May 3, 2013

BIM provides opportunities for the built environment finds report

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Facilities management, Knowledge, News, Public Sector

Building Information Modelling (BIM) will raise productivity, provide better buildings, faster and cheaper and represents opportunities for the built environment to become a powerful international player. This is according to a major new report, Growth through BIM produced by Richard Saxon, the UK Government’s BIM Ambassador for Growth who concludes: “No wonder it has been mandated as government policy“. The Built Environment sector, for the purposes of his report, is defined as Property, Construction and Facilities Management, which accounts for about 15 per cent of GDP, and which he describes as: “an enabling sector, facilitating the performance of most other sectors”. More →

May 2, 2013

UK underemployment rates more accurate measure say economists

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

The current economic downturn differs from previous recessions in that unemployment rates haven’t been quite as devastating, with employers opting to freeze pay rates and offer flexible working and reduced hours in order to retain staff. But according to a white paper published today this has led to an important new phenomenon – underemployment. In the latest issue of the National Institute Economic Review, economists David Bell and David Blanchflower of the University of Stirling and Dartmouth College describe workers who are underemployed when they are willing to supply more hours of work than their employers are prepared to offer. More →

April 23, 2013

Stressed staff contribute average ten hours free labour a week

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

British employees contribute an extra £142 billion a year to their employers, by working on average, an unpaid ten extra hours per week. According to a study by Travelodge of 2,000 workers across the UK, nearly three quarters (72 per cent) routinely do the extra hours, which translates into an average saving of £6,635 for employers. So great is the trend, that one in ten workers cram a whole extra week of unpaid work on top of their normal working schedule so that they can manage their workload, and a third of Britons now work an additional 16 hours a week for free than they did prior to the start of the recession. More →

April 2, 2013

Will an upturn spark a revival of interest in the idea of employer branding?

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

You may recall that a few years ago there was a voguish interest in the idea of employer branding. This is the kind of thing that has always gone on but can always be defined and popularised, in this case following the publication of a book on the subject in 2005. By 2008 Jackie Orme, the head of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, was calling it ‘an integral part of business strategy’. Still, it appears to have dropped off the radar a bit over the last few years, a fact we might put down to the effect of the recession. Firms certainly seem to have their mind on other things. Research published last year by PriceWaterhouseCoopers showed that in 2009, 54 per cent of businesses said they placed a special focus on retaining talent. By 2012 that had dropped to 36 per cent.

March 28, 2013

Majority of employers intend to hire permanent staff

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Workplace

More positive signs on the jobs front today with the news that despite continuing to face a challenging economic climate, the majority of employers are still planning to increase or maintain their permanent staff over the next three months. This is according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) latest JobsOutlook survey. REC director of policy Tom Hadley said: “Our latest data shows the majority of employers are planning to increase or maintain their permanent headcount over the next quarter which suggests that the jobs market will continue to outperform the rest of the economy in the short term. Although the ONS reported a rise in unemployment last week, it is important to emphasise that the employment figures were also up.” More →

March 20, 2013

Rise in jobless figures puts pressure on Chancellor

by Sara Bean • Legal news, News, Property, Public Sector, Workplace

There is more pressure on Chancellor George Osborne ahead of today’s budget with the news that uemployment rose by 7,000 to 2.52 million between November and January. However the overall unemployment rate for November 2012 to January 2013 remained at 7.8 per cent, unchanged from August to October 2012. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) also show that while pay rose by 1.2 per cent during the same period, with inflation measuring 2.7 per cent between January 2012 and January 2013, there continues to be a cut in the real value of pay. More →

February 24, 2013

What gets measured in the workplace, gets managed

by Paul Statham • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace design

Are we finally seeing the first signs of the end of the downturn? Earlier this week the Government announced that UK unemployment had fallen. While I know there have been quibbles about what this all meant, other data from specific market sectors backs up the idea that we may be seeing some tentative causes for hope. One of the most heartening was last week’s survey from Randstad which reported growing levels of optimism among financial services firms about their prospects and the fact that the majority would be increasing headcount this year.

January 24, 2013

Happiness levels in UK workplaces growing, says Government.

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Public Sector, Workplace

The general level of satisfaction in the UK’s workplaces has increased significantly in spite of ongoing economic uncertainty according to a report from the Government published yesterday. The study of more than 21,000 employees, found that job satisfaction levels actually increased in 2012 with a fifth (20 per cent) of employees either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with all aspects of their job, compared to just 16 per cent in 2004 when the survey last appeared. The report also showed that levels of commitment to individual employers had also increased over the same period, with the proportion of employees who said they shared the values of their organisation up from 55 per cent to 65 per cent. More →

January 21, 2013

UK’s Centre for Cities launches Outlook 2013 report

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Property, Public Sector

The Centre for Cities has today published the latest issue of its flagship Cities Outlook report in conjunction with the Local Government Association. The report has been published annually since 2008, identifying trends and key economic indicators from the UK’s largest cities. This year’s report is extensive in its coverage of a range of issues but focusses on construction, especially of housing, as an engine of growth. Several towns including Milton Keynes, Brighton and Northampton are singled out for their high levels of private sector investment and employment.

January 9, 2013

All right? Manchester property outperforms other UK regions

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Property

The idea that the UK is essentially a closely bound federation of city states, each with their own culture and economy is given added credence by new research from CBRE into regional variations in the commercial property market. London does things its own way, of course, but the top regional city is Manchester – the only one of eight centres that showed any evidence of rental growth during 2012, even though it was a modest increase from £29.50 per sq ft to £30 per sq ft. The full report can be viewed here. More →

January 6, 2013

UK construction hits new low as service sector shrinks

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Property

The three little words nobody wanted to hear at the start of 2013 are triple dip recession. Yet even as the US managed to avoid its own fiscal cliff at the turn of the year, two reports raised fresh fears that the UK’s recovery would be postponed for a while yet. According to the Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index, UK construction hit a six-month low as the sector dropped from an index of 49.3 in November to 48.7 in December. This is well below the index of 50 which indicates a contraction in activity. Meanwhile another report from Markit/CIPS reported an unexpected fall in the UK’s service sector. More →