April 8, 2019
Investors in commercial property are underestimating the risks associated with climate change, including more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and need to rethink their assessment of asset vulnerabilities, according to a new report from the BlackRock Investment Institute.
April 7, 2019
More than 10,000 businesses have been warned by the government that they must pay their suppliers on time or face being prevented from winning further government contracts. Officials from the Cabinet Office have written to the businesses – which include all the government’s current strategic suppliers – to remind them of the new rules on prompt payment, which come into force this autumn. More →
April 5, 2019
Remote working boosts flexibility and productivity among the self-employed, new research by IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) and People Per Hour claims. The report suggests that freelancers overwhelmingly viewed remote working positively, with nine out of ten (87 percent) working remotely at some point in the last year. More →
April 5, 2019
Although the new commercial development sector may be subdued, specialist contractors are seeing a continued demand for construction work on fit outs and office refurbishment. According to Glenigan the construction sector has been buoyed up by a series of major refurbishments of government offices while some large private sector groups are also investing to update and modernise their commercial space. More →
April 5, 2019
All European regulatory frameworks cite technology as a key factor in promoting competitiveness and innovation, and right alongside it is its greatest tool, the population’s digital inclusion. Digital inclusion makes it possible to develop human capital able to adapt to labour market challenges and contributes to ensuring equal opportunities in terms of accessing online resources related to work, education and social participation. Is this inclusion, however, sufficient in itself to ensure improved economic status and equality? According to the results of a study produced by Lídia Arroyo, a researcher at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya IN3 GenTIC research group, the answer is no. More →
April 4, 2019
A twenty to thirty minute stroll in a park is one of the best ways to reduce stress levels for people in cities and as a way of dealing with workplace related anxiety, claims a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan. The study Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life published today in the Journal Frontiers in Psychology suggests that any half hour connection with surroundings that make people feel connected to the natural world can reduce the key stress hormone by around 10 percent and so improve a person’s sense of wellbeing. Longer period of time increase the beneficial effects but at lower levels. More →
April 4, 2019
A new, nationwide study released today, has revealed over a quarter (28 percent) of Britons feel their phone or social media addiction is actively stopping them living life to the full, with as many as 83 percent saying they are desperate to spend more time in the real world, according to the report commissioned by the photographic tech company Popsa. More →
April 4, 2019
The corporate appetite for flexible space continues to grow as around two-thirds of occupiers rank employee engagement (68 percent) and talent attraction & development (65 percent) as two of the three most important drivers of corporate real estate (CRE) strategy. According to the 2019 EMEA Occupier Survey by CBRE over a third of companies see labour and skills shortages as a key strategic challenge, double last year’s result. In line with last year’s survey, technology disruption (36 percent) economic uncertainty (43 percent) and cost escalation (31 percent) all feature highly as key challenges for occupiers.
April 3, 2019
London, Paris and Stockholm are among the major cities featured in a new research report from Cushman & Wakefield (registration) into the coworking and flexible office sectors, which pinpoints future demand and the next likely growth hotspots across Europe. According to the report, coworking’s rapid expansion in recent years has quickly disrupted global office markets. The report charts the current state of the sector, the emergence of flexible working space across continental Europe and where future growth will occur. More →
April 3, 2019
The Government and Parliament must break the Brexit deadlock and find a way forward warns the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), in response to the latest Construction PMI data, which shows another drop in construction output. The March 2019 PMI data revealed an Index score of 49.7, up slightly from 49.5 in February, against the no change threshold of 50.0. This points to a sustained decline in construction output, representing the first back-to-back fall in construction output since 2016. While the residential building sector enjoyed an upturn, commercial construction was the worst performing area.
April 3, 2019
Procurement fraud is widespread in the UK and the country lags behind many countries in its detection capabilities, new research from SAS claims. British companies, on average, lose significantly more money to procurement fraud, and the country is far more reliant on ineffective manual detection techniques than other nations.Procurement fraud occurs when employees and suppliers behave fraudulently during the contract bidding process or over the course of the contract. This can range from employees colluding with their preferred vendor to give unfair advantage during procurement, to suppliers submitting multiple invoices for a single item. While procurement fraud is a serious crime that carries a jail sentence in many countries, perpetrators are often willing to take the risk for personal revenge or financial gain. More →
April 2, 2019
According to a new study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) think tank, the so-called ‘flat white sector’ is now the most important driver of the UK economy. Consisting of the digital and creative businesses that cluster around areas like Silicon Roundabout in north-east London, the term has been coined by Douglas McWilliams, deputy chairman at the CEBR to reflect the way startups can apparently save on property costs by working out of coffee shops. McWilliams claims that the flat white economy contributed 14.4 per cent of gross value added (GVA) to the UK in 2018, making it more important than traditional sectors such as manufacturing, mining and utilities on that measure. More →
