Organisations are easily distracted from the task of creating a great workplace strategy

Organisations are easily distracted from the task of creating a great workplace strategy

Earlier this month The Once Alternative Workplace Strategies 2018 workplace study was published. This study is the only known longitudinal workplace study and it was recently resurfaced by a group of volunteers to maintain a comparative thread of data on the evolution of workplace thought and practice now going back many years. Unfortunately, the results of this global study demonstrate that a high percentage of companies still see once alternative and now modern workplace strategies as a real estate initiative and not the opportunity to reinvent their businesses in deeper and more transformational ways. Workplace innovation is a litmus test for management quality and leadership. This isn’t about real estate, it’s actually about people and business outcomes.

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Asian investment in City of London offices now hitting record levels

Asian investment in City of London offices now hitting record levels

Asian money is pouring into office investments in the Square Mile at a pace rarely seen before, according to a new analysis by Savills. About £3.4 billion of Asian capital has been invested in London offices already this year, according to a study from the property consultancy. That is 70 per cent of the total volume and a record high for the first six months of a year. In the past three months alone, Asian buyers have snapped up £3.5 billion of buildings in London’s financial district. This is the highest figure for a second quarter since 2007, when the commercial property market was at its peak just before the credit crunch hit, according to Savills.

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World Green Building Council launches Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment

World Green Building Council launches Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has launched its new Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment as part of Building Lasting Change 2018 with WorldGBC Congress Canada in Toronto, and called on market leaders in the sector to join as signatories. The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment challenges businesses and organisations across the world to take advanced climate action by setting ambitious targets to eliminate operational carbon emissions from their building portfolios by 2030 in order to meet the Paris Agreement ambition of below 2 degrees of global warming.

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Nearly half of employees still assigned to same place as the traditional office clings on

Nearly half of employees still assigned to same place as the traditional office clings on

Nearly half of employees still assigned to one place as traditional office clings on

The worry over a loss in productivity when people are able to work anywhere is entirely unfounded, and what we once called “alternative”, we have come to call current and future workplace strategies, a new report claims. Yet the new study, ‘The Once Alternative Workplace Strategies’, which was conducted and released by Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA), Global Workplace Analytics and Haworth Inc, found that nearly half of employees are still permanently assigned to one space; with no change since 2008. The research pinpoints five leading trends within today’s workplaces and compares the findings to the initial research from more than a decade ago. (more…)

Brexit will harm UK infrastructure improvements, say industry professionals

Brexit will harm UK infrastructure improvements, say industry professionals

brexit infrastructureSix in ten (59 percent) people involved in planning and delivering projects across the UK think that leaving the EU will make it harder to deliver improvements to the nation’s infrastructure, according to exclusive new research from the team behind the Public Sector Show and National Infrastructure Forum. The findings are based on a survey of over 200 professionals from across the public and private sectors, conducted by the National Infrastructure Forum – part of the Public Sector Show – in association with Burges Salmon, exploring the views of the country’s major building priorities for the coming years.

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Coworking is breaking away from its cultural and geographical stereotypes

Coworking is breaking away from its cultural and geographical stereotypes

There is a persistent image of a coworking space as a sort of glorified serviced office for tech and creative startups who can’t afford the eye-watering rents in the areas they need to be. This is usually in the technology hothouses of the world’s major cities where they can work alongside the corporate giants and fellow innovators that thrive there. The reason such perceptions exist is because they are largely true. It’s no coincidence that coworking spaces have thrived up till now in the world’s most expensive property markets – in London, Hong Kong and New York, serving exactly the sorts of start-ups and freelancers who rely on proximity to their potential clients.

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Flexible office space is becoming mainstream as demand grows

Flexible office space is becoming mainstream as demand grows

Growing demand means flexible office space is becoming mainstreamThe provision of flexible office space is increasing as landlords look to capitalise on its increasing demand by occupiers. Alongside this a significant proportion would be happy to work in partnership with a flexible office space provider. According to a new study; UK Landlords & Investors Embrace the Flexible Revolution from CBRE, the majority of UK landlords (92 percent) believe that flexible office space is on the brink of becoming mainstream and are not only keen to monitor but respond to the growth of flexible office space. Over three quarters (77 percent) of survey participants stated that they are currently considering some form of flexible provision, with 79 percent declaring an intention to act within the next 12 months. (more…)

Seven stories about the workplace to round off your week

Seven stories about the workplace to round off your week

Overwhelming majority of property professionals now view proptech as an opportunity

Overwhelming majority of property professionals now view proptech as an opportunity

The vast majority of property professionals in the UK now regard proptech as an opportunity rather than a threat, new research has found. However, a majority also remain sceptical about their own organisations’ progress on adopting new technology. Those are the key findings of a survey of more than 300 property professionals carried out by Trident Building Consultancy, in association with RICS, GoReport and Teesside University.

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Are these the UK’s best coworking spaces?

Are these the UK’s best coworking spaces?

IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, has announced the 12 longlisted finalists for the 2018 Coworking Space of the Year award. The award has been launched to recognise the role coworking spaces play in ‘creating a nurturing, inclusive and stimulating environment for the UK’s thriving 4.8 million-strong self-employed workforce;. The venues were judged on a range of criteria including the quality of facilities and staff, the innovation, creativity and distinctiveness of their venue, the passion and commitment to their members and the freelancing community, and the price and value of its membership packages. Intriguingly, only one is in London.

 

 

 

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Take up of office space in West End stays strong, but supply continues to decline

Take up of office space in West End stays strong, but supply continues to decline

Demand for commercial office space in central London has remained above the long-term average, with the amount of space under offer increasing, though the level of supply in the West End has continued to decline, according to the latest figures from Savills. Take-up in April reached 275,473 sq ft across 24 transactions, bringing take-up for the first four months of the year to 1.3m sq ft. The volume of transactions to complete over the month was the lowest for April in five years but overall year-to-date take-up still remained up on the long-term average for this period by 13 percent. (more…)

Office take-up in London at highest point in last 12 months, boosted by pre-let activity

Office take-up in London at highest point in last 12 months, boosted by pre-let activity

Office take-up in London at highest point in last 12 months, driven by pre-let activityCentral London commercial offices under offers are at the highest point in the last 12 months and take-up is ahead of 2017 levels compared with this point last year, new data from CBRE has shown.  Central London office take-up for April 2018 stood at 547,900 sq ft, largely driven by pre-letting activity. Office take-up for the year to the end April 2018 was 4 percent higher than the corresponding period in 2017, standing at 3.4m sq ft. Take-up was boosted by 139,600 sq ft of pre-letting activity. Over the last 12 months, the business services sector has represented the largest proportion of take-up at 32 percent, driven by a large number of deals to flexible office providers. Take-up in April was dominated by the creative industries sector, accounting for 44 percent of take-up. The banking and finance sector (26 percent) and the business services sector (21 percent) also represented notable proportions of take-up in April.

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