UK cyber threat intensifies within both the private and public sector

UK cyber threat intensifies within both the private and public sector

by • Facilities management, News, Public Sector, Technology, Workplace

The UK’s cyber threat environment is intensifying, with over three quarters (88 percent) of organisations reporting they’d experienced a cyber breach in the last 12 months. The UK Threat Report from Carbon Black also claims attacks are growing in volume and the average number of breaches has increased. The average number of breaches per organisation over the past year was 3.67 and 87 percent of organisations saw an increase in attack volumes. In addition, 89 percent of organisations say attacks have become more sophisticated.

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Belfast office sector has enjoyed its most successful year ever

Belfast office sector has enjoyed its most successful year ever

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

Belfast office market enjoys its most successful year ever: pic Merchant SquareThe office sector in Belfast has enjoyed its most successful year on record, with 885,023 sq ft of take-up reported across 84 transactions, more than double that was achieved last year, according to CBRE’s Offices Marketview research. Notable office deals completed in 2018 include PwC’s move to Merchant Square, Northern Ireland Civil Service to 9 Lanyon Place, Allstate to Mays Meadow, TLT to River House and Baker McKenzie to City Quays 2. According to CBRE Northern Ireland Office the local office market’s record breaking year is an indicator of the resilience of the commercial property market as well as the wider Northern Ireland economy.

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Lack of cohesion in many organisations on adoption of digital workplace

Lack of cohesion in many organisations on adoption of digital workplace

by • AI, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology

The majority of organisations (58 percent) do not have a have a clearly defined strategy in place when it comes to adopting and integrating digital workspace technology which suggests that implementing and making use of such technology is still being carried out in something of a haphazard manner. The findings of the research are summarised in SoftwareONE’s Building a Lean, Mean, Digital Machine report, which also claims that, despite the fact that almost all organisations (99 percent) employ some form of digital workspace technology, respondents have encountered a host of challenges when it comes to using them. These include higher security risks (cited by 47 percent) and a lack of employee knowledge in how best to use the solutions (45 percent).  (more…)

The wider debate about workplaces gives facilities managers a chance to crack the code

The wider debate about workplaces gives facilities managers a chance to crack the code

by • Comment, Facilities management

The most vocal debate that has followed the BIFM’s change of identity to the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management remains that focused on the issue of taxonomy. We are being asked to consider, as part of a sometimes bad mannered debate, whether facilities management is part of the workplace ecosystem or vice versa and which profession – typically designated as IT, HR and FM – is best placed to become the apex beast in this particular jungle.  (more…)

Employee use of apps at work puts their organisation at risk of cyber-attack

Employee use of apps at work puts their organisation at risk of cyber-attack

by • Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace

Employee use of apps at work leaves their organisation at risk of cyber-attackWorkers continued use of unapproved apps in the office, including Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat, to communicate with colleagues as well as friends and family is putting their organisations at risk of cyber-attack, new research suggests. Four in ten employees (41 percent) admit to using Instagram for more than two hours each day, despite the app being banned in almost half of UK organisations. The majority of employees are well aware that certain apps are not approved for workplace use, but this hasn’t stopped them breaking the rules.

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Getting back to environmental basics in the Anthropocene era

Getting back to environmental basics in the Anthropocene era 0

by • Comment, Environment, Facilities management, Workplace design

anthropoceneA new word has recently entered the public discourse on the environment. It describes the current epoch of geological time as the period in which humans have had an impact on the world’s climate, geology and ecosystems. Although yet to be formally recognised by the mainstream scientific community, it has been in existence for a short time and last year the Working Group on the Anthropocene (WGA) voted to formally designate the current epoch the Anthropocene. The principle was presented for recommendation to the International Geological Congress on 29 August 2016. Its general usage has grown but it seems only a matter of time before it becomes the norm to describe an era in which the Earth’s most important environmental characteristic is the activity of people. (more…)

Millennial headlines, eternal workplace truths, the pathologisation of sitting and some other stuff

Millennial headlines, eternal workplace truths, the pathologisation of sitting and some other stuff

by • Facilities management, Features, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The New York Times asked an interesting question this week. “Why Are Young People Pretending to Love Work?” it demanded, begging the immediate response ‘for the same reason everybody else does’. If only that pat, facetious response were enough to satisfy the actual questions concealed by the typically misleading headline. What the article actually wants to know is why some members of one particular tribe of young people have a toxic relationship with work. And that tribe (of course) is made up of the diverse, attractive, urbanite, coffee-fixated, stock image Millennials working for the world’s tech giants. Interesting in so far as it goes, but this tribe is not homogeneous to begin with and does not represent the world’s ‘young people’. It’s beyond time we stopped working on the basis that it does. Change the headlines.

