Page 134 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

and I started sitting at whichever desk was free as there was always
someone out on an appointment. It meant I got to sit with all the
staff and listen in on their calls, and perhaps more importantly, for
them to listen in on mine so they could pick up tips.

We had clearly outgrown the serviced offices in Pall Mall and so
we moved to our own space above a hi-fi shop on Tottenham
Court Road. It was pretty shabby, but despite my belief in
appearances mattering I was nervous about committing the
company to huge overheads. I had learned with the boutiques that
there could be weeks when our income didn’t cover the rent, and
now that I had a staff of six and was responsible for six basic
salaries – whether or not the team billed – I was nervous of getting
into cash-flow problems. I got the office painted, but that barely
compensated for the tatty doorway and stairwell. Still, it was a
good location and there was room for twenty people or more, so
as soon as the last person I hired started billing I took on another
member of staff. I arranged the desks in a horseshoe so that we
could all see each other: not only were all our desks identical,
which did away with petty hierarchies, but there were no separate
extension numbers for the phone, so when the phone rang, every
phone rang. This might have been noisy, but it was great for team
spirit.
‘John, for you on line one!’
‘Oi, new girl, your boyfriend’s on line three.’
‘James, someone’s chasing an invoice on line two.’
It was impossible to work in that environment and not feel part
of the team. Instead of most offices where people work in banks
of desks and never get to know colleagues sitting ten feet away,
the people at Alexander Mann couldn’t help but feel like a team.
Just like at Reid Trevena, I had charts on the walls showing how
many vacancies we had, how many candidates were out on
interviews, and a sales graph showing how everyone in the team

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