About Neil Franklin

Neil Franklin is Insight's news editor

Posts by Neil Franklin:

April 11, 2018

British workers are too tired to exercise, claims report

British workers claim they are ‘too tired’ to exercise during the working week, according to a new report. The survey by conference call company Powwownow found that a worrying third of workers (35 percent) do not exercise at all Monday to Friday. A startling half of women (51 percent) only exercise once during the working week. Tiredness before and after work is apparently the top reason (58 percent) why UK workers don’t exercise during the working week, closely followed by the cost of joining a gym or going to classes (38 percent), and long working hours (28 percent). Flexible working hours was cited as the top factor that would encourage UK workers to go to the gym or exercise more frequently during the working week. Over a third (42 percent) of UK workers said they would exercise or go to the gym more often if they worked flexible hours. Other changes which would improve exercise levels include having a gym provided at work (30 percent) or one subsidised by an employer (29 percent). A huge three quarters (75 percent) of UK office workers do not currently have access to a gym or leisure facility at their place of work.

April 6, 2018

The UK’s incredible shrinking office phenomenon

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Property

Apparently prompted by the recent boom of so-called ‘micro-homes’ in Britain, commercial property firms Savoystewart.co.uk has set out to investigate whether the ‘micro-trend’ has also taken root in the office sector as well. The firm analysed office floorspace available relative to the number of active businesses in England and Wales from 2012 to 2016, finding that the office floorspace is shrinking both on regional and local levels. Results of the research, which is based on the latest GOV data on business floorspace from the Valuation Office Agency and official stats on business demography from ONS, revealed that the change in office floorspace available per business has been downward in all regions. The results reflect trends in the BCO’s specification guide

April 2, 2018

Combination of factors means UK faces severe workforce crisis by 2025

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

New projections published in Mercer’s Workforce Monitor predict that a perfect storm of falling net migration driven by Brexit and an ageing population, will lead to a severe shortage in the UK labour market. If these challenges are not met with immediate action by UK employers, they will face significant costs trying to attract workers with the leadership and skills they need to execute their business strategies. Mercer anticipates the UK workforce will increase by just 820,000, or 2.4 percent, by 2025, a significant reduction in recent trends that have seen 9 percent workforce growth in the 10 years to 2015. For the first time in half a century, the overall population will be increasing at a faster rate than the workforce, creating long term structural challenges for the economy.

March 30, 2018

CIPD to co-chair Government’s flexible working task force

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

The CIPD has been invited to co-chair the UK Government’s new Flexible Working Task Force. The task force has been established by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to promote wider understanding and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices, bringing together policy-makers, employer groups, Unions and employee representative groups, research groups and professional bodies. More →

March 30, 2018

Employers should not write off older female workers quite so readily

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

An ageing population and changes to the default state pension age mean employers need to better prepare for the needs of older women in the workplace, according to a study by Anglia Ruskin University published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). With more and more women aged between 50 and 65 now employed, the research reviewed published literature to look into the experience of those workers and how their needs might change in the future.

March 27, 2018

The Furniture Makers’ Company announces new Design Guild Mark 2018 holders

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Furniture, Workplace design

Twelve designs representing both the domestic and contract furniture market have been awarded the prestigious Design Guild Mark in 2018. The Design Guild Mark is awarded by The Furniture Makers’ Company, a City of London livery company and the furnishing industry’s charity, in order to drive excellence and raise the profile of British design and innovation. Now in its tenth year, the Mark recognises the highest standards in the design of furnishings in volume production by the finest designers working in Britain, or British designers working abroad. The Design Guild Mark is judged by a panel of leading industry professionals. Each member of the panel is from the furniture, hospitality, commercial, retail, or media industry. Judges must ensure that each piece of furniture meets the criteria of: excellence in design, materials, manufacture, and function. More →

March 26, 2018

Flexible working has a range of positive benefits for workers, a new report confirms

