Until this month, Havas’ 1,700 U.K.-based employees had been scattered across seven London locations. But now they have no excuse to avoid grabbing that coffee.
The group’s newly built European headquarters, HKX, opened at King’s Cross in February to unite its 24 U.K. agencies, including Havas Media and Havas London, under one roof. Four years in the making, the new space is No. 47 of the 50 so-called villages Havas is building before 2017 is over.
“It was very hard for people to understand how we are structured,” explained Yannick Bolloré, Havas CEO, at the HKX launch party last Thursday. “Now we are open for everybody.”
Across 10 floors, the agency’s divisions now bleed into one another, with different disciplines hot-desking on each floor. Apart from the private meeting spaces and staff lockers, everywhere on its 10 floors is up for grabs.
Chris Hirst, chairman and CEO of Havas UK, explained the building is designed with the “collision of people and ideas” in mind. “The more we interact with each other in communal, inspiring spaces, the more likely it is that solutions that cross boundaries will appear for the benefit of our clients,” he said.
In fact, architect MCM’s design for the building makes it impossible to go up more than two flights of stairs at a time: Traffic is forced through its break-out spaces and out the other side.
Elsewhere, there’s an emphasis on the staff’s ease of use. For instance, the Amazon delivery lockers or the new subsidized canteen serving food and coffee from Bermondsey jaunt Hej.
Outside, Havas is in good company. The area surrounding King’s Cross Station is also home to Google, Guardian Media Group and art school Central Saint Martins. “We’re at the intersection of the best of technology and the best of creativity,” explained Bolloré. Handily for the French group, there’s also the Eurostar terminal, which reaches Paris in under three hours. Some of the team have nicknamed the underwater train route their second office.
And like many other agencies, Havas is on a consolidation drive. Following its most recent restructuring, the agency’s creative and media groups no longer exist. Now, they are business units under the Havas P&L. Essentially, it wants to be a one-stop shop that’s all things to all people.
“Eighteen months ago, we pitched for Sears. The CMO told me they were partnered with 80 different agencies,” said Bolloré. “His predecessor had hired people just to handle those relationships.”
With the new office, Havas is betting on the fact that U.K. clients will want simplicity, scale and, perhaps, good company too.
More in Marketing
Future of Marketing Briefing: Memes used to be a joke. Now they’re a strategy
This Future of Marketing Briefing covers the latest in marketing for Digiday+ members and is distributed over email every Friday at 10 a.m. ET. More from the series → Last month, a U.S. Special Forces soldier was indicted for insider trading — not on stocks, but on a prediction market. He had detailed knowledge of […]
Digiday+ Research: Marketers’ AI use rises, but tech skills stall
Marketers’ adoption of AI technology has risen significantly in recent years, but training employees on using these tools lags behind overall adoption.
Possible expands to Lisbon in 2027, keeping its focus on marketing, tech, culture and creativity
Digiday caught up with Carolina Cespedes of GoGo Squeez, Remy Stiles of agency Kepler and Oz Etzioni of Clinch, as well as Possible’s co-founder and owner.