October 25, 2015
Vacant property management survey seeks FMs main concerns 0
When squatting in a residential building became a criminal offence three years ago an Orbis survey revealed that a third of property managers predicted a rise in squatters targeting commercial properties as a result. Orbis has now launched a new vacant property management survey for 2015 with the BIFM to obtain views from property and facilities managers about the empty buildings in their portfolio. It seeks to understand what facilities managers’ main concerns are when it comes to empty buildings, their understanding of the legal and insurance requirements around empty properties and how they currently manage them. The survey also considers urban exploring, the exploration of man-made structures, to determine whether this is a growing trend and a threat. Guy Other, chief executive officer of Orbis said: “With this new survey we will better determine the extent of the problem in 2015, and the extent of any new threats.” Click here to take part
October 2, 2015
For once and for all, please stop with this ‘death of the office’ stuff 0
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Furniture, Property, Technology, Workplace design
I was involved in a meeting with an office fit-out company this week which involved a discussion of how their clients can develop misconceptions about the extent to which their contemporaries are introducing new office design and management models based on agile working, shared space, mobile technology and all that other good stuff. This presents a particular challenge for firms in the sector because their day to day experiences of what clients talk about and ask from them can be pretty removed from the things talked about in the media. If you were to judge the state of the office solely on the basis of what you read and hear and see at shows, it would be easy to conclude that the office is indeed dying and dragging down with it the markets for office furniture, commercial property and traditional technology. The problem is that the facts don’t support that notion at all.
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