About Neil Franklin

Neil Franklin is Insight's news editor

Posts by Neil Franklin:

February 22, 2018

The UK needs a new approach to low pay, equality and flexible working

A new research paper from the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) claims to identify areas where employers and policymakers should act to reinvigorate their pay and rewards practices to improve employee engagement and productivity. According to the IES, with the likely intensification of current recruitment shortages, skills gaps and the fall in living standards as the UK leaves the European Union, the paper argues that both employers and policymakers should act on three key areas – low pay, gender pay and total rewards – to help halt the relative decline of the UK’s already below-par productivity performance.

February 22, 2018

Investment in UK commercial property sector remains strong

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Investment in UK commercial property rose 66 percent in January compared to the same month last year, according to data from Savills, to £4.2 billion. In its February Market in Minutes report the international real estate advisor says that investor appetite for UK property remains very strong. In 2017, total investment into UK real estate reached £65.4 billion, representing a 26 percent increase on 2016’s annual total. According to Savills, the office and industrial sectors led the way, with overseas investors responsible for nearly half of total volumes, of which Asian investors were the most active, accounting for a fifth of all investment.

February 21, 2018

Cities must harness potential of new technology to keep themselves moving

by Neil Franklin • AI, Cities, News

The UK Government needs to develop a new transport strategy based on local partnerships to keep up with technological advances in areas such as self-driving cars, claims a new report. Rethinking Urban Mobility has been published by engineering company Arup, in collaboration with the London Transport Museum, law firm Gowling WLG and transport company Thales. The report coincides with the publication of a similar study from the World Economic Forum which claims that autonomous and shared vehicles, digitalisation and decentralisation of energy systems require new approaches to mobility.

February 15, 2018

Brexit and rising property costs lead one in five businesses to consider move away from London

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Uncertainty surrounding Brexit, rent rises in a city already renowned for its high property costs and business rate rises mean that one in five London-based businesses have either already relocated or are consider moving to a new location, according to a new survey from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The survey of 577 businesses found that some businesses were having to look at relocating to a different part of London while others were looking to move out of the capital and others out of the UK entirely. The survey, carried out by Comres, found that 22 per cent had moved or were planning to relocate because of Britain’s decision to leave to the EU, 21 per cent because of rent rises and 19 per cent because of rising business rates. When it came to moving because of Brexit, found 11 per cent of London-based businesses had considered leaving the UK and 2 per cent had already done so.

February 15, 2018

Neurodiversity not on the agenda for 9 out of 10 UK organisations

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Just 1 in 10 organisations say consideration of neurodiversity is included in their people management practices, despite around 10 percent of the UK population being neurodivergent in some way, according to a poll of HR professionals from the CIPD. Neurodiversity refers to the natural range of differences in human brain function. Amongst employers, it’s used to describe alternative thinking styles including dyslexia, autism, ADHD and dyspraxia as they relate to diversity and inclusion. These can have unique strengths, ranging from data-driven thinking to sustained focus over long periods, an ability to spot patterns and trends, and the capacity to process information at extraordinary speeds. It is estimated that at least 10 percent of the UK population is neurodivergent.

February 15, 2018

SMEs spend more time searching for private offices than coworking space

by Neil Franklin • Coworking, News, Property

Searches for private offices have become more popular than coworking space among SMEs over the past year, according to new data from commercial property marketplace Hubble. The firm reports that this marks a reversal from the previous year’s results, although searches for coworking space remain disproportionately high compared to the overall office market. According to Hubble, searches for private offices grew an average of 40 percent month-on-month from January 2017 to January 2018, with 43 percent more searches being made for private offices over coworking space, and searches for the category ‘private office’ comprising 62 percent of all searches on the Hubble platform.

February 12, 2018

Business leaders increasingly optimistic about benefits of artificial intelligence in the workplace

by Neil Franklin • AI, News, Technology

Executives at major organisations increasingly believe that pairing humans alongside machine intelligence will create a more effective, engaged, and meritocratic workplace, according to a new study released by software provider Pegasystems Inc (registration required). The authors surveyed 845 senior executives working globally across industry sectors including financial services, insurance, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and media, and government, on the increased role of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace of the future. The potential impact in the workplace seems to outweigh any lingering fears, the report claims. Around 69 percent of of respondents say “workforce” will refer to both humans and machine intelligence in the future. Nearly three-quarters of executives said using machines to augment human abilities would lead to increased efficiency. Over 60 percent said it could be used to improve customer service.

February 12, 2018

New government campaign sets out to increase take up of shared parental leave

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Wellbeing

A new government campaigned launched today encourages more parents to take up the offer of Shared Parental Leave in their child’s first year. The workplace right for eligible parents allows them to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay after having a baby. They can take time off separately or they can be at home together for up to 6 months. Around 285,000 couples every year are eligible but take up could be as low as 2 percent, according to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and around half of the general public are unaware that the option exists for parents.

February 12, 2018

Finance workers are amongst most stressed people in the world

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Finance workers in the UK are among the most stressed in the world, according to a study by Robert Half UK. The survey of 2000 people including 200 senior finance managers claims that 78 percent of Chief Financial Officers in the UK believe stress levels will rise in the next two years, with over a third (31 percent) saying they would grow significantly. CFOs believe that increased workloads (51 percent), growing business expectations (49 percent) and a lack of staff (40 percent) will send stress levels soaring.

February 9, 2018

London office market is booming and proving resilient in the face of Brexit

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

A new report from Knight Frank claims that activity in the office market in London increased sharply last year, which the property adviser said was driven largely by growing demand from the UK’s burgeoning tech sector. The report said office leasing activity in central London hit 13.84 million sq ft last year, more than 2 million sq ft than in 2016. Knight Frank said it had seen ‘extraordinary demand’ for London offices from the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) sector. However, the report also claims that there is now a lack of quality office space supply because, despite the fact that more than 259 development schemes are under construction in Central London, 187 are residential, and of the remaining 72 offering commercial space, only two-thirds are available to lease, with many of them already pre-let to office tenants.

February 9, 2018

Millions of German workers win the right to a 28 hour working week

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Europe’s largest trade union, IG Metall, has secured an unprecedented deal this week to give a large proportion of its 2.3 million members more flexible working hours and a significant pay rise. From next year, workers at many of Germany’s most important engineering firms can opt to take on a 28 hour working week for up to two years, before returning to a standard 35-hour week. Employers will not be able to prevent individual workers from taking up the offer.

February 7, 2018

Overwhelming workloads tip the scales on work-life balance for UK employees

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Almost half of UK workers (47 percent) spend the majority of their time feeling overwhelmed by their workloads, while 85 percent say that work is causing them stress, according to research from employee experience business Qualtrics. The Qualtrics Employee Pulse is a quarterly survey of more than 4,000 employees which claims to highlight the impact of burgeoning workloads on today’s workforce and reveals better support from businesses is needed to ensure the mental wellbeing of staff.