Bell Cheeses at work

[Baldseagull]

I do......normally get something on the way in. Is it any different than having lunch at your desk? (I guess I usually eat it around 7.15/30 am and I'm technically 9-5, so not strictly in company time).

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Whilst others seem shocked at the Ginsters Breakfast, what is freaking me out is that you are typically at your desk before 7.30, when you do not need to be until 9. This to me is like leaving a couple of gulps in your pint glass, or leaving the Amex on 85 minutes, you just don't do it. Early for work is one thing, an hour and a half early is on the bellcheese spectrum.

 

[dazzer6666]

Whilst others seem shocked at the Ginsters Breakfast, what is freaking me out is that you are typically at your desk before 7.30, when you do not need to be until 9. This to me is like leaving a couple of gulps in your pint glass, or leaving the Amex on 85 minutes, you just don't do it. Early for work is one thing, an hour and a half early is on the bellcheese spectrum.

It’s actually more about bellcheese avoidance..........The difference between sitting on a relatively quiet train at 6am, and fighting my way to stand on one at say, 7.30 (plus avoiding the Jubilee Line crush at the London end) is worth the early start. It also means I get an hour of peace and quiet in the office where I can eat my fresh sausage sarnie without any interruptions, catch up on previous days and overnight emails, have a chat with the Asian teams on their timezone etc etc. I don’t stay late, usually away before 6 and always go for a run/go to the gym during ‘office hours’ (so kind of get that time back) and most importantly for me now it’s only 2-3 days a week. Sadly in the city (at any kind of level of seniority anyway) working 9-5 has long since disappeared.

 

[Lower West Stander]

It’s actually more about bellcheese avoidance..........The difference between sitting on a relatively quiet train at 6am, and fighting my way to stand on one at say, 7.30 (plus avoiding the Jubilee Line crush at the London end) is worth the early start. It also means I get an hour of peace and quiet in the office where I can eat my fresh sausage sarnie without any interruptions, catch up on previous days and overnight emails, have a chat with the Asian teams on their timezone etc etc. I don’t stay late, usually away before 6 and always go for a run/go to the gym during ‘office hours’ (so kind of get that time back) and most importantly for me now it’s only 2-3 days a week. Sadly in the city (at any kind of level of seniority anyway) working 9-5 has long since disappeared.

Yep.

I work in the city and no one works 9 to 5 in my office. More like 8 till 530 and frequently more - no overtime either. It’s just an unwritten rule that everyone works to get the job done.

Which brings me on to the Bell cheese element. One guy is famous for working ludicrous hours - he sent me an email at 130 in the morning from the office last week. Rather wonderfully, he commutes from Coventry every day as well. He has now decided his hours are disrupting his ability to work so has decided to rent a flat on the South Bank during the week.

When I pinged out that maybe moving closer to London may be a better idea he said this was out of the question because his wife liked to be near her parents.

Ok then.....


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[dazzer6666]

Yep.

I work in the city and no one works 9 to 5 in my office. More like 8 till 530 and frequently more - no overtime either. It’s just an unwritten rule that everyone works to get the job done.

Which brings me on to the Bell cheese element. One guy is famous for working ludicrous hours - he sent me an email at 130 in the morning from the office last week. Rather wonderfully, he commutes from Coventry every day as well. He has now decided his hours are disrupting his ability to work so has decided to rent a flat on the South Bank during the week.

When I pinged out that maybe moving closer to London may be a better idea he said this was out of the question because his wife liked to be near her parents.

Ok then.....


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Couple of the blokes I work closely with have flats in the Wharf they use during the week (families live in Leeds and Suffolk respectively). They both have no life during the week - often in the office well into the night or even early morning. The lack of any incentive to go home is not a good thing in my book. They’re both hugely stressed and not in good physical shape (tend to live on mostly junk food/eating out I guess as don’t cook at their flats, and often have a drink after work) and there is very evident strain on their family relationships.

People who feel the need to send emails at 1.30am, or are martyrs to the long hours culture are usually just badly organised or unable to make decisions.........

 

[Dave the OAP]

Couple of the blokes I work closely with have flats in the Wharf they use during the week (families live in Leeds and Suffolk respectively). They both have no life during the week - often in the office well into the night or even early morning. The lack of any incentive to go home is not a good thing in my book. They’re both hugely stressed and not in good physical shape (tend to live on mostly junk food/eating out I guess as don’t cook at their flats, and often have a drink after work) and there is very evident strain on their family relationships.

People who feel the need to send emails at 1.30am, or are martyrs to the long hours culture are usually just badly organised or unable to make decisions.........

