Dispatch

Africa House: The Big Move

You’ll remember the post welcoming Frankie McCarthy into the family. You may even remember that part of the interview process was Frankie presenting her plans for what at the time was an imagined future move into bigger offices. Well, I’m delighted to announce, thanks to Frankie’s planning, who together with Maddy Bowers orchestrated the move, we have a brand new address: Journeys by Design, Africa House, Brunswick Row, Brighton, UK.

Forgive me for spelling it out, and so slowly, rolling the words, one by one. Like finding and moving house, sourcing, designing and decamping to a new office space is a serious emotional wrench, especially given the fact that we had been in Park Crescent for the best part of a decade.

Not a step to be taken lightly, we took our time, plumping eventually for a building that needed a great deal of work before moving in, but means we have enormous amount of space, with operations occupying the length and breadth of the second floor, the kitchen and meeting spaces on the first, and the ground leased to the wonderful Flour Pot Bakery.

The building, I should say, we found thanks to the perseverance of James Oliver at Find and Build, while the actual move, which ‘went off’, says Frankie, ‘without a hitch’ we owe not just to the JbD team, but also to the super efficient Vanjam, movers extraordinaire. Nothing was too much, everything was possible.

So, to finish: It’s with a heady mixture of relief and sadness and unbridled joy that I sit here, at our new desks. Relief that it did indeed go so well. Sad that a chapter – one very close to my heart – is finally over. And joy because, well, come and see Africa House for yourself: it’s a truly beautiful space.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Travel ideas, conservation stories and the latest from our exploration team