Preparations to tear down the old offices of Aberdeen Journals are underway, which makes me sad. For eight years it was the place I spent day in and day out, learning my craft.
Eight years is a long time, if you think about it. More than you ever spend in school or at university.
And it was the building where I made some of my closest friends, covered some of the biggest stories of my career so far and grew from trainee to section editor.
That place had been my constant. Despite there being no windows and it feeling like a nuclear bunker, I still loved it.
One of my favourite things used to be to stand in the hall with the printing presses on a morning and watch the Evening Express roll-off. I don’t think I will ever forget that smell.
Oh, and the library, where I would easily get lost in the stacks for hours, racking through ancient copies of the paper in a bid to spark ideas for my next story.
So, when we were told we were moving into a shiny new office in the city centre – “back home to Broad Street”, where the Journals first began, I had my doubts.
Where am I going to park? Where will the contents of the library go? Are we all going to fit?
“It won’t be the same,” I thought. In spite of the Lang Stracht’s hideously industrial feel, it had charm and character. “You won’t get that in a new build office block,” I thought.
But I was so wrong.
City centre working is good for both us and the economy
My 25-minute stroll to the office is now one of my favourite parts of the day. Walking through the city centre, I get to observe what is going on, which often sparks ideas for a story. No need to be stuck in that windowless room with old cuts.
I also love being able to see right across the city as we work – sometimes we even spot the smoke from a fire before we’re officially alerted to its existence.
And working in the city centre is so much fun; encouraging collaborative working, after-work drinks and so on.
Good morning Aberdeen ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aUb85W7ITl
— Rebecca Buchan (@rbuchan_PJ) October 26, 2021
I know, for many, Covid restrictions leading to working from home was a real benefit to them, but I can safely say I have been counting down the days until I was able to walk through those rotating doors again.
I have also noticed the good it’s been doing for our city centre. The lovely ladies at Upper Krust tell us regularly how business has boomed since the opening of Marischal Square.
And, with the decline in the oil and gas industry and the effects of the pandemic being obvious for all to see when you walk down Union Street, I have been asking myself more and more recently: shouldn’t everyone be working in the city?
There are many good reasons for companies to move inward
While I may feel a nostalgic sense of sadness when I think about the old offices being bulldozed, there is part of me that firmly believes it’s the right fate. And it’s one that should fall, too, to many office blocks on the outskirts of the city, when there is so much free commercial space in the centre.
I welcomed Shell’s news that they would be moving in up to 1,000 of their staff from Tullos into the Silver Fin building.
For years, we have lived and worked in a strange city where almost all of the energy firms that drive our leading industry have been operating from industrial estates. As a consequence – and driven further due to the massive growth in online shopping – their staff, unfortunately, do not spend enough of their hard earned salaries in our city centre.
There is an argument that this was allowed to happen because the city didn’t have the infrastructure in place 40 years ago to accommodate these oil majors, driving them out of town. But, now that firms are reducing the amount of commercial space needed, we must capitalise on this and remind them there is reason to move in.
Use it or lose it
While it is undeniable that Union Street and its surrounds have taken a bit of a hammering in recent years, plans are afoot to revitalise our city centre, and we have potential, with our beautiful granite architecture.
There has been a lot of cynicism surrounding the masterplan, with many naysayers of the belief that the grand proposals are “too ambitious” to pull off. But the transformation of Union Terrace Gardens is already underway.
In order for the city to thrive, and in order to encourage more businesses to move into the centre, people need to use it
Chancellor Rishi Sunak recently announced that £20 million is heading our way for the new market development at the former BHS site. There is clearly movement.
While the Marischal Square development might have been controversial initially, I for one am glad it hasn’t been left as wasted open space.
In order for the city to thrive, and in order to encourage more businesses to move into the centre, people need to use it. Use it or lose it, isn’t that the saying?
Rebecca Buchan is City and Shire Team Leader for The Press & Journal and Evening Express