Search Results for: sit stand

February 1, 2016

M25 office market returns to pre-recessionary levels as demand increases ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The ‘M25’ office market returned to pre-recessionary levels in 2015 as take-up reached 4.25 million sq ft, which is the highest recorded figure since 2007. Given the higher levels of demand in the regional commercial property market, take-up is predicted to reach 4.5 million sq ft for 2016. The research by Savills claims that the ‘Western Sector’ was the strongest performer in the market within the M25 during 2015, where 1.91 million sq ft was transacted, which accounted for 44 percent of total take-up. Improving economic conditions combined with a reduction in grade B and C office space, due to permitted development rights, meant that 62 percent of space transacted was for grade A space. Total supply currently stands at 18.34 million sq ft, which is a 7 percent decrease from 2014, not helped by the fact that approximately one million sq ft of office space has been converted to residential uses since 2014.

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January 27, 2016

Employers embrace workplace engagement, but find it hard to measure ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Businesses may appreciate the benefits of workplace engagement, but quantifying these remains a challenge. According to new research of European employers by Oracle, 93 percent acknowledge employee engagement is strategically important to their company and a majority say it positively impacts collaboration (65 percent), helps boost business performance (61 percent), and contributes to improved customer service (60 percent). Yet nearly two thirds (31 percent) say it’s difficult to measure the return of investment on their wider business, and 30 percent say boardroom decision-makers cannot easily understand its impact. And despite the availability of advanced analytics to measure engagement, the report also claims that current processes are not being optimised to drive engagement, as 68 per cent of businesses still rely on standard staff surveys to gauge engagement levels, with only 37 percent using more sophisticated methods.

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January 20, 2016

Regional office take up in 2015 is 20 percent above the five year average ⁰

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

The UK’s regional commercial property market has continued to improve on last year’s record levels of occupational take-up, with 9.6 million sq ft transacted in the Big Nine city centre and out-of-town markets during 2015, 20 percent above the five year average. According to Bilfinger GVA’s quarterly review of the regional office occupier markets this is the fourth consecutive annual increase in take-up and compares to an average of 6.6 million sq ft during the downturn years of 2009 to 2012. Take-up over the year was well above average in Birmingham and Manchester in both the city centre and out-of-town markets. Other markets where activity was well above average include Cardiff and Leeds city centres and the suburbs of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Fourth quarter take-up was dominated by above average activity in most city centres and a number of large deals in Edinburgh out-of-town.

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January 18, 2016

Firms demanding more data about workplaces…and they’re about to get it ⁰

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

Companies are increasingly focussed on generating workplace data as they seek to make better decisions about the ways their real estate supports their key organisational objectives. That is one of the key findings of the latest European Occupier Survey from property consultants CBRE (login required). The good news (or bad news, depending on your point of view) is they’re about to get it in spades, according to another study from researchers International Data Corporation which found that there will be a huge surge in the availability of Big Data infrastructure in EMEA countries over the next four years. The acquisition of data about buildings and their inhabitants remains a troublesome issue, especially when executives do things like introduce sensors to monitor working patterns of employees without their knowledge, as bosses at The Telegraph found in a very public way recently.

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January 15, 2016

Three quarters of Millennials will change jobs over the next five years ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

It must be the time of year but we are suddenly awash with surveys and reports suggesting that pretty much everybody in the UK is about to change their jobs. Following our report earlier in the week that suggests older workers are perfectly prepared to just give up on work completely, it was inevitable that we were about to hear something from those pesky Millennials. Sure enough, along comes a report from Deloitte that suggests that nearly three quarters of Millennials plans to leave their jobs over the next five years. Millennials and their employers: Can this relationship be saved? found that the UK has a higher than average percentage of Millennials planning to change jobs in the next five years, with the average in developed economies standing at 61 percent. Worldwide, forty-four percent of Millennials say, if given the choice, they expect to leave their current employers in the next two years.

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January 13, 2016

Growth in freelance economy, as people seek better work-life balance ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Nearly one in four employees freelance in some capacity, a recent study of office workers in the US claims. Overall, twelve percent of US employees work as freelancers as their primary source of income, and the same percentage freelance in addition to their primary job. The Staples Advantage Workplace Index reveals that employees freelance for a variety of reasons, including the flexibility to make their own hours (37 percent), make more money (39 percent), and achieve a work-life balance (32 percent). Businesses also benefit from this arrangement by getting access to highly skilled workers needed for special projects. Freelance workers need temporary access to IT services and equipment, designated work spaces, open communication with co-workers, and the right supplies to help deliver projects. As a result, finds the report, smart, collaborative technology is becoming more ‘mainstream’, in helping establish efficient team structures and collaboration models.

