This article was updated to reflect our current risk assessment and policies on 9th December 2021. Our Covid-secure measures remain in place and the centre remains open for you to use, should your business be unable to operate with staff working from home.

If you and your team are planning for your return to the office, this article outlines our plans for ensuring that our spaces are Covid-19 secure, and our specific health and safety requirements of tenants and visitors. A similar article for tenants based at the Sussex Innovation Centre in Falmer can be found here. For best practice guidance around managing your employees’ return to work, click here.

Following the latest Government announcements on Wednesday 8th December, we’ve updated our Covid-19 risk assessment and continue working hard to keep our spaces Covid-19 secure. You can access the full risk assessment document for Sussex Innovation Croydon here. We have based our assessment on the Government advice for offices and contact centres, and recommend conducting a similar review of your own workspace within the building.

Our doors remain reopened to tenants and co-working members – as a customer-facing organisation, we understand that while we can continue to function while working remotely, we are far more effective in supporting you when we have some presence in our innovation centres, and we will therefore ensure that there is a continued but limited number of our team in the building. Contact information will be made available outside the support office, should you need to reach any member of the support team during normal working hours.

Whilst the current national guidelines have removed the requirement for social distancing and wearing masks, we believe that both measures continue to be the most effective way of reducing the risk of transmission in our shared spaces, and hope that everyone will join us in continuing to observe these precautions. We expect that all tenants show respect and consideration for everyone else who uses our space, by reading and following the guidelines below, and sharing them in advance with any external visitors who you are expecting:

– Our team will be taking rapid lateral flow tests before visiting the site, and self-isolating at home in the event of a positive test result – we encourage anyone visiting us regularly to follow the same precaution. A pack of seven test kits can be ordered free of charge here.
– A cleaning crew will be visiting the site daily to conduct a thorough clean of all corridors and shared spaces, and to ensure proper hygiene measures continue to be followed.
– We request that all business owners, employees and visitors wear face coverings while in the common areas of the building. Please bring your own if you can – disposable masks are also available from the Reception desk.
– Please use the NHS Track and Trace app to check in to the building on arrival, enabling us to provide accurate data for the system.
– Lifts in the building will be limited to 2 people per journey, and lift users will need to stand facing away from each other in adherence with guidelines. Both staircases are now one-way up and down, connecting with the one-way system and signage on the 6th and 11th floors. We are in constant communication with the building management and as more people start to return, we may need to arrange staggered arrival times for employees to ensure that the lifts and stairwells remain safe for everybody to use.
– The reception area includes floor markings demonstrating a safe distance from the desk. Our booking and check-in systems have been updated for contactless booking, and please contact reception by phone, email, Slack or Teams where possible to avoid face-to-face contact.
– Toilets have vacant/engaged signage, with each block to be used by only one person at a time – if the block is engaged, please queue at a safe distance. Building management has requested that tenants do not travel to toilet blocks on other floors in the building.
– The main entrance and exit doors on each floor will be held open throughout the day, and we recommend holding office doors open where possible to increase air flow. Hand sanitizer has been placed in all shared spaces – please use it before and after touching door handles, switches, printers and other high-frequency touchpoints.
– Desk space in the hotdesk room has been reduced and the space will be cleaned down each evening. If you are a virtual member planning to use it, please be sure to book via reception in advance, so that we can ensure an appropriate number of people are using the room at any time.
– Meeting room capacity has been reduced – please observe the maximum number of meeting attendees signposted on the doors.
– Furniture in the shared spaces has been thinned out and moved to a safe distance – please do not move the chairs or benches closer together, and use the sanitation wipes provided to clean down tables after use.

Safety, security and employee wellbeing are clearly the most important concerns for businesses as they return to work, but what we have been hearing loud and clear from our community is that flexibility will also be a priority for you. This pandemic has had a different effect on every business, and we appreciate that many of our members will be reviewing their requirements – please talk to us if we can be of assistance.

That’s why we’ve revisited the packages that we offer our tenants at Sussex Innovation, to support you as you establish what the ‘new normal’ looks like for you. So, whether:

– You’re looking for additional overflow office space so that your whole team can return to an office base and reconnect;
– You’re looking to temporarily or permanently move to a smaller office as you work out what your future business model and working arrangements look like;
– You’re planning to deliver more of your work remotely, but still want a space and community to be your ‘home away from home’

…we’ve created options to suit you. Please contact Daisy if you’d like to explore the different working arrangements that are available.