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Flexibility in where, when and how people work, including remote work, leads to an increase in innovation, as well as improvements in communication, creativity, productivity and engagement, according to a new study from the Flex+Strategy Group (FSG). This is among the key findings from a national probability telephone survey of 595 full-time employed US adults conducted for FSG by ORC International. The report claims that sixty percent of people who have flexible working options feel they’re “more productive and engaged.” Only 4 percent said they are less so, with 34 percent feeling their level of productivity and engagement is consistent. The results suggest major corporations including IBM may have gotten it wrong when they cited remote work as a barrier to innovation and collaboration and asked employees to re-locate back to company offices. The research also found a significant lack of training required for successful flexibility.

March 21, 2018

A third of UK employees think Brexit will negatively impact their current employment

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A year since the invocation of Article 50 to beginning the process of the UK leaving the EU, employee services provider Personal Group has published a survey based on new research which claims that 32 percent of UK employees predict that Brexit will negatively impact their current employment. The study of around 1,100 UK employees claims that team leaders and managers are the most uncertain about their employment post Brexit, with 42 percent admitting they are unsure about how it will affect their current employment. Interestingly, men are more optimistic than women, with twice as many men expecting the change to have a positive impact on their employment versus women (3.5 percent versus 1.6 percent).

March 20, 2018

Many businesses doing little or nothing to alleviate workplace stress

by Neil Franklin • News

New research by Perkbox claims that almost half (45 percent) of UK businesses do nothing to help alleviate workers’ stress, putting themselves in danger of having their workforces reach total burnout. This is despite work being the cited as the most common cause of stress (for 59 percent) and in light of 1 in 4 (25 percent) struggling to be as productive at work when stressed. What’s more 1 in 10 will call in sick and 7 percent will look for a new job. Businesses within the hospitality industry are the least likely to provide any kind of guidance or aid to help employees deal with workplace stress (64 percent), followed by the leisure sector (63 percent) and transport industry (55 percent).

March 19, 2018

Rigid cultures, lack of vision and poor tech are main barriers to workplace agility

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

A new study commissioned by Ricoh Europe claims to reveal the factors that European business leaders believe are keeping them from achieving workplace agility. The list is topped by regulation (39 percent), lack of investment in new technologies (37 percent) and inescapably rigid internal hierarchies (35 percent) according to the 2,140 business leaders surveyed. These barriers limit what the report calls ‘the fluid, agile nature of a digitally empowered workplace that enables companies to quickly capitalise on changes in the market’.

March 16, 2018

Full fibre broadband could deliver £120bn boost to UK economy

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

A new study conducted by economic consultancy Regeneris, and commissioned by Cityfibre, claims that the total economic impact of deploying full fibre ultrafast broadband networks across 100 UK city and towns, could reach £120bn over a 15 year period. The study examined ten areas of the UK economy likely to benefit from full fibre roll-outs. It also sought to quantify the impact of each of these areas in 100 distinct UK town and city economies over a 15-year period. According to the researchers, the UK’s business community – and most particularly its small and medium sized companies – could stand to benefit enormously. Access to full fibre could unlock £4.5bn in business productivity, innovation and access to new markets in these locations; a further £2.3bn in growth could be driven from catalysing new business start-ups; while the increased ability for companies to support flexible working could add £1.9bn.

March 14, 2018

New Liverpool HQ of the Royal College of Physicians set to be one of the UK’s healthiest workplaces

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, News, Workplace design

Plans for the new northern headquarters of the Royal College of Physicians have been unveiled this morning at MIPIM. The 160,000 sq ft building, currently in development at the Knowledge Quarter, Liverpool will be one of the healthiest workplaces in the UK for mental and physical wellbeing and among the first to achieve the international WELL standard of modern building design, according to its designers. The £35m northern building will be known officially as The Spine, taking its name from a staircase on its north elevation that resembles human vertebrae. The building has been designed by AHR Architects.