February 28, 2018
Modest growth in UK construction activity is driven by commercial office projects
Construction activity in the UK has stabilised after a prolonged period of decline, according to the latest JLL and Glenigan UK Commercial Construction Activity Index. Key findings for the last quarter of 2017 show an overall increase in construction activity for the second consecutive quarter, driven mainly by commercial office developments. This follows overall growth of 7.9 percent in the third quarter of 2017, halting a sharp decline seen since mid-2015. Highlighting movement across different sectors, growth in office construction was up 11.2 percent to £4.5 billion, education (up 12.0 percent to £3.5 billion) and community (up 19.9 percent to £0.6 billion) sectors.
Employers’ efforts in the US to improve staff health and wellbeing are falling short of employees’ expectations, claims a new report. Nearly two-thirds of employees (65 percent) in a report from Willis Towers Watson agree that managing their health is a top priority, but while the majority of employers (56 percent) believe their wellbeing programmes have encouraged employees to live a healthier lifestyle, only 32 percent of employees agree. Eighty-seven percent of employers who participated in the 22nd annual Best Practices in Health Care Employer Survey say increasing employee engagement in health and well-being is a top priority and the research warns that employees in poor health are twice as likely to be disengaged at work and take almost three times as many days off as employees who are in very good health. Employers can improve health behaviour through designing the workplace environment to make it easier for employees to stay fit, eat well, breathe fresh air and address stress adds the report.
City centre take up reached 1,005,000 sq ft in Birmingham last year, 51 percent above the 10-year average of 666,000 sq ft which marked a record year, according to Savills Research. Growth was driven in part by the Government Property Unit (GPU) deal, as public services accounted for 27 percent of take-up in the city centre last year, including the 237,000 sq ft pre-let at Arena Central. Birmingham’s boom was also boasted by take-up from serviced office providers that reached 208,000 sq ft during 2017, the highest level on record and this accounted for 21 percent of the total take-up, more than any other regional city. There now remains a shortage of Prime Grade A space in Birmingham city centre following a number of large lettings. Prime Grade A space now stands at only 169,000 sq ft, enough for only six months of take-up at average levels. Major construction project, Three Snowhill won’t complete until the second quarter of next year, when it will deliver 420,000 sq ft of much needed Grade A office space on its completion. Until then, competition among occupiers will further intensify for Grade A space.
Corporate real estate departments need to become more effective partners in the agile transformation of their broader organizations., claims a new survey conducted by CBRE, in partnership with CoreNet Global. When describing Portfolio Agility, i.e. the ability to rapidly adapt, scale and reposition the organization’s real estate portfolio to support shifting enterprise needs, 67 percent consider portfolio agility as the most important type of agility for business success, yet only 14 percent consider themselves highly agile in this area. The most prevalent portfolio agility practices included negotiating flexible space options in the lease, seeking shorter and/or more flexible lease terms, supporting an enterprise-wide flex-work program and delivering free address work environments. The report states that new workplace guidelines for efficiency have altered the way companies plan for density and more occupiers are incorporating third-party ‘agile space’ into their overall real estate strategy.
In a workplace dominated by insecurity, gig work and intelligent machines we need to improve our understanding of their potential impact on health, safety and wellbeing claims a new report. 