My niece has just started working for a one of the top accountants in the city as a graduate intern. Her hours are 9 to 5:30, yet she is expected ( yes expected) to start work at 7 in the morning and she rarely gets out before 10:30 pm....seemly if you look to start packing up to leave anytime before 8 pm, you are subject to sarky comments.

She lives in Hammersmith.

Seemly she was told that to " get on in the industry" you need to show to go above and beyond......I look at it as corporate bullying.

I used to work in the city and due to the nature of my work, would be in the office by about 8:45 and out by 5:15pm to catch the 5:32 pm to portslade. Although I now work from home every day, I do actually miss the camaraderie of a full office. When all you have to look forward to is chatting to the cat, it is very sad.

 

[blue'n'white]

My office was just off Eastcheap - I used to get the 6.43 from Redhill and was usually sat at my desk by 7.30. It wasn't a problem getting up because the alternative of being rammed on to a train with even less comfort than normal was just too much to contemplate. I used to have a half hour lunch break to go out of the office and stretch my legs, leave at 3.30 ish, stroll across London Bridge and get the 4.03 home.A late night for me would be 5pm or possibly 5.30pm and that would be only if I was going to a gig or meeting mates for a few beers. Mind you I was on flexi time - something which some of you poor buggers sound as if you could do with.
I do not miss commuting one little bit - sheer hell and bloody expensive.

 

[dazzer6666]

My niece has just started working for a one of the top accountants in the city as a graduate intern. Her hours are 9 to 5:30, yet she is expected ( yes expected) to start work at 7 in the morning and she rarely gets out before 10:30 pm....seemly if you look to start packing up to leave anytime before 8 pm, you are subject to sarky comments.

She lives in Hammersmith.

Seemly she was told that to " get on in the industry" you need to show to go above and beyond......I look at it as corporate bullying.

I used to work in the city and due to the nature of my work, would be in the office by about 8:45 and out by 5:15pm to catch the 5:32 pm to portslade. Although I now work from home every day, I do actually miss the camaraderie of a full office. When all you have to look forward to is chatting to the cat, it is very sad.

That stinks. Completely unreasonable in my view but sadly all too common. If senior people choose to work long hours then that’s up to them, but expecting juniors (and even worse interns) to do it is not really on. Accountancy and law firms seem to be the worst in relation to this..........seems to form part of the ‘character building’ and a ‘let’s see how well they cope’ mentality. I guess the longer-term payoff is the potentially big rewards once qualified but whether it’s worth the stress is down to the individual.

 

[scamander]

My niece has just started working for a one of the top accountants in the city as a graduate intern. Her hours are 9 to 5:30, yet she is expected ( yes expected) to start work at 7 in the morning and she rarely gets out before 10:30 pm....seemly if you look to start packing up to leave anytime before 8 pm, you are subject to sarky comments.

She lives in Hammersmith.

Seemly she was told that to " get on in the industry" you need to show to go above and beyond......I look at it as corporate bullying.

I used to work in the city and due to the nature of my work, would be in the office by about 8:45 and out by 5:15pm to catch the 5:32 pm to portslade. Although I now work from home every day, I do actually miss the camaraderie of a full office. When all you have to look forward to is chatting to the cat, it is very sad.

I remember a very interesting article by an anonymous wife of a city trader just after the whole crash and bailout fiasco (where they were being widely castigated). I thought it would be more a contrarian piece but it was really sad. Essentially they are rich and will never want for anything but she rarely saw him, he might get back by 11 at night but was back in the office at 6. One year they booked a holiday in the Alps, he would be on the phone 3/4 hours a day. I'm not expecting sympathy but it's an interesting perspective on it all.

On a similar side note I used to go to a gym in a very well-to-do area of London. I had a week off work and visited the gym a couple times during the day, it was packed with bored housewives. On a night out with a couple of the trainers I made the observation and he rolled his eyes, most are married but never see their husbands. A part of the culture involved them having affairs and it being an accepted part of the marriage, needless to say personal trainers formed the mainstay. He said you could usually tell because they'd book in a personal session which needed to be at their house/flat so they could go for a run.

Invariably they wouldn't go for a run.

 

[MattBackHome]

whether it’s worth the stress is down to the individual.

Life's too short I'd say. You're a long time dead etc.

And @Brovion - cold cornish pasty for breakfast at your desk is utterly unforgivable, under any circumstances.

 

[dazzer6666]

I remember a very interesting article by an anonymous wife of a city trader just after the whole crash and bailout fiasco (where they were being widely castigated). I thought it would be more a contrarian piece but it was really sad. Essentially they are rich and will never want for anything but she rarely saw him, he might get back by 11 at night but was back in the office at 6. One year they booked a holiday in the Alps, he would be on the phone 3/4 hours a day. I'm not expecting sympathy but it's an interesting perspective on it all.

