Looking the part Recession or not, image is important and good design is cost-effective, as Daniel Taylor tells Noella Pio Kivlehan
Daniel Taylor is a man full of opinions. The managing director of office fit-out specialist Metro Design Consultants believes that the Olympic Park should have been built on green-belt land in west London; rates developer Hammerson for its use of architecture; and in his heart wanted Labour to win the general election, but believes that a Conservative government will be better for businesses.
With the Tories now in 10 Downing Street, with the help of the Liberal Democrats, Taylor, who features on JP Morgan’s list of the 100 most influential black people in Britain, is coming to terms with the new administration.
“I have got split loyalties. A Conservative government, with their hands-off approach, will clearly help companies, while the Labour party is more for individuals. It’s more personable. But, in my line of work, the Conservatives will help our clients be more bullish about how they run their businesses.
“The Conservatives can make immediate changes as, in that first year, governments have grace with the public to make radical changes and blame it on the outgoing party.”
Not that the problems of the outgoing Labour government hampered Taylor’s business. Established in 1998, its past and current clients number more than 3,000. Among them are Argent, the Conservative party, Unite, FTSE, Skype, Harley Davidson and the NHS.
“The recession has helped us in that clients have been looking at their lower-grade stock buildings to see what they can do with them. It’s about refurbishing the space where they are so they can get another three to four years out of them.”
MDC’s projects focus on refurbishing older stock in central and Greater London. “With a lack of grade-A stock, developers now have to look at B, C and D stock. Where we slot in is in D and C, primarily.” (See panel, p99.)
Taylor’s design approach centres on the changing face of technology. “The successful person is going to be the one who understands technology. In the 1930s and 1940s, the typewriter drove the design of the desk. In the 1980s, it was the IBM.
“Today, the flat screen is driving office design; Apple’s iPad will open up amazing possibilities, with people having to work in a less haphazard way,” he says. “We will be able to eliminate cables and this will help the environment.
“Yes, incorporating these design changes can initially be more expensive, but roll it out over 10-15 years and it will pay for itself.”
Given today’s tough economic times, with prudent companies tightening their purse strings, Taylor points out that design does not have to be expensive.
“It can be cost-effective,” he says. “Recession aside, every client says the same thing: ‘we have shareholders – they want it done cheaply’. Even so, there is no fear of being too flashy with a design because we are too much of an educated society and we all travel, so we want to see different elements in our offices. Recession or not, image is still important.”
Taylor says he always wanted to be a designer. After joining office furniture manufacturer Allsteel, and rising to become European managing director, he decided to set up on his own.
The advent of the dot.com boom propelled Taylor’s fledgling business but he was also careful to protect it from the crash of the sector.
He says: “I saw the bubble bursting. I am not a person to put all my eggs in one basket – that comes from the benefit of working with big conglomerations where you can see the wider picture – so I recognised that I needed to spread risk to capture different markets. Our clients are in banking, insurance, entertainment, government and charitable enterprises.”
The south-London based business now has a staff of 40 people, with a turnover in 2009 of more than £20m.
Taylor is full of admiration for other business developments. “Canary Wharf is a project you have to respect. I remember going to the site when the tower [One Canada Square] had just been built. The Reichman Brothers’ vision was just mind-boggling.
“I didn’t think we would see it in my lifetime. But the development they have created within London in 20 years has to be to the credit of the developers and the locals for letting it happen.”
Another developer he praises is Hammerson. “The company uses architecture as a strong statement in delivering its buildings. It is true vision from one developer which has pushed the boundaries. It puts into perspective the Olympics, which is being done by our own government.”
Here Taylor puts forward his somewhat controversial opinions on the 2012 Olympic Games. “The Olympic park doesn’t measure up. [The development comprises] pockets of investment that they hope will join up. If you look at Canary Wharf, they owned the whole land. They had a whole vision.
“I would have put the Olympics in west London, in the green belt between Heathrow and Windsor. Yes, it means using the green belt, but it would leave a greater legacy with far better transport – but instead, we have put it in the most blighted areas.”
With building works on the Olympic park well advanced, a new government will not be taking Taylor’s advice but, regardless, he is determined to leave his own legacy – and that is in the office sector through design.
DANIEL TAYLOR
1983-88 Joins the now defunct US power company Westinghouse SA as a consultant
1988-98 Joins Allsteel Europe, rising to the position of managing director, Europe
1998 Establishes Metro Design Consultants, as managing director and owner. By 2009 it has 40 employees and a £20m annual turnover
2009 Named on JP Morgan’s list of the 100 most influential black people in Britain
Making the grade: offices types, according to Daniel Taylor
Grade A “Premium stock”
Grade B “The type of premises that a stockbroker probably got in the 1990s that is now being upgraded. It would have a big floorplate with very few pillars and it would be a typical glass box. It would need modernising to be more energy-efficient.”
Grade D “The average-sized space in London would be 15,000 sq ft. It would be for a company that came out of serviced offices to start up its own business and is starting to expand. Issues for them are that they will want to have one floorplate, as when they start to grow they will not want to be on two floors.”
