About Neil Franklin

Neil Franklin is Insight's news editor

Posts by Neil Franklin:

November 9, 2022

Cost of living forcing people to seek out sources of extra income

Workers are looking for new jobs, asking for extra shifts, or taking on side hustles to make ends meet as everyday expenses eat up a bigger chunk of their pay cheques. A new Qualtrics study claims that 77 percent of workers say it’s harder to pay for their living expenses than it was a year ago. In the UK, inflation recently rose above 10 percent for the second time this year amid soaring food prices. Compounding the impact of the cost of living, many of the work-related expenses that were relieved by remote work, such as commute costs and full-time childcare, are returning as an increasing number of people head back to the office. More →

November 8, 2022

Hybrid working driving demand for areas with easier commutes

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

A report from Unispace claims that employees’ new preference for hybrid working has created an immediate need for firms to re-think their real estate footprint. Today, with over 60 percent of office-based employees preferring to work remotely or in a more flexible way, rather than commute to city centres five days a week, employers are considering the greater use or addition of satellite offices to their portfolio. According to the study of 3,000 office workers across Europe, 79 percent of the workforce would be happier to return to the office if it was just five to 10 minutes away from their home, suggesting that satellite offices could be a solution to boost collaboration, socialisation, engagement and staff retention. More →

November 8, 2022

Zero carbon tech for building materials gets $12 billion commitment at COP27

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

The World Economic Forum and US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate announced today at COP27, the expansion of a coalition of global companies, to commit $12 billion in 2030 purchase commitments for zero carbon and green technologies to decarbonise the cement and concrete industry and other hard-to-abate sectors. The latest expansion of the First Movers Coalition – made up of 65 companies with a collective market value of approximately $8 trillion – focuses on cleaning up one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industry sectors through purchasing commitments for low-carbon technology. From construction and engineering to real estate and developers, newly announced First Mover companies have committed to purchasing at least 10 percent near-zero cement and concrete per year by 2030. More →

November 4, 2022

Responsible capitalism, and space as a service will shape real estate industry over next 20 years

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

Europe’s real estate leaders have set out a long-term vision for the industry. In this scenario the most successful firms have adopted ‘responsible capitalism,’ the user is the centre of attention, the cycle of demolition and development has been broken, mixed-use is the norm and multi-disciplinary and in-house teams deliver space as a service across a range of sectors. Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2023, the twentieth annual survey of European real estate sector leaders’ expectations by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC, has looked beyond the year ahead at the trends shaping the industry over the next two decades. This report captures the views of over 900 sector leaders from across Europe. More →

November 4, 2022

Corporate real estate sector facing up to tough year ahead

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Corporate real estate business confidence and expectations of profitability have dropped to a low level, reflecting widespread industry concerns across an array of indicators for the business, political and real estate environments. Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2023 is the twentieth annual survey by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC UK of European real estate sector leaders’ expectations for the year ahead. Based on the views of around 900 real estate leaders from across Europe, the report claims that 91 percent concerned about inflation, closely followed by interest rate movements (89 percent) and European economic growth (88 percent). Political uncertainty at the global, regional and national levels are of high concern as well. More →

November 3, 2022

Ethical organisations can pave the way to hell with their good intentions

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

Despite the growing focus for more ethical investment and management styles, a new paper from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) claims to have uncovered eight unethical effects that can ‘sneak in’, even when organisations are doing their best to act ethically. In his research Muel Kaptein, Professor of Business Ethics and Integrity Management, has looked at how even ostensibly ethical organisations can sometimes facilitate unethical behaviour. More →

November 3, 2022

Net zero carbon buildings standards coalition launches call for evidence

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The team developing the UK’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (the NZCBS) has launched a call for evidence, to help inform and guide the development of the Standard. Once developed, the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard aims to provide a single agreed definition and methodology for the industry to determine what constitutes a net zero carbon building. The cross-industry group developing the Standard and championing this initiative includes representatives from the following organisations: Better Buildings Partnership (BBP), Building Research Establishment (BRE), the Carbon Trust, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Low Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI), Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and UK Green Building Council (UKGBC). More →

November 2, 2022

Commercial property sector should embrace circular economy, say BCO

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

A new report from the British Council for Offices (BCO) is urging the commercial property industry to ‘retain, extend life, reduce impact’ to futureproof offices. The report sets out to provide circular economy guidance to the office sector in relation to new-build, refurbishment and fit out. The Circular Economy in Offices report [BCO members only] claims to set out how offices can be designed and constructed in order to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials and regenerate nature. More →

November 1, 2022

Quiet quitting is not a thing, but employers do need to offer more fulfilling work

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

A new survey from Ricoh Europe claims that the majority of workers seek more stimulation and creativity in their job, suggesting that employers need to do more to provide fulfilling work. The research, conducted by Opinium for Ricoh Europe, polled 6,000 workers and 1,500 decision makers across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. It claims to contradict the idea of quiet quitting with 82 percent of workers describing themselves as ‘engaged’ at work, while 65 percent say they are enthusiastic about what they do. Yet while workers feel content to a degree, there remain frictions and roadblocks to them becoming more productive and creative. More →

October 27, 2022

Hybrid isn’t working for many people because nobody can agree what it is

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property

A new poll published by Landsec claims there is a distinct lack of clarity around what hybrid working means, with less than one in five UK workers agreeing on a definition. The report suggests that this hybrid ‘hotchpotch’ is having a negative impact on bosses’ relationships with their teams. More →

October 26, 2022

World Green Building Council launches guide to climate change resilience

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has launched a new industry guide on ‘Climate Change Resilience in the Built Environment’, collating effective and practical steps that can be taken on a building, community and city scale in order to adapt and build resilience to the changing climate. Under the inevitable impacts of climate change, which are affecting at least 85 percent of the world’s population, bringing acute hazards such as droughts, rising sea levels, heat waves and floods increasing frequency and severity, resilience action is essential to build community capacity to survive and thrive in our built environments. More →

October 24, 2022

BCO recommends more space per person for the new era of flexible working

by Neil Franklin • News, Property, Workplace design

A report by the British Council for Offices (BCO) recommends a new method for calculating the amount of space needed per person in the post-pandemic world of flexible working. The research claims to identify a ‘sweet spot’ of 10-12 sq. m. per person. This will account for the rise in people working from home and hot-desking when in the office, while simultaneously ensuring the workspace meets modern employers’ requirements to promote productivity and wellbeing, as well as targets to minimise carbon emissions. More →