On a similar side note I used to go to a gym in a very well-to-do area of London. I had a week off work and visited the gym a couple times during the day, it was packed with bored housewives. On a night out with a couple of the trainers I made the observation and he rolled his eyes, most are married but never see their husbands. A part of the culture involved them having affairs and it being an accepted part of the marriage, needless to say personal trainers formed the mainstay. He said you could usually tell because they'd book in a personal session which needed to be at their house/flat so they could go for a run.

Invariably they wouldn't go for a run.

It is sad.....see it so often, people having no balance in their lives. I’ve long since reached a point where I’m not prepared to compromise home life. I almost never stay late in the office (only if there is a real crisis), work from home a couple of days a week and always find time to exercise during the day. I haven’t taken a work phone call on holiday for years. Some people are way too full of their own self-importance and think the firm can’t function without them......madness.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

.....madness.

I had no idea this stuff was so commonplace. Very sad to hear and worrying for the next generation.

Some have a theory about the UK following the US on these sort of issues.

Is there a discernible downward trend yet in the amount of annual leave taken by people..? Can't say I've noticed that.





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[clarkey]

That stinks. Completely unreasonable in my view but sadly all too common. If senior people choose to work long hours then that’s up to them, but expecting juniors (and even worse interns) to do it is not really on. Accountancy and law firms seem to be the worst in relation to this..........seems to form part of the ‘character building’ and a ‘let’s see how well they cope’ mentality. I guess the longer-term payoff is the potentially big rewards once qualified but whether it’s worth the stress is down to the individual.

Speaking from experience at one of the accountancy firms, it's all to do with margins. Firms wanting to pay less and less for their services these days, means you need lower costs to protect the margin. Only real way to do that is to hire fewer people and wring more out of the people you've got. Particularly hard giving the increasingly stringent regulation which is increasing the amount of work they have to do each year.

But anyway, we're straying wildly off topic here. It's the marketing Christmas do today, we've got a BC in full elf outfit. Bell being the operative word - got about 10 attached to each limb. Currently doing the rounds walking slowly past people's desks in the hope he gets some attention. Luckily it's like a leper bell so you can hear him coming and pretend to be on the phone.

 

[dazzer6666]

I had no idea this stuff was so commonplace. Very sad to hear and worrying for the next generation.

Some have a theory about the UK following the US on these sort of issues.

Is there a discernible downward trend yet in the amount of annual leave taken by people..? Can't say I've noticed that.





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It is......although the culture of working from home is growing at pace. There’s not much difference between any of the main global centres in financial services in my experience. Long hours are the norm in London, New York and Hong Kong, with the corresponding ‘look at how late I worked’ pissing competitions.

Interestingly it’s not the case in all places though.....far more 9-5 in some such as Dubai and Canada for example. Asia generally tend to work late, but don’t start early and always have a proper lunch break. Latin America start late but stay late and also have extensive lunch breaks, coffee breaks, chats etc.

I got pointedly asked by a former boss (in the UK) once ‘do you ACTUALLY take ALL of your annual leave ?’

I replied ‘Yes of course. Do you take ALL of your salary ?’........when I have the time there are a multitude of BCAW stories I can relate from that nob [emoji23][emoji23]

 

[Papa Lazarou]

On the flip side I just received an email informing me that as of next year the annual holiday allowance will increase from 25 to 30 days! Reverse Cheesery.

 

[dazzer6666]

On the flip side I just received an email informing me that as of next year the annual holiday allowance will increase from 25 to 30 days! Reverse Cheesery.

I can buy an extra 5 days through ‘flexible benefits’ so I get 35 #winner

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I can buy an extra 5 days through ‘flexible benefits’ so I get 35 #winner

As can I (or carry up to 5 over) #TeamWinner

 

[dazzer6666]

As can I (or carry up to 5 over) #TeamWinner

Both.....looking forward to my 40 days next year [emoji106][emoji106]

 

[Normski1989]

Both.....looking forward to my 40 days next year [emoji106][emoji106]

Can you take them off consecutively? Just bugger off for two months.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Both.....looking forward to my 40 days next year [emoji106][emoji106]

Both? Blimey. That's good.

 

[Easy 10]

Oi @Easy10. What happened at the great present unveiling? Pasty office etiquette can wait.

Nothing to report. Turns out she was off yesterday, and today as well. Her duck vibrator is wrapped and sitting lonely-ly in the Secret Santa box.