Office workers to let things slide

A COMPANY has unveiled what it says is the first helter-skelter to be built inside a British office building.

Tenants taking up space in the new Electric Works block in Sheffield are offering staff a quirky shortcut from the top of the four-storey building to the ground floor.

The 85ft (26m) long spiral slide cuts the journey from the third floor down to seven seconds.

Toby Hyam, managing director at Creative Space Management, which runs the building, said: “Electric Works will be the first office building in the UK to have a permanent helter-skelter for the use of those who work there.

“It will also be available for business visitors and for conference visitors, but it will not be open to the general public.

“Companies and the individual people working here feel that the helter-skelter reflects their approach to work, where the division between work and play is blurred and where the risk, imagination and creativity that characterises their work is going to be reflected in their surroundings.”

The building, the second of five which will form Sheffield’s new Digital Campus, opens next week. It is designed for companies employing up to 75 people in the creative and digital sectors and will provide workspace for up to 400.