Bloomberg’s new London digs won’t have cafeteria

Bloomberg Bloomberg’s new offices in London will be a “no-cafeteria zone” in a move to encourage its thousands of workers to leave the building at lunchtime, reports Jonathann Prynn of The Standard.

Prynn reports, “The company’s billionaire founder and chief executive Michael Bloomberg said he wanted to avoid the ‘Google syndrome’ seen in some tech firm offices where the free meals and facilities are so luxurious that employees become addicted to their work life.

“Mr Bloomberg, 75, told the Standard that the communal ‘pantry’ area on the sixth floor of the £1 billion building will supply coffee and snacks such as porridge pots but not lunch ‘because I want people to get out and enjoy the local economy.

“‘We are going in the opposite direction to Google — we encourage people to go outside.’

“This month, Google revealed details of its new London base in King’s Cross. Staff will be provided with free food and drink in cafes and can then take a nap in sleep pods or work it off in a gym or sports hall.

“Mr Bloomberg said that ‘as a guest in your city’ he did not want to suck business away from local traders such as sandwich bars and fitness clubs.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.