Written by Sarah Alderson (The Advantage Manager).

On 18^th July the Advantage Team were invited down to London to visit the brand new ‘YSU London’ campus, with the aim of identifying how we could utilise the space to deliver professional training and development, personal interest courses and consultancy.

We met at York train station ready for the 8am train, and after a swift train journey discussing exciting future opportunities; we had arrived at Kings Cross full of excitement about the day ahead. From the station we hopped on the tube and after two short stops we had arrived at the Barbican district! We had heard about how quick and easy it was to get to the new campus; however we were all very impressed by the convenience of the journey when we made it ourselves.

When we arrived at Barbican station we were greeted by Hrvoje Kondzic (Business Relationship, Placement and Sponsorship Manager – London Campus), who was going to be showing us around the campus and local area throughout the day ahead.  After stepping out the station and walking for less than one minute, we had arrived at YSU London.

On first glance from the outside of the building (known as ‘Glasshouse Yard’) we were all very impressed with how striking it was in comparison to other buildings on the street, and we were already discussing potential opportunities for the Advantage before even stepping foot in the door. Once inside, it became even more apparent how versatile the space is, and how each floor could be used for a range of different types of workshops, courses and events to suit our needs – in addition to its primary purpose for PG teaching. Hrvoje spent the rest of the morning showing us around the whole building and talked us through the design plans in more detail, and it wasn’t long before the light bulbs in all of our heads were starting to light!

At lunchtime we took a short five minute walk to the Barbican Centre, an impressive performing arts centre which is the largest of its kind in Europe. It contains three restaurants, a library and various art exhibitions, and is a great place to stop for lunch if visiting the campus. We spent some time looking around the building and local area, before heading back to campus to brainstorm our ideas from the course of the day.  It was really interesting to see how visiting the campus had brought about creative, exciting and innovative ideas, which we are really looking forward to exploring further as a team. Unfortunately it was then time to head back to York, but what a motivating, enjoyable and inspiring day we had as a team… with huge thanks to Hrvoje for being a fantastic host!

We would love to hear from you if you have any ideas surrounding training and development opportunities for the YSU London campus. We are open to all suggestions, whether it be for individuals, teams or organisations. Please email theadvantage@yorksj.ac.uk to chat further, or take a look at our website for more information.