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January 12, 2016

A cynic’s field guide to workplace terminology, part three ⁰

by Simon Heath • Comment, Facilities management, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

A New Year and a new chance for some people to heap more fresh corporate bullshit onto the already steaming pile. No matter how often writers like the ever excellent Lucy Kellaway mock and deride the propensity of people in organisations to apply cliches and nonsense in lieu of thought and imagination, we have to face an annual fresh tide of drivel and lazy thinking. So predictable is this yearly onslaught, that it appears to now be a subject for trendspotters, as a recent feature in The Telegraph highlighted. Of course, this is just general corporate speak and does not even begin to scratch the surface of what we have to endure in the more parochial world of workplace design and management. Which is why I have produced the latest update to my continually expanding lexicon of regrettable workplace terminology. You can read parts one and two here and here.

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January 8, 2016

Modern office design principles favour extroverts, study claims ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Workplace, Workplace design

This week’s British Psychological Society Occupational Psychology Division annual conference in Nottingham has proved to be a fruitful hunting ground for insights into the nature of modern work and workplaces. The week culminates today with the presentation of a new study from business psychologists OPP which claims that personality has a big impact on the type of office environment people prefer to work in. Modern features such as shared space and open-plan floors appeal mainly to extroverted workers and made introverts uncomfortable. Over 300 people (71 per cent female and average age 47 years) completed an online survey about their current workplace. The participants had previously completed a personality test to ascertain their personality type. The results showed that many features of the modern office were more likely to be preferred by extroverts than by introverts.

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January 6, 2016

Two new studies that highlight the complexities of gender at work ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Knowledge, News, Workplace

The increasingly complex nature of the career and workplace choices made by men and women and the specific challenges they face is the subject of two pieces of research presented at this week’s British Psychological Society’s Division of Occupational Psychology annual conference in Nottingham. The authors of the admittedly small scale studies conclude respectively that men in what are generally considered typically female-dominated occupations tend to value the social aspects of their career more than financial rewards and that ambitious professional women would benefit from a better understanding of how to build, maintain and use their social capital to succeed in their attempts at reaching the top of their professions. Both topics have been raised before but it’s interesting to see yet more research which challenges the often overly simplistic assumptions that seem to go hand in hand with gender issues at work.

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January 5, 2016

A round-up of stories you may have missed on your way back to work ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Still catching up after the holidays? So are we. Here are seven recent stories we loved belatedly and think you will too. 1. GM is set to stake its claim as part of the nascent network of self driving cars. 2. Yet another round-up of 2016 trends, this time focussed on HR. 3. A new initiative attempts to cement the UK’s position at the frontier of the smart city movement. 4. A film about the world’s ongoing love hate relationship with the office cubicle. Mostly hate. 5. A reminder to architects that they need to think about the design of sound, too. 6. A look back at the year in which sit-stand desks finally made their mark (just don’t mention the countries that have loved them for years in the non English speaking parts of Northern Europe). 7. Goldman Sachs produce an interesting chart about the fall in space per worker, but provoke a possibly faulty conclusion from the author. Just because people are given less space, doesn’t mean the office is dying. Main image courtesy of Herman Miller.

December 17, 2015

Redevelopment confirmed for one of Leeds’ most prominent office buildings ⁰

by Sara Bean • Company news, News, Property

Network Rail has agreed a 150-year lease to enable redevelopment of one of Leeds’ largest and most prominent office buildings which sits above Leeds train station. The extension of the ground lease at Bruntwood’s City House in Leeds will facilitate the redevelopment of the 12-storey office building. Bruntwood obtained planning permission earlier this year to undertake an extensive refurbishment of the vacant 121,000 sq ft office building which will feature a roof garden, business lounge and meeting space. Co-working and small suites will be introduced to cater for smaller start-up businesses whilst wings of up to 4,900 sq ft and full floors of 9,630 sq ft will be available for established companies seeking more space. As owners of the freehold Network Rail has worked closely with Bruntwood over the last 12 months to bring forward plans to redevelop the property – with the revenue generated from the lease being reinvested back into the railway.

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December 15, 2015

Seven essential workplace design trends to keep an eye on during 2016 ⁰

by Dan Callegari • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

What has become increasingly apparent over recent years is that the office isn’t just a place to work, but also a driver of competitive advantage. We’ve always known this to a greater or lesser extent, but the dynamic and ever shifting nature of the modern world is presenting organisations with new and evolving challenges that they must address with all of the tools at their disposal. At the heart of this complexity is the physical workspace. Its design touches on every aspect of the changing workplace and the objectives organisations set for themselves and their employees. Although it has lots its primacy as the main place of work, you could also argue that the focus on the office’s key strengths makes it more important than ever within the context of overall working cultures. So, with that in mind, here are ten of the most important current trends in workplace design and management we foresee for 2016.