February 21, 2014

Businesses remain sceptical when it comes to public sector procurement

by Mark Eltringham • News, Public Sector

The jaded view that most UK businesses have of public sector procurement practices and winning Government work is evident in two new surveys, from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE). The CBI survey of 100 of its members found that 60 per cent have not seen an improvement in commercial skills applied in public procurement and one in five think they have actually deteriorated over the last year. Two thirds (67 percent) claimed that performance in standardising procurement processes is poor and a similar number said lowest cost was still driving most contracting decisions. The RAE meanwhile is calling for Government to integrate procurement processes into projects at an earlier stage and make it easier for smaller firms to win parts of major contracts.

February 20, 2014

European cities vie to wear Tech Hub crown

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Technology

You may not realise it, but apparently there is a close fought race being run between European cities for the title of European Tech Hub. According to a new report from Colliers International the front runners are London, Berlin, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich and, in a Eurovision-like extension of Europe’s borders, Tel Aviv. London is currently in pole position but Berlin and Dublin are hot on its heels as they vie for the title of Europe’s ‘Silicon Valley’, according to latest research from Colliers International, global real estate advisors. According to the report, London needs to stay on its toes if it is to fend off the upstarts from Germany and Ireland. Berlin, in particular, is expected to add some 100,000 jobs to its tech sector within the next seven years.

February 20, 2014

Could personality profiling help create a more productive office environment?

by Suzanne McMinn • Facilities management, News, Workplace, Workplace design

Creating the most productive working space to help get the best from your people is an ongoing battle. What suits some doesn’t suit others. So if there was some way of assessing up front how people like to work and the environment that would make them their most productive, engaged and committed – before you rearrange the furniture, fittings and layout – would you leap at the chance of finding out? One approach could be personality profiling. If you could climb inside the minds of your current and future employees and assess how they best like to work, their personality and how this then drives them to be more productive in certain working environments than others – who wouldn’t want to have a delve around? Or are we in danger of pandering to personality stereotypes? More →

February 19, 2014

Employment is on the rise but pay not matching the rate of inflation

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

The latest labour market statistics shows employment has continued to rise, but at a slower rate than seen last month. However, at 67.2 per cent, record-breaking numbers of women are now in work, the highest since records began. The figures published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the employment rate in the three months to December 2013 rose to 72.1 per cent, lower than the previous three months and with just a small rise in total pay of 1.1 per cent. This slower pace of growth in employment and pay is reflected in the latest CIPD/ SuccessFactors quarterly Labour Market Outlook survey, which reveals that, although recruitment intentions remain positive, the rate of increase has slowed significantly and the vast majority of organisations expect to give pay awards below the current rate of inflation. More →

February 19, 2014

London’s West End retains position as world’s most expensive office location

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

World’s most expensive location

For the second year running, the most expensive office space in the world is to be found in London’s West End, according to the latest edition of Cushman & Wakefield’s annual Office Space Across the World report. Rents rose by 5 percent in the area, driven largely by an ongoing mismatch between demand for high grade space and its supply, as we have previously reported. Worldwide, office rents rose by 3 percent in 2013, with certain high growth regions such as Africa and the Middle East experiencing an increase in rents of as much as 10 percent in specific locations. Hong Kong was the second most expensive location according to the survey while the central business district of Moscow rose to third place, up from sixth in the previous survey.

February 18, 2014

UK workers exhibit split personalities when it comes to energy management

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, Legal news, News

A new survey has highlighted the disparity between how energy (and hence money) conscious British people are in their domestic and working lives. According to research carried out by Rexel UK we exhibit a ‘split personality’ when it comes to the ways in which we use energy. Just under half (48 percent) of those surveyed describe themselves as energy conscious at home, whereas only a fifth (20 percent) would say the same about themselves in the workplace. Over a third (70 percent) say that they are concerned about wasting energy at home, whilst only two-fifths (43 percent) worry about wasting energy at work. In addition people are actively choosing to charge electronic devices at work in preference to home and, while nearly all turn the lights off at home (93 percent), only 60 percent do so in the office.

February 14, 2014

Employers urged to offer flooded staff access to workplace facilities

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Workplace

As much of the UK prepares to endure yet another winter storm, the TUC has issued guidance for employers on ways to support staff affected by the flooding, and offered advice on the sort of health and safety risks the floods could pose to workplaces. The guidance aims to help employers and employees ensure that workplaces situated within flooded areas are safe before anyone returns to work. This covers both journeys to work through flooded areas and the sort of dangers to look out for in affected buildings, including for example, from contaminants and faulty electrics. The union also urges employers to offer extra support to staff whose homes are either already partially submerged or are at risk from the rising floodwater; which for example could include allowing them to use showers and washing facilities at work. More →

February 13, 2014

Fin solution for Walkie Scorchie melting problem submitted by developers

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Property

The 37-storey tower at 20 Fenchurch Street – dubbed the Walkie Scorchie last summer, after its sloped design was found to be melting cars in the area, will be fitted with a brise soleil shading system to stop it reflecting damaging sun rays reports the Construction Enquirer. Joint development partners Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group have just submitted a planning application to the City of London to fit horizontal light diffusing aluminium fins from the third floor to the 34th floor on the south-facing façade. The fins have been designed by the building’s architect Rafael Vinoly Architects alongside solar glare experts Loisos + Ubbelohde. Once planning consent is granted, the refit project, expected to cost less than £10m, should take around six months to complete.

February 13, 2014

New BIFM professional standards give FMs yet more career choices

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News

Unlike HR, which is wholly represented by the CIPD, FM continues to offer a choice of professional bodies. RICS boasts it is the only one that gives FMs the opportunity to achieve Chartered Status, something which the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) is yet to offer. The BIFM has now announced the launch of a set of standards to “form a global competence model for the profession”. The Facilities Management Professional Standards its says, can be used to benchmark skills, knowledge and competence for those working at all levels in the FM profession. While RICS positions itself as the preferred route for a strategic facilities management career, the BIFM competences are intended to define each level in an FM’s career, from a support role through to a strategic role. FMs then, are still faced with the choice, to follow one or both organisations. More →

February 13, 2014

No pay rise for a while? Get used to it, says the CIPD

by Mark Eltringham • News, Workplace

The Chartered Institiute of Personnel and Development has today released a report analysing the most sustained and severe fall in real wages since at least the Second World War, and warns that the decline will not be reversed until there is a substantial improvement in the UK’s productivity. The report is accompanied by new survey data showing many employees expect pay rises in 2014 to be below inflation – a repeat of their experience in 2013. ‘Have we seen the end of the pay rise?‘, which is the third in a series of four Megatrends surveys exploring the future of work and the economic challenges which lie ahead, examines the effects of average weekly earnings that are now between 7.8 percent and 10.2 percent lower in real terms than they were five years ago, in January 2009, leading to a sustained squeeze on household finances.

February 12, 2014

Small steps to innovation debated at Workplace Futures 2014

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

New or refurbished workplaces are often described as ‘innovative.’ But while the architect and designers behind a building’s design are often credited with innovation, when it comes to the FMs tasked with managing the property, things are less clear cut. Although the FM sector is increasingly under pressure to demonstrate innovation, whether as services provider or as an in-house department; determining what exactly this constitutes, much less being able to demonstrate it in practice, is a lot more difficult. The 2014 i-FM Workplace Futures Conference, held this week at the Siemens Crystal building in London’s Docklands, bravely aimed to address this conundrum. It was, as the organisers admitted, a tall order to ‘nail this innovation theme,’ but it seems that taking small incremental steps may be the key to success. More →