team. I did not however expect it to have to be used under such pandemic circumstances and I am grateful that I have a magnificent team who have adapted to these challenging circumstances.

They continue to work effectively supporting our clients, who in turn are supporting us – as they have said we are all in this together – and it is this spirit of help and support that will make us stronger than ever after this episode is over.

It is difficult at times not to have the contact with your team, clients and colleagues other than through video conferencing and I miss enjoying the spontaneity that comes with being in the same studio.

There is also the need to maintain the boundaries of work and home life. During the working week I get up in the morning early and ‘cycle to work’ for an hour before returning to the studio where we have a team chat at the start of the day. Lunch brings an unexpected ‘dining al fresco’ rather than the ‘dining al desco’ making the most of our garden before back to work until our team tea time chat to supplement the conversations throughout the day between the team.

Whilst the working week is more easily structured, weekend differentiation is less clear so we have a ‘happy hour’ every Friday to close the working week and I personally spend more time DIYing than I have done for a long time to keep me from creeping back into the studio.

I miss my team and look forward to returning to our studio in Bermondsey to work alongside them again in person soon, but in the meantime I take comfort the knowledge that they are the best and we will be stronger together shortly.

Some of my team wanted to share their thoughts as well, so please click on the arrow on the photo strip. I hope you will find their views insightful.

Keep well and stay safe.

- Paul