Building conservation award goes to Sixty London gatehouse

by • Architecture, News, Property

Sixty London gatehouse awardA City Heritage Award for Building Conservation has gone to architects KPF and the City of London Corporation for the rebuilding of the Sixty London gatehouse and restoration of the adjoining Holborn Viaduct. The schemes, which were completed in the Autumn of 2013, were honoured for their high standard of craftsmanship and finish. Sixty London replaces Bath House, a former mixed-use development designed in 1967, and rebuilding the northeast gatehouse, destroyed during the Second World War, was a crucial part of the KPF design. The gatehouse re-establishes the original symmetry of four gatehouses which historically stood at the intersection. The new office building comprises 212,000 sq ft of office space from Basement to ninth floors and is designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating. It also won the ‘Best Large Commercial Building’ category at the London region Local Authority and Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Awards in May. More →

IT and HR failing to work together to tackle computer data risks

by • News, Technology, Workplace

IT and HR failing to work together to tackle computer data risks The inability of employees to follow computer access policies is the greatest threat to an organization’s data security, just slightly ahead of professional hackers. Yet, as a new report reveals, the majority of IT managers still believe it is ‘easy’ to protect their organisation’s security and defences against a data breach. The research, commissioned by Courion, found that 43 percent of respondents felt they could have better relations with Human Resources in managing staff access rights, with a majority (59 percent) not feeling confident they had enough help to make dealing with insider threats easier.  This follows a recent separate study into staff attitudes to IT security that found staff could be ambivalent about how they use their access rights – for example, 39 percent share work login details with colleagues and 1 in 5 of UK professionals said they would snoop on sensitive personal data if they had access to it.

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Acquisition of Dublin office site marks strengthening demand in Ireland’s capital

by • Company news, News, Property

Dublin acquisition marks strengthening demand for office spaceA 1.7-acre office development site in Dublin has been acquired for €40.5 million by Development Securities in a joint venture with Colony Capital and two leading Irish commercial developers. The site already has existing planning consent for the development of a 166,000 sq. ft. grade A office building which would replace an existing five storey, vacant office building that currently occupies the site. Located on Burlington Road, within Dublin’s prime commercial core, the office development will be marketed for pre-lets over the near-term, with initial site works expected to commence within the next 6 months and the building’s completion by in mid to late 2016. The move reflects a wave of office development in the Irish capital, where, according to a report by CBRE Ireland, a complete lack of office development over the last three years has manifested itself in supply shortages of Grade A office accommodation in core locations.

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Recruiters failing to adapt to increasing demand for flexible working

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Recruiters failing to adapt to increasing demand for flexible workingContrary to the recent report by Robert Half, which found that larger firms use flexible working to attract staff, hiring managers are failing to keep pace with the growing trend for flexible work. According to research by the Timewise Foundation, two in every five full time workers want to work fewer hours or remotely, on top of the one in four workers already in part time jobs. Yet only a quarter of job advertisements mention flexible options. Following previous research which found that two in five people worry about asking their employers to allow them to work flexibly; new research amongst employers asked how receptive they were to job applications from candidates who need flexibility. The research found that while the vast majority (9 in 10) say they welcome questions about flexible working – candidates still face significant barriers when it comes to finding a brand new flexible job.

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Four regional winners named in competition to find world’s best tall building for 2014

by • Architecture, News, Property

best tall buildingThe awards programmes pile up at this time of year and following the announcement of RIBA’s best workplaces for the year, four buildings, from the United States, Australia, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, have been named the best tall building in the world for 2014 in their respective region by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). An overall winner for the “Best Tall Building Worldwide” will be named from the four regional winners, following presentations from the owners and architects of each building, at the CTBUH 13th Annual Awards Symposium, which will take place at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, on November 6. The symposium will be followed by the Awards Ceremony and Dinner in the iconic Crown Hall, designed by Mies van der Rohe. The 10-Year, Urban Habitat, Lifetime Achievement, Building Performance and Innovation awards will be announced in the coming weeks, and will also feature at November’s awards events.

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Lack of joined up thinking hampers efforts to reduce commercial property energy consumption

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

SunriseA new report commissioned by the Green Construction Board, Property Industry Alliance and UK Government claims that efforts to tackle energy consumption in commercial property and reduce the associated emissions of greenhouse gases needs a new approach to the way policies are understood, monitored and enforced. The warnings come in a paper produced by Deloitte which suggests that while the associated potential for savings and a wide range of environmental and economic benefits are beyond question and the Government has the will to make them happen, there is a lack of cohesive thinking in current policies and legislation coupled with a shortfall in innovation and investment. When the report was commissioned last year, it was done so on the basis that buildings remain the UK’s largest contributor to carbon emissions, with energy use in non-domestic buildings accounting for 17 per cent of the total.

