October 21, 2019

Business rates and employment costs for small firms need overhaul

by Neil Franklin • Business, News, Property

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling on the Chancellor Sajid Javid to bring forward radical interventions to address an unprecedented long-term slump in small business confidence, slowing economic growth and a widening trade deficit when he publishes the 2019 Autumn Budget on 6 November. In a letter to the Chancellor, the group calls for a major reduction in business rates bills for small firms, as thousands struggle to stay afloat amid spiralling operating costs. More →

October 21, 2019

RICS launched new Social Impact Awards

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has today launched a new awards programme. Entries are being sought for the RICS Social Impact Awards, which set out to ‘recognise the positive and transformational contribution that the built environment has on people’s lives across the UK’. According to RICS, the awards will ‘assess the human, social and environmental impact, and the innovation and collaboration, that has gone into development and infrastructure projects in the Commercial, Education, Healthcare, Heritage, Infrastructure, Land & Rural, Leisure, Residential and Student Accommodation sectors’. More →

October 15, 2019

RICS initiative urges built environment sector to be more aware of global impact

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace design

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has today launched the ‘Value the Planet’ campaign, promoting the preservation of the planet through the adoption of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). The campaign pushes for increased action within the industry, highlighting the essential need to Value the Planet and will provide support and resources from RICS and the industry to help the profession take both climate action and adopt the UN SDGs. RICS is also today publishing the RICS Responsible Business report which provides recommendations for businesses on ensuring the long-term sustainability of the built environment. More →

October 11, 2019

Birmingham and Peterborough latest cities to benefit from government hubs

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Property, Public Sector

Sites in Birmingham and Peterborough are to be regenerated as part of a government programme designed to boost regional growth and save taxpayers’ money. The Government Hubs programme has so far seen the development of 14 office hubs around the country, which the government claims provide civil servants with state-of-the-art working environments designed to boost efficiency and drive savings by bringing together different departments under one roof – moving civil servants to inner-city sites located close to public transport connections, local amenities and shops. More →

October 2, 2019

Best workplaces in UK honoured at BCO Awards

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property, Workplace design

London’s 2 Television Centre was celebrated as ‘Best of the Best’ at the British Council for Offices’ (BCO) National Awards in the capital last night, also taking home the ‘Commercial Workplace’ award. The office was joined by six other award winners recognised as leading examples of excellence in office space. More →

September 30, 2019

Flexible workspace makes up a third of London property deals

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Over the past year, flexible workspace made up over a third of of commercial property transactions in London despite only making up around 6 percent of the total office supply in the UK capital, according to a new report by The Instant Group. More →

September 25, 2019

Flexible working in the age of longevity

by Richard Morris • Comment, Property, Wellbeing, Working lives

Global life expectancy is growing at its fastest rate since the 1960s. Today, a 20-year-old has a 50 per cent chance of living to 100. Even if you are 60, you have an evens chance of reaching 90. A long life can be a gift, but of course it also has implications for how we live our lives and in particular how we plan to work and fund those extra years. Clearly there is a role for employers in creating work environments and flexible working cultures that recognise and maximise the potential of the 100-year life. More →

September 23, 2019

Growing number of organisations pledge to take action on climate change

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

As world leaders meet in New York for today’s UN Climate Action Summit, a group of 59 large multinationals including Swiss Re, Ikea, and L’Oréal have signed up to the UN Global Compact to pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The compact now has 87 corporations as signatories, including Astra Zeneca and Unilever who signed up earlier this year, with a combined market value of $2.3 trillion. As is the case with countries, there is still a way to go for more companies to take decisive action on climate change, however. More →

September 19, 2019

Brexit causes commercial property investors to put plans on ice

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

New research commissioned by Experience Invest claims that the majority of UK commercial property investors have put their financial plans on hold as they await the Brexit deadline and 2019 Autumn Budget, new research from Experience Invest claims. Experience Invest commissioned an independent survey of over 1,000 property investors, who all own three or more residential properties in the UK. More →

September 19, 2019

Employee privacy issue explored at CoreNet Global Summit

by Freddie Steele • News, Property, Technology, Working culture

Employee acceptance of new technology was a recurring theme of the CoreNet Global Summit in Amsterdam last week. The business value of monitoring software was largely accepted during the three days of the Summit; however, the individual’s perspective – that the benefits that might be traded for loss of employee privacy – was widely acknowledged as a pressing issue. More →

September 17, 2019

The four day week problem, WeWork delays IPO, harbingers of doom and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Flexible working, Property, Technology, Workplace design

It’s interesting to watch what happens when politicians – even more so than normal people – are faced with evidence they don’t like. And it’s especially interesting when they asked for the evidence in the first place. You can pick your own examples but it was interesting to note Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’s immediate and decidedly lukewarm response to his own report into the wisdom of introducing a 4 day week, which concluded that the idea is ‘not realistic or even desirable’. More →

September 16, 2019

High streets should switch focus to office space and high-skilled jobs

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Property

Many British High Streets face a bleak future as policymakers are failing to identify a clear economic focus to city centre regeneration strategies. According to the Centre for Cities’ latest research, in partnership with Nationwide Building Society, success is defined by those policies that create skills, jobs and quality office space for businesses rather than currently accepted interventions such as cultural initiatives, business rate reforms and online sales taxes. More →