I’m meeting Natasha Bell, or to those who know (and can’t help but love) her, Tasha, at a café in Shoreditch. It’s sunny outside, and it’s sunny inside because Tasha is sitting opposite me, beaming her million dollar smile.
This lady radiates good energy with a side of peaceful calm and a pinch of playfulness. Someone you’d be lucky to have as a friend and even luckier to have on your team. The lucky ones in this case are Canvas Offices.
As ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’ by Mama Cass floats through the air, we order something delicious, and sit under a vast chandelier made of giant light bulbs like a hundred brilliant ideas.
Tasha is the Central Operations manager at Canvas. She was one of the first employees back when the company was known as RNR Property.
“I started off as an administrator, which seems like a very very long time ago. Then I became a general manager of seven buildings and then as time went on, Canvas grew and took on more buildings which meant we had to split them into clusters, and shortly after, I went on maternity leave.”
“The team were very adaptable and made it easy for my return as they created a role suitable for me when I was ready to come back to work.”
“I’ve been at Canvas for five years now. I’m quite a shy person but I love that I’m always pushed to do more, because they can see my potential. When I say ‘they’ I mean my team, my managers and directors, and the founders from the start. There’s somethings I felt like I couldn’t do but I accomplished them because I’ve been motivated and pushed to the best of my ability and I’m so grateful for that.”
That’s amazing, all the things you doubted about yourself, the guys just took them and said, ‘no Tasha, that’s total nonsense’. And you proved yourself wrong!
“Exactly, yeh!” She laughs a full, infectious laugh.
So, you’re in Peter’s team now (Kitchener, Director of Operations), what’s involved in your role now?
“All the processes in operations, I have to make sure they are functioning well, and that they work well for everyone in the teams. And if there’s any improvements or changes that need to be made, that’s all down to me. There’s also two other projects that I’ve taken on, because I have the knowledge from when I was an administrator that don’t strictly fall under my team’s remit, so I’m doing a lot more than my core role at the moment.”
When you started with Canvas, what did it look like?
“Well, there was only about five of us. Then, after I started we recruited two more people and we were in a smaller building – we still have it now actually – it’s in Hoxton. We grew quickly so it wasn’t long before we were huddled around a central desk together. It wasn’t uncomfortable but it was definitely too small for us all! Then shortly after, we moved to one of our buildings opposite Shoreditch High Street station.”
What drew you to Canvas in the first place then? Today, it’s seems like no-brainer. We’re doing super exciting things and we’re all over London, but back then, what was it about the company?
“I heard about the role through a friend of a friend. It was exciting to join a company that I knew next to nothing about. Before, I’d done loads of admin but it was always in education or finance which I didn’t find that interesting… It was pretty boring to be honest, it just wasn’t my thing!”
“I’d started a finance course before I joined, then I changed my mind and started with Canvas instead, and it was so fresh! It was great to see two brothers start a family business and to grow this big! I never thought we’d grow so quick and get to this scale. It’s nuts!”
“Back then I had loads of roles. I was an office manager, operations, dealing with business rates and sales. Sometimes I’d even have to pitch in and do viewings as well. We were all doing so much! But it was good for me because it helped me figure out what field I wanted to delve into. ”
“Even being here for 5 years seems crazy. Time has really flown. I’ve stayed with Canvas this long because it’s a family business but they also made me feel like I was part of their family. And I feel like even though the team has grown, that family orientation is still there. We get to go away together on company trips abroad and everyone has different bonds and friendships, and honestly, it’s just such a nice place to work.”
“ Naturally there’s more of a distance now between myself and the founders as we’re not huddled around a table anymore, but when they’re in the office I feel so comfortable going up to them and having a conversation – but it turns out everyone feels the same way – and that’s so nice. They’re actually interested in people. That’s rare.”
To me, everyone seems so comfortable in their own skin, they’re just themselves and that not just ‘ok’, that seems to be what Canvas actually values in their people, would you agree?
“Exactly! That’s one thing that stands out to me. Everyone is so different, but there’s like a similar thing that we all have and it means we just ‘get’ each other. We know why we’re here and what we’re trying to do.”
So, over the five years you’ve been with Canvas, do you have any standout moments?
“I think coming back from maternity. Having a year away, there was a huge change because it was during Covid. About 50% of the team had changed, and we had new additions too. But coming back it was like ‘woah! This is a big change. Canvas has done all this. Grown so much, with so many buildings’. It was so overwhelming but in a very good way.”
