Search Results for: workplace

HS2 will generate £40 billion in economic benefits and a surge of investment in office space, claims new report

by • News, Property, Public Sector

HS2According to a report published today in The Daily Telegraph, the UK’s new HS2 high speed rail network will encourage housebuilding and commercial property development as part of a £40 billion boost to the UK economy. The report, produced by consultants EY, also suggests that  new developments around the main stations along the route, including Birmingham, Manchester and West London would generate some £1 billion  a year before the route’s completion in 2035, including some 850,000 sq ft of new office space. The newspaper claims the full report will be released by the Government this week as part of its campaign to win support for the controversial scheme and that its content will be a major talking point at this week’s MIPIM which takes place for the first time in London. It was revealed recently that the Government now expects the scheme to cost £73 billion, a figure which critics, including Mayor of London Boris Johnson claim could be spent more wisely.

Government urges firms with all-male boards to think again

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

Government urges firms with all-male boards to think againCompanies must not let up in their efforts to deliver 25 per cent gender diversity to their boardrooms by 2015. That is the message from Business Secretary Vince Cable – on the news that female representation on FTSE 100 boards continues to increase, but that within the FTSE 250, all-male boards remain. As of July 2014 there are no all-male boards in the FTSE 100 and from the beginning of this month the number of women on boards is 22.8 per cent – up from 20.7 per cent in March 2014. Twenty more boards in the FTSE 250 have appointed at least one woman since March 2014 where women’s representation has increased to 17.4 per cent – up from 15.6 per cent in March 2014, but 28 all-male boards remain. The Government has named the offending 28 firms and Vince Cable has written to their chairmen urging them to look again at new talent. (more…)

Case study: A public sector building that lights the way ahead for others

by • Case studies, Facilities management, Public Sector, Workplace design

The new offices of Wiltshire County Council, Trowbridge

The new offices of Wiltshire County Council, Trowbridge

Last year, I had the pleasure of producing a case study of the new offices of Wiltshire County Council for Mix Interiors magazine. Given that the building was this week shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Better Public Buildings Award and had already won an award from the BCO, we thought this seemed a good time to retread its corridors of power…. The recession has led the UK government to develop a number of new approaches to public sector buildings. But some of the UK’s local authorities are way ahead of the new thinking. Even so, there was a time, not so long ago, when nobody worried too much about the shape of the rooms that led off the corridors of power. But the pressure on UK public finances has politicised the design of the UK’s public buildings, with the government launching a wide range of initiatives to improve the efficiency of the way public sector acquires, designs and runs the places it calls home.

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Winner and shortlist announced for UK Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award

by • Environment, News, Property, Public Sector

public building awards

Wiltshire County Council Offices

The (rather long) shortlist of nominees for the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award 2014 has been announced by the UK Cabinet Office. Hosted as part of The British Construction Industry Awards which aim to ‘recognise all-round excellence in construction, including the overall design, and delivery of buildings and civil engineering projects’ the award’s original nominees were assessed on a range of standards including economic and social value. As well as the rather impressive new headquarters for Wiltshire County Council (above), the Government claims the shortlist includes a college building that is engineered to be one of the quietest buildings in the country as well as a building that will almost entirely be powered by fish oil. Previous winners include Tate Modern and the Velodrome at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The Government, ever keen to be down with the kids, has produced a Buzzfeed feature on the nominated projects.

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Successful employers will shape the future office around the needs of staff

by • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Successful employers will shape the future office around the needs of staffNearly a third (32%) of British workers feel exhausted from juggling career, family, friends and other commitments, and do not think they will want to work later in life. This is contributing to increased levels of stress and a higher likelihood that they will leave their jobs, which – if left unchecked – could cost British businesses £44bn. It’s no wonder then that companies are set to become increasingly employee-centric in the future as, according to the report The Future Workplace, commissioned by financial protection specialist Unum and authored by The Future Laboratory, employers who make changes now to shape their business around the needs of their staff are likely to achieve significant competitive advantage. The report, which investigates the social, cultural, economic and technological influences shaping workplace care over the next fifteen years found four main trends; an ageless workplace that allows ‘returnment’ rather than retirement, the need for a mindful workplace that nurtures mental health and performance, and a workplace that is both intuitive and collaborative. Click here to download the full report.

Details released of 510,000 sq ft office development at Moorgate Crossrail station

by • Cities, Company news, News, Property

Moorgate Crossrail station developmentProperty developer Land Securities has released details of its 510,000 sq. ft. commercial property scheme on the site of the new Moorgate Crossrail station in the City of London. The mixed use scheme consists of two buildings providing 410,000 sq. ft and 100,000 sq. ft. of office space, a landscaped courtyard and a high level walkway linking the station site with the Barbican. Retail space will also be incorporated alongside the walkway.  The scheme is part of a programme of development by Land Securities linked to the new line, which will provide a total of 1.1m sq ft around various Crossrail stations. The firms is expected to submit a planning application for the site later this year with work on the site expected to start in 2018 in parallel with the construction of the Crossrail station on site. As well as improving Greater London’s transport links, the £15 bn Crossrail project is seen as an important catalyst for property development in the capital.