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Get ready for the next wave of technological innovation, or get left behind

Get ready for the next wave of technological innovation, or get left behind

by • Comment, Facilities management, Property, Technology

devil takes the hindmost facilities managementThe natural world is a story of constant change and evolution. Animals, plants, insects and micro-organisms exist in an ecosystem, adapting to relentless changes in their environment, influenced by habitat, climate and their cohabitors. They respond to change faster than the human world, because they are not tied by the same restraints and conventions. They are interdependent and reliant on each other, competitors and cohabitors for mutual advantage. As humans move into what has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is much we can learn from nature, particularly within the workplace environment. The transformation of an organisation’s real estate, facilities management, IT and HR functions into a workplace ecosystem, as proposed by the Stoddart Review, has been discussed for some time.

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Forty percent of UK businesses have experienced cyber security breach in past year

Forty percent of UK businesses have experienced cyber security breach in past year

by • AI, Facilities management, News, Technology

Forty percent of UK businesses have experienced cyber security breach in past yearWell over a third (40 percent) of UK businesses have experienced a cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months, according to new government figures as it announces the UK is set to become a world leader in the race to eradicate some of the most damaging cyber security threats. The Business Secretary Greg Clark has promised that  increased security and protections will be built into digital devices and online services with the help of up to £70 million in government investment through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and backed by further investment from industry.

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Central London office investment last year reached highest level since 2014

Central London office investment last year reached highest level since 2014

by • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

30 Gresham Street: Central London office investment last year reached highest level since 2014Investment in Central London offices totalled £5bn in the final quarter of 2018, bringing the year-end total to £17.6bn, a 10 percent rise from 2017 and the highest level since 2014, according to data from CBRE. The final quarter of 2018 saw a 16 percent quarterly rise in investment volumes compared to Q3 2018 and a 69 percent increase on Q4 2017. Over the course of the year, five deals over £500m transacted, including the £1bn sale of 5 Broadgate to CK Asset Holdings and the £1.3bn sale of leaseback of Goldman Sachs’ new European HQ. Whilst none of these larger transactions completed in the final quarter of 2018, Q4 was the most active of the year in terms of number of deals transacted. A total of 65 deals completed in the final quarter of 2018, highlighting the persistent demand for assets in Europe’s principal gateway city. The largest investment transaction in Q4 2018 was the £400m+ sale of 30 Gresham Street to Wing Tai and Manhattan Group from Samsung.

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The state of the workplace right now? Everywhere and nowhere, baby

The state of the workplace right now? Everywhere and nowhere, baby 0

by • Comment, Facilities management, Features, Premium Content, Property, Workplace design

Work&PlaceMy trade is to ask questions about the workplace then make sense of the answers. That has been a particular challenge with the question, ‘what are offices today?’ What seems clear is that the various actors in the workplace ecosystem look at offices through very different eyes. Urban planning and development professionals still view offices as a distinct category of real estate and most real estate professionals view offices in terms of the delivery of floor space. Some things have changed,however. For some time, the hybrid economy of serviced offices has turned the product into a service. But, in many cases this has simply made the leasing of space simpler and more flexible.

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Employers must take better action to avoid sick building syndrome

Employers must take better action to avoid sick building syndrome

by • Company news, Facilities management, Workplace design

Sick building syndrome is a collective term to describe when occupants of a specific building suffer from a related illness. Problems can either be localised to a specific room or more widespread throughout a building. The symptoms can manifest as headaches, blocked or runny noses, skin irritations, sore eyes or tiredness and difficulties with concentration. A number of building-related factors are linked to the condition with ageing offices and factories acting as magnets for sick building syndrome. Studies have shown that headaches and respiratory problems among office workers were directly related to the use of air conditioning and inadequate ventilation. Room temperature, light and noise, humidity, carbon dioxide, chemical contaminants (volatile organic compounds – VOCs), air quality and naturally occurring poisons can all inflame symptoms for sufferers requiring more precise control over environmental factors in the workplace. Making sure buildings are healthy for their occupants is a challenge. (more…)

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