No photos from that event, but this picture was taken on Janie’s first digital camera around that time in 2006.
Z/Yen had pretty much doubled its space in St Helen’s Place that year and we wanted to show it off to the partners and make full use of that space as part of that year’s seasonal event.
Lanes Restaurant was an excellent place. We didn’t quite have a private room – I seem to recall a curtained-off section rather than an actual separate room. Still, this afforded us enough privacy to eat, drink and make merry.
That venue soon afterwards became the London Steakhouse Company, which it remains at the time of writing (2024).
Michael wrote an ode to our office location – a rare example of Michael writing the seasonal song: “Oh Little Court of St Helen’s”, which I aped in subsequent years as “Oh Little Street Of Basinghall”.
OH LITTLE COURT OF ST HELEN’S
(Sung to the tune of “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem”)
Oh little court of St Helen’s
How swish we see thee lie!
Beneath thy deep and wealthy sleep
Z/Yen’s offices abide
And in these dark deep shadows
The everlasting blight
Consultancy adds to your years
When packed as tight as mice
How crowded-ly, how crowded-ly
Z/Yen dishes out advice
Beside the frozen servers
And other bust device
Paper’s overflowing
But Linda’s looking nice
And if we get our Seventh Heav’n
We’ll soon trash Number Five.
The joke about “seven” and “five” related to the address, 5-7 St Helen’s Place. Whereas our original (smaller) offices had been accessed through the door of No 7, this new expanded space was at the No 5 end of the building. Simples.