Slip into my office
Slide livens up workplace for Cotton On Kids designers
COTTON On chiefs were so keen to have their North Geelong Kids design team in the right creative zone that they built a slide into their new office.
Workers can whiz from first to ground floor, as well as attend meetings in offices with names like the Treehouse Room and Seesaw Room.
The focus is all about gener- ating creative energy and the company is exerting plenty of its own as it continues with headquarters developments worth tens of millions of dollars, further concreting its future in Geelong.
Company chief financial officer Michael Hardwick said the 2200 sq m Cotton On Kids base for about 120 staff was one of several developments costing “north of $20 million” at the Shepherds Court precinct, including impending opening of bases for the Body and Rubi lines as well as a new operations centre.
“It’s been a significant investment not only in the facilities, but also in providing our team with world-class facilities that have them engaged and inspired and they’re really going to form a part of the attraction of working for the business as well,” Mr Hardwick said.
The message to be shared was that the company is in Geelong to stay. “Even today there are 130 new Geelongbased roles we are recruiting for and over the past 10 years we have created over 1500 jobs within this precinct as well,” Mr Hardwick said.
“We see Geelong as our base for a long time to come.”
The new national operations centre will be built with a strong focus on health and wellbeing, including spaces for the group’s dozen personal trainers who put employees through more than 400 sessions a week.
Developments at headquarters accompany Cotton On’s $10 million commitment, alongside $30 million from Linfox, to establishing a distribution warehouse at Avalon Airport’s new 40ha industrial zone.
Mr Hardwick said planning for the Avalon site was on track for earthwork to start within six months ahead of a 2018 operational start.