Where can you “chill out,” watch airplanes, work with a “wellbeing ambassador” and take a quick jaunt into London if you’d like?
Welcome to Cisco in Bedfont Lakes, United Kingdom!
Should you ever have the opportunity to visit or interview at our location, we thought we’d share a few tidbits to make your experience even better (than it already will be, of course.)
What’s your claim to Cisco fame?
Our office in Bedfont Lakes is our flagship office in the UK – one of 15 – where we regularly host a range of visitors, from interview candidates to potential and existing customers providing demos of our cutting edge technology.
How do I get there, please?
The Bedfont Lakes office is situated in a business park close to Heathrow Airport and is about 40 minutes away from the center of London. The campus has three buildings and is home to a large proportion of UK employees. But it’s more than buildings, It’s surrounded by a beautiful park and a lake, which can be viewed from the majority of our “chill out zones” and coffee areas.
Getting here is easy! Those coming to Feltham / Hatton Cross stations can use one of the free Bedfont Lakes (BL) shuttle buses, which will drop you off directly in front of the office. If you’re driving, there are over 1m100 car spaces available for Cisco employees on the campus, including parking spaces for those with special needs and primo spaces for expecting mothers.
Now that I’m here, what goodies does the office have for me?
Take some time to wander around the office, you never know what you’ll find. But here are a few things not to miss.
Customer Experience Centers (CEC)
Located on the ground floor in Building 9, this is where you’ll find the latest intelligent network solutions we offer. You’ll be one of many of the visitors from around the world that have stopped by!
Cisco TV and Virtual Event Centre (VEC)
Watch out – recording in progress! Our real life TV studio, where we record different materials (news, communications, training) for internal and external purposes. Our biggest meetings are also live-broadcoast from here. You can find this space on the ground floor in building 10.
Chill out zones
You can find many “chill out zones” in all three Cisco buildings at Bedfont Lakes. This is where we come to relax or take a break. How? Well, there are massage chairs (ahhhhh!), nap pods for getting your energy back, and games – like Scrabble and puzzle-solving fun. We work hard, and we relax hard (which energizes us to work hard again.)
Sounds like you’re inside the office a lot?
We are, and we’re not. 🙂
When the weather is nice, you can relax outside the office, on one of the benches or bean bags, enjoy the view of the lake and observe the planes taking off and landing at Heathrow airport. Did you know that every day at Heathrow a plane takes off and lands every 45 seconds?
Bedfont Lakes Country Park is also a short walk from the office and is one of the top tourist attractions in the borough. This big green open space has many plants and birds and you can walk, picnic, go orienteering and fishing. The Lake itself looks pretty and tranquil in every season and provides a great place for ducks and swans (and there are fuzzy babies in spring!)
The park also features the highest point in the borough, Monolith Hill and, on a clear day, you enjoy the view of Windsor Castle and the Wembley Arch.
What should I wear? Isn’t the UK quite fashionable?
Dress code in the office is smart causal. You see many variations of style – from jeans and t-shirt to fashionistas to classic business formal. It all depends what type of role you perform and whether you interact with customers, and what your individual style preference is.
Let’s have coffee and talk?
Coffee lovers will be in their element! We have two onsite two Starbucks to choose from! One is in the building 10 Deli and the other in the building 9 restaurant. Then you can sip your very complicated but lovely beverage in one of the coffee areas we have in each of the buildings.
What else can you tell me?
We’re family friendly! We take care of the entire Cisco Family, including its littlest members. Our employees can use the Cisco Early Years Nursery and Preschool, which is run by Bright Horizons and is located in one of the buildings in the campus. It has a beautiful outdoor play space and garden where Cisco kids can learn and play. Now, parents can pop in and have a look at how their toddlers are doing during their break at work.
Plus, we have lots of services on site, like:
- Beauty treatments (looking good!)
- Car washes
- Dry cleaning
- Electric car charging stations (because, the environment!)
Wow, I’ve worked up an appetite. Where are we going for lunch?
We have an onsite restaurant where you can chose from a range of delicious meals. There is a good choice of healthy options and the more indulgent depending what you fancy! Lunch is served (but also breakfast, if you pop in earlier.)
If you want to grab some coworkers and head out for lunch (or dinner) then Richmond is a great place to head to. It’s a lovely town situated upon the river Thames, with beautiful Royal parks, open spaces, historic houses, and a lively town center full of coffee places and restaurants.
Now I have food coma. Help?
At Cisco in Europe, we follow Jessie Pavelka’s philosophy which encourages you to “Eat, Sweat, Think, and Connect.” Jessie is our Wellbeing Ambassador and shares with us different tips within those four areas of health.
For those who love sport and who are keen to stay more active, we have an onsite gym. You can pay as you go or sign up for a membership to pop in and use the facilities or take part in a group class.
We’re a little competitive here, so if you fancy a game of “table football” you can challenge us at your own risk and find a table in the back of building 9 and 10. Or, if you fancy pool, there is a pool table in the Building 11 Deli area.
When is the best time to pay you a visit?
Bedfont Lakes always welcomes its visitors, no matter what the season – there is always something happening! From a very popular Pub Quiz, delicious Barbecue, bring your kids to work day, to our quarterly Movie Nights and different charity initiatives, such as Movember. So why not visit over and over?
If I visit, where should I stay?
Since Bedfont Lakes is very close to Heathrow airport, there are many hotels that can be reached easily within a few minutes from the office by taxi. There is a shuttle bus service between the Bedfont Lakes office and Sheraton Skyline, which can be arranged through the hotel concierge desk.
Hope to see you soon at Cisco Bedfont Lakes!
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Nice one Aga. Love it!