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BRE launches new business assessment and certification scheme for BIM

by • Architecture, Facilities management, News, Property

BIM Level 2The Building Research Establishment (BRE) has developed a new scheme for assessing and certifying businesses as providers of the Government’s BIM Level 2 services.  Delivered on site, it is designed to help companies provide evidence that they have the policies and procedures required to deliver level 2 BIM in line with the Government’s strategy, as well as acting as a strong marketing tool. The scheme is available for businesses and comprises evidence-based assessment of BIM business and management systems in line with Level 2’s process requirements. Those that successfully meet the criteria are awarded Certificated BIM Capability Assessment status by BRE Global, the BRE Group’s independent certification body. The process includes providing businesses with a full post-assessment report that details areas of compliance and, if applicable, non-compliance. A yearly site audit and review is performed to verify that standards and criteria continue to be met, with a full reassessment carried out every three years.

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Public sector procurement skills at heart of updated UK Civil Service plan

by • Knowledge, News, Public Sector, Technology

Public sector procurementThe UK Civil Service has outlined the latest developments in the way it procures goods and services as part of its updated Civil Service Plan for 2014/15. These include a fresh take on the way the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) function operates with private sector firms. This is seen as an essential part of the new form of public sector procurement within the context of a Civil Service which ‘understands the private sector and can work confidently with them, whether purchasing goods and services through complex procurement or learning from them to enhance customer service’. The new approach to public sector procurement will be built on a range of new management skills and schemes to recruit new types of managers which will allow Government departments to share ideas and best practice and collaborate more effectively with suppliers and consultants.  The document also emphasises the expansion of digital capabilities of the public sector services as a way of working with private forms and individuals.

Attitudes towards flexible working still at odds with needs of modern life, claims report

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Flexible working fatherThere is still a stigma attached to flexible working and employers are still reluctant to offer it to staff, according to a survey of UK employees carried out by parenting website Netmums and charity the Family and Childcare Trust. According to a third of just under 1,800 respondents, there remains a degree of resentment from work colleagues towards those who  enjoy some form of flexible working. And, while, 80 percent of people think it is very important that employers offer flexible working to staff , a mere 15 percent feel it is offered in practice and another 20 percent have no idea whether it is available to them or not. The result is a mismatch between the desires and expectations of individuals and the reality of working life with the upshot that nearly a third (29 percent) of respondents claim to have left a job because they were unable to balance it with other aspects of their lives.

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Skills body to fund UK employers to improve management capability

by • News, Workplace

Staff-trainingThe UK trails behind its international competitors in management skills, says the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). To help tackle the problem it is offering businesses across the UK co-investment to help develop ways of boosting management skills in their sector. A total of £4 million is being made available through the UKCES, as part of an ongoing government-backed programme to encourage employer-led solutions to persistent skills problems. Nigel Whitehead, Group Managing Director of BAE Systems and a Commissioner at UKCES explained: “Our research shows that the UK lags behind its international competitors when it comes to management skills. That matters. Good management practices boost productivity, staff engagement and ultimately drive economic growth. And while the UK’s best firms may be world-leading, the sad truth is that, generally, management capability in the UK isn’t as good as many other countries, particularly the US.” More →

England’s technology firms now employ more people than California’s, claims new report

by • News, Property, Technology

technology firmsAs we reported last week, London and the South East of England remain the UK’s hotspots for new business start-ups and now new research claims that the region now has more people working in the vital technology and information sector than the capital of world tech, California. The report from South Mountain Economics and Bloomberg Philanthropies shows that there are nearly three quarters of a million people working for technology firms in London, the South East and East Anglia compared to 692,000 in California and that there are more firms working in financial technology in London than either Silicon Valley or New York. The report backs up new research from Oxford Economics, commissioned by the Mayor of London to coincide with London Technology Week, which claims that over the next decade, London’s digital tech sector is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 per cent per annum, creating an additional £12 billion of economic activity and 46,000 new jobs, which in turn is driving change in the commercial property market. More →

Demand for London commercial property pushing occupiers into earlier relocations

by • Facilities management, News, Property

London commercial propertyThe revival of London’s financial, professional and business sectors, along with sustained demand from the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecoms) market is resulting in increasing demand for commercial property across Central London. This along, with a restricted supply of existing stock, due to conversion of office to residential usage is prompting many occupiers into making relocation decisions well in advance of a lease break or expiry. Cluttons’ London Property outlook for the second quarter of this year shows that rental costs are increasing in response to sustained demand, with a west to east migration by occupiers in evidence. Many tenants are also relocating from London’s West End to the Southbank area; while further out, ‘fringe’ areas such as Stratford are drawing tenants. More →

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