Being new young workers and interns of Canary Wharf our task was to find top 3 places to shop for clothes, food, coffee, and stalls. As a team we also had challenges of constructing an outfit that is suitable for an interview, an outfit that is inappropriate for an interview, to receive something for free, and filming a video in the main square explaining the day we had in Canary Wharf.
What they did to prepare…
To prepare before we started our apprentice mission in Canary Wharf, all four of us apprentices had a meeting with Vanessa to discuss what we was going to be doing on Tuesday. She gave us each a piece of paper to tell us a bit about what the day would consist of and what we had to do. Whilst we were on the train we also planned who would take which role in our mission. We decided that Eloise would be the note taker, Charlotte would be the person to try on the clothes, Che would be the photographer and Mia would be the navigator for the day, which was very needed as the London underground is very busy.
Challenge 1: Top 3 places to eat, wear and drink for interns
What they found…
Whilst we was in Canary Wharf we explored the area by looking at a variety of different shops, boutiques, cafes, places to eat and beauty shops, then we rated them on what ones we thought were the best and picked our top three.
Best coffee Shops
- Costa (Canada Square): The Costa we visited in Canary Wharf was quite so it was suitable for business meetings and calls, it was clean and spacious. There were free newspapers available, but the food and drinks were expensive and the Wi-Fi was sometimes unsuccessful to access.
- Starbucks: Starbucks was a quiet place to be so again was good for business meetings and calls, there was Wi-Fi available so internet on phones and laptops could be used, but was also expensive for food and drink.
- Pret A Manger: There were a lot of these around, some had no seating area available, and when they did they were dark so were unsuitable for a working area. Although there was free Wi-Fi and was quiet. The food was nice and a large variety of it.
Best Beauty Shops
- Mac makeup: Mac have a large variety of makeup to buy, and can also do your makeup there, so if you’re a running late or need your makeup redone Mac is a good shop to visit if you have a tight schedule, it is expensive but good value for money.
- Bare minerals: There is also a variety of makeup available at bare minerals too, it is expensive but good for money and they can also test the makeup on you so you are certain you have what is right for you.
- Blink: Blink is a shop for eyebrows and nails, it was very expensive, for example just to have your eyebrows shaped this was £17 where as in Essex this is around £7. This shows the difference in prices from where we live to Canary Wharf.
Best Restaurants
- Carluccios (Canada Square): There was an outside area available to eat and drink while in Canary Wharf this is useful if you have spent long hours in an office, it is quiet so could be used for business meeting or calls; it has reasonable prices with good value for money.
- Nandos(Jubilee): You can eat in Nandos or take it away, it is quick and cheap so it great if you are in a rush, there is a variety on the menu of how you want your chicken cooked so can be enjoyed by many.
- The Canteen: This is a quick, easy and cheap place to get food, you can grab an food you want for reasonable prices, unfortunately the atmosphere is unsuitable for a business meeting or call.
Best places to pick up food
- Chop’d (Canada Square): Chop’d was one of our top 3, we chose this food shop because it sold cheap food which was healthy. Furthermore, the shop had a wide variety of different foods to choose from. There were also hot drinks and food available for you to buy too.
- Boots (Canada Square): We thought Boots was one of the best places to pick up food because it had a meal deal for people to buy, which was were you could buy a sandwich, sausage roll, pasta or salad, then a drink and a snack (e.g. a bag of crisps) this meal deal was only £3.79, which we thought was very cheap and reasonable. Also the food they sold was healthy and quick to grab up and go which is very good for people who are busy working in Canary Wharf.
- Eat (Canada Square): Eat was another food shop that we picked as our top three. We chose this because Eat had a wide variety of foods to chose from and they also supplied hot food for people to buy as well as cold.
Best Hairdressers
- Sean Hanna (Jubilee): Sean Hanna was very nice and did lovely, stylish hairstyles and cuts and inside the venue looked very modern and clean. However, it was very expensive in there: for a cut and blow dry it was £60 for 40 minutes!
- The Gentry (Jubilee): The Gentry did a lot of different choices of haircuts and styles for men, women and children. They also did waxing, nails, hair colouring, facials and massages. So they had a lot of options and choices for people to choose to from. On the other hand The Gentry was very expensive (e.g. to get your full hair dyed it was £110.00).
Boutiques
- Sweet Couture(Canada Square): Sweet couture was a cupcake stall in Canada Square the stall sold very nice cupcakes ad you could also order cupcakes for birthdays and occasions which was a lovely idea. However, it was very expensive (e.g. for one normal sized cupcake it was £2.80).
- Pretty Ballerinas (Jubilee): Pretty Ballerinas was a shoe boutique in Canada Square, when we went into the boutique there was a sale on, so all of the shoes were sold at a reasonable price. The shoes looked very nice and well made with lots of care. There were also shoes for children in there as well as adults.
Best Clothes Shop
- Next (Canada Square): Next had smart clothes, which were suitable for work. We picked this shop as one of our top 3 because it sold work outfits, which would be perfect for someone working in Canary Wharf or in London and all their clothes they sold were at a reasonable price.
- Topshop (Canada Square): Topshop had nice clothing, which someone who worked in an office could wear for work everyday. Also the clothes were not too expensive and would be perfect for someone young starting work in Canary Wharf.
- Oasis (Jubilee): Oasis had perfect work outfits for someone with a career in London and were sold at reasonable prices. There were a variety of clothes to choose from in Oasis including skirts, blouses, trousers, shoes and much more.
Challenge 2: Dressing for Interviews
Interview Do’s…
- For an interview you must look smart and present yourself well.
- Your outfit should not be revealing.
- Look clean and tidy.
- Be prepared.
- Arrive on time.
The clothes that we picked that were suitable for an interview were from Next, they were not too expensive and good value for money.
£20- top, £22- shoes, £35- blazer, £35- skirt – Total:£112
Interview Don’ts…
- Don’t look scruffy.
- Don’t wear sunglasses.
- Don’t where silly outfits ( Sparkly mini-skirt, rainmack).
- Don’t be late!!!!!!
The clothes that we picked out that was unsuitable were from Topshop, it was an outrageous outfit that you would not wear to an interview.
£55- jacket, £20- jumper, £48- skirt, £5- hat – Total:£128
Challenge 3: Freebies!
We were also given another challenge alongside our other one, however this one was to see how many free things we could get in Canary Wharf. This challenge was easier said then done.
What we learnt…
Whilst we were on our apprentice mission in Canary Wharf we learnt a lot of new things. One thing that we learnt, whilst we was shopping in the two shopping centers there, was that we felt that Canary Wharf was more suitable and designed for older people. We felt this because the shops that were there were very expensive and young people may not have a lot of money to shop in shops like that. Also there was not many young people about, it was mainly middle age business workers. Furthermore, we found our top 3 cafes, clothes shops, places to eat, boutique outlets and beauty recommendations. We had to decide the top 3 looking at value for money, location, atmosphere, extra facilities (e.g. free wifi) and how noisy or quiet the venue was.
WeAreTheCity Interns 2014 and apprentices were:
Charlotte Smith, Che Sadler, Mia Vallely and Eloise Neal
