Executives come to Cambridge Research Park for their health!

Executive stress is a major health issue in today�s workplace and, not surprisingly, is most pronounced in major commercial centres where pressures are at their most intense. The downside of working in a dynamic, competitive environment is the toll it takes on one�s mental and physical reserves.

Cambridge, which has a reputation as an international centre for high technology, is no exception to this rule: indeed, it has become, in many ways, a victim of its own success. The prestige of a Cambridge address is a powerful draw; the reality of setting up and doing business there is quite another.

Business space is at a premium - both in terms of price and availability - and even for those fortunate enough to secure centrally based premises, the overheads are high and the amenities are often poor. A particular bone of contention is access and parking: a leading software company recently quit their 27,000 sq.ft. premises in the city centre, which, whilst accommodating a staff of several hundred, were without a single dedicated parking space!

Whilst keeping a nervous eye on the bottom line is the traditional cause of executive ulcers, it is often the minor irritations (if access and parking problems can be called minor) which prove to be the final straw.

Vanetta McCabe, Marketing Executive for Cambridge Animation Systems, who have recently taken premises on Cambridge Research Park, considers the removal of such irritants as nothing less than life changing. She comments:
�I have been a lot less stressed since we moved to the Research Park six months ago - and not late for work once! The journey into Cambridge used to take me well over an hour of stop-start driving and I was never sure what time I would arrive.

�Now, its a short skip down the A10, I can leave home at ten past nine and still arrive in time for work, giving me plenty of time to potter around in the morning, or go to the gym before coming to work. It�s altogether a less stressful drive in, wastes less time, and give me more free time at home�.
Allan Lutton, Facilities Supervisor for NTL, one of the first to take premises at Cambridge Research Park, shares Vanetta�s enthusiasm for its facilities, and can�t resist comparing his good fortune with the unhappy lot of others.

�What a perverse pleasure there is driving past the crawling queues of commuters on the A10 every weekday morning, as they struggle into Cambridge� he says. �As I head north towards CRP, I have an open road and the prospect of working in a country park environment. Our delivery drivers also comment that it is extremely easy to locate, with excellent routes to and from the A1, A14 and M11�.

Of course, as any psychologist or new age therapist will tell you, stress relief its not just the removal of negative factors, but the introduction of positive ones, and in this the occupants of CRP are doubly fortunate. At least one quarter of the total area of the park is given over to feature lakes and woodlands, and it also has its own wild life reserve - home to such exotic species as Golden Oriels, Little Ringed Plovers, and Great Crested Newts.

As Vanetta McCabe observes �My desk faces out onto fields and lakes, so I have a fantastic view, and when things get hectic at work, you can take five minutes out with a cup of tea, and watch the wildlife�. Allan Lutton adds: �Driving into the park surrounded by trees, lakes and bird life is a pleasure not many other local office workers have. With the warmer days approaching, staff can look forward to eating alfresco by the lakes in the company of our resident pair of swans and other wild fowl. Overall, a very pleasant site to work in�.

All of which is not to downplay the strategic and commercial advantages of CRP - it is rather the balance between these and its environmental advantages that gives it its special appeal. Commenting on this, John Barrot of Synaptics, another CRP occupier, says: �We choose CRP for its combination of location, environment and flexibly designed building modules, which allowed us to match our requirements almost exactly. This is very much a forward-looking move. My belief is that, within a few years, CRP will be the business park of choice in the region�.