November 7, 2018

Flexible office market to grow by a third each year for next five years

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

The gig economy has helped lead to the doubling in size of the flexible office space sector since 2014 and it’s set to grow by up to 30 percent per year over the next five years claims new research published by JLL. Disruption or Distraction, a report delving into the growth of flexible office space across Europe explores the main drivers of the sector’s boom – including evolutionary changes in how, when and where people work, shifts in lifestyle, and rapid advancements in technology – and provides unique insights into the risks and rewards for both companies and real estate investors in Europe. More →

November 2, 2018

Office take-up in Central London looks set to grow despite Brexit looming

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

Continuing demand for office space within the Central London commercial property market has helped dispel pessimism about the future of London post-Brexit, according to the latest figures from Savills. Take-up of office space in the City of London reached 5.1 million sq ft at the end of the third quarter of 2018, just 1 percent down on the same point in 2017 and 18 percent up on the 10-year average, while the amount of office space under offer in London’s West End market was 1.9 million sq ft as of the end of September, a new record, which challenges the view that the market is in danger of decline. More →

November 1, 2018

CBRE launches its offering for the flexible office sector

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, Property

CBRE, one of the world’s largest commercial property firms has launched a flexible office service that will compete with groups such as WeWork and IWG, who own the Regus brand, for corporate tenants. The company has appointed a former Zipcar executive, Andrew Kupiec, to head Hana, a new wholly owned subsidiary that will operate flexible offices aimed mainly at larger corporate clients. Unlike its competitors Hana will not lease office spaces from landlords; instead, it will partner with them through joint ventures.

November 1, 2018

Channel 4 confirms Leeds as National HQ with Bristol and Glasgow as Creative Hubs

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property

Channel 4 has confirmed that Leeds will be the location of its new National HQ with Bristol and Glasgow as the locations of its two new Creative Hubs. Channel 4 announced its 4 All the UK strategy in March 2018, the biggest change to the structure of the organisation in its 35-year history. At the heart of it is a significant increase in the organisation’s Nations and Regions content spend – from 35 percent to 50 percent of main channel UK commissions by 2023, worth up to £250m more in total.

November 1, 2018

Businesses may be blowing billions on unused office space

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Big businesses in England and Wales are squandering £10 billion a year on under-used office space, a new study claims. The report by flexible workplace specialist Abintra draws together data from its work with more than 100 corporations worldwide. In London alone, it claims that the cost of office space being under-utilised is more than £4 billion annually with large firms in other regions collectively ‘squandering’ billions more. More →

October 31, 2018

Top global industries leading the way in remote work

by Neil Franklin • Features, Flexible working, Property

More business owners are swapping rigid 9-5 schedules and traditional office environments in favour of flexible space and remote work as an option for saving costs, retaining employees and encouraging a healthy work-life balance. With this in mind, Instant Offices has investigated what industries are leading the way for remote working and how to overcome the typical challenges of managing a remote team.

October 30, 2018

The workplace world responds to the UK Autumn Budget

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Workplace

Yesterday, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the details of the UK government’s latest budget. While Brexit and austerity inevitably cast their shadows over the whole thing, there were a number of announcements relevant to the workplace, construction, tech and built environment sectors, some of which have been broadly welcomed by commentators, industry bodies and experts. Some are decidedly less popular. Among the announcements in the budget were new plans for infrastructure and property, skills and training, tax regimes for the self-employed, productivity, business rates and mental health.

October 26, 2018

Flexible workspace market in Asia-Pacific outpaces global markets

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Property

The flexible workspace market in Asia-Pacific has been the fastest growing in the world over the past 12 months, according to a new study from Instant Offices. Supply of flex centres in the regions key cities has grown consistently above 15 percent with the only inhibitor to growth being a lack of available space for expansion. Supply of flex space increased by 16 percent over the last year with an estimated 8,600 centres now providing flexible office solutions across the APAC region. This influx of capital to the flex market, alongside increasing levels of demand from clients for flexible offices, has enabled rapid expansion in a short period of time. Of the 10 largest global markets for flexible office space, which incorporates co-working, executive suites, serviced offices and hybrid space, six now fall within Asia Pacific.

October 24, 2018

Commercial property uptake shows finance sector remains committed to London

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Undeterred by political and economic headwinds in recent years, London remains a world leading financial centre and is by far the most active centre in Europe, according to the latest research from global real estate advisor CBRE. According to the report, 1.1 million people were employed in the UK financial services sector in 2017, of which 34 percent were in London. The industry contributed £119bn to the national economy (7% of UK GDP) – half of this was generated by London, where it accounted for 14 percent of the city’s economic output.

October 24, 2018

Central London office market maintains sustained levels of demand

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

London’s office market continues to attract occupiers and investors, despite political and economic uncertainty JLL’s recent Central London offices seminar revealed. The event highlighted the strength of the capital’s office market where Central London has seen sustained levels of both leasing and investment activity so far in 2018 and JLL anticipates that the final numbers will match, if not exceed those recorded in 2017. Take-up of offices across Central London reached 8.3m sq ft at the end of Q3 2018, with 3.1m sq ft leased in the West End and 4.5m sq ft in the City.

October 23, 2018

Technical, social and legal challenges to deployment of wearables in buildings

by Sara Bean • AI, Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

While there is substantial potential for the deployment of wearables there are also significant technical, social and legal challenges. This is the conclusion of the latest white paper from BSRIA, ‘Wearables & wellbeing in buildings – the story so far’ which found little evidence of any practical solutions linking wearables to HVAC or building systems in general that were already in operation, apart from in “niche areas” such as wearable security fobs. A wearable is a device or an item of clothing which can be worn by a human, or possibly be carried as an implant, which has a degree of “intelligence” built into it and can potentially communicate with the Internet of Things (IoT), either directly or indirectly, for example via a Bluetooth connection to a smart phone. More →

October 22, 2018

Regus to sue WeWork; blinkers for office workers; and some other stuff you should know about

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

What to make of the announcement that Chengdu is thinking of creating an artificial moon so that it can do away with street lights, bathing the city’s streets in permanent dusk? Well possibly a big thumbs up for the ingenuity and maybe thumbs down for the impact on people’s circadian rhythms and awareness of what’s in the heavens. People really should look up more, both figuratively and literally. Maybe there’s also room for a thought about we we can over-complicate designed solutions when we look to innovate beyond a certain point.