December 2, 2013
Mid-sized firms are unsung champions of the economic recovery says CBI
Medium-sized businesses (MSBs) are making a significant contribution to jobs and growth across the UK. Between March 2010 and March 2013 they have created 185,000 jobs, a 4.1 per cent increase compared with 1.9 per cent by large companies and 2.8 per cent by small firms. New CBI research published today shows that despite only accounting for 1.8 per cent of the UK private sector, MSBs, which employ between 50-499 people and have a turnover of £10-100 million, now employ 4.7 million people across the UK – 16 per cent of the total UK workforce. The CBI has launched #MSBMonday to boost recognition for MSBs and is calling on local government and policy makers to do more to recognise and support medium-sized businesses as their local champions. More →
November 28, 2013
The future belongs to those who leave themselves choices of how to deal with it
by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace
Everybody likes to talk and read about the future. It’s one of the reasons we see so many reports about what the ‘office of the future’ will look like. Often these attempts at workplace prognosis are overwhelmingly rooted in the present which might betray either a degree of timidity or lack of awareness of just how far along their standard list of trends we really are. Even when such reports appear to be bang on the money, they tend to disregard one of the most important factors we need to consider when trying to get a handle on the future, which is the need to leave ourselves choices. This is important because not only will the future be stranger than we think, but stranger than we can imagine, to paraphrase J B S Haldane.
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