New property programme supports co-working between tech businesses

by • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

co-workingOver the next decade, London’s digital tech sector is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 per cent per annum, creating an additional £12 billion of economic activity and 46,000 new jobs, which in turn is driving change in the commercial property market. Now the rapid rise of the UK property tech market is to get a boost with the announcement of a programme which provides tech companies with access to investment, mentoring and co-working business space. In a strategic partnership with Cushman & Wakefield and Spire Ventures; Pi Labs, Europe’s first property-focused technology accelerator company, will invite start-ups to apply to join the Pi Labs accelerator programme. This will be located within ‘Second Home’, a new iconic 20,000 sq. ft. co-working space in Shoreditch, designed to set new global standards in the provision of stimulating private and social workplace environments supporting collaboration and co-working amongst creative and technology businesses.
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Two thirds of the world’s workers would move to another country to find a better job

by • Knowledge, News, Workplace

Publication1Almost two thirds of job seekers worldwide say they would be willing to move abroad for work, a ‘startlingly high proportion’ that says a lot about the evolving marketplace for talent, according to a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Network, a global alliance of more than 50 recruitment websites. The report claims that the proportion of people willing to seek a better job abroad is particularly (and unsurprisingly) high in developing and politically unstable countries. But there is also a very high willingness to work abroad for workers in countries that don’t face such challenges. For example, more than 75 percent of survey respondents in Switzerland, more than 80 percent of respondents in Australia, and more than 90 percent of respondents in the Netherlands say they would consider moving to another country for work, according to the report, Decoding Global Talent: 200,000 Survey Responses on Global Mobility and Employment Preferences, and their preferred destinations are London, New York and Paris.

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New speculative office scheme announced for Slough Trading Estate

by • Facilities management, News, Property

New speculative office scheme announced for Slough Trading EstateA new 68,000 sq ft speculative office scheme has been announced for Slough Trading Estate, arguably the most famous trading estate in the country; home to Ricky Gervais’ ‘the Office’. Although Slough began life as an industrial trading estate, it now accommodates  numerous corporate offices, and is one of the UK’s most popular headquarter locations for multinational companies, including Mars, Stanley Black and Decker, O2, and LG. The latest development forms part of the ongoing redevelopment of the Trading Estate to ensure it continues to remain a draw for business. The new site, at 234 Bath Road has already secured planning permission and is due to commence in November with completion set for Spring 2016. According to developer SEGRO the offices will feature large floorplates offering grade A office accommodation ranging in size from 22,000 sq ft – 68,000 sq ft, which can be let to a single company or multiple occupiers. (more…)

Workers struggling to balance home and work, according to CIPD report

by • Flexible working, Knowledge, News, Workplace

Publication1The UK’s workforce is struggling to find the right balance between their work and domestic responsibilities according to the latest Absence Management report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  The report also suggests that, although overall absence levels are falling, much of this is down to people going into work when they perhaps shouldn’t with a third of employers reporting presenteeism. Stress and mental health problems in the workplace also remain high, with more than 40 percent of employers citing an increase, despite signs of economic recovery. One area in which absenteeism is rising is workers taking time off to care for children and elderly or disabled relatives and friends. More than a third of those employers surveyed reported an increase in absence levels amongst staff who are struggling to cope with their caring responsibilities outside of work. However only a sixth of employers have policies in place to provide a better level of support.

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Two-fifths of global employees would choose flexible working over a payrise

by • Comment, Flexible working, News, Workplace

flexible workingA friend of mine went for a job recently and asked about flexible working. They were informed that: “we don’t like to allow people to work from home as we can’t keep our eye on them.” This attitude is a disincentive to job applicants and existing staff, and makes employers who take this attitude look at best old-fashioned and at worse foolish. Even the UK’s pro-employer government extended the right to request flexible working to anyone with over 26 weeks service this June, which illustrated how ‘mainstream’ flexi-work has become. A new piece of research reveals there is currently something of a global shift in culture towards a ‘Flex Work Imperative’, described as a perfect storm of employee demand, improving job market, and legislation that is shifting flex work from job perk to an employee’s right. It’s why 43 per cent of employees surveyed said they would prefer flex work over a pay raise. (more…)

A feeling of togetherness is essential and motivating, so why would we kill off the office?

by • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Knowledge, Workplace design

It is still depressingly commonplace to read proclamations of the death of the office. These are usually appended to some survey or other about the rise of flexible working or a case study of a workplace devoid of desks (or, more likely, one in which none are pictured). Of course, the actual conclusion we can draw from such things is that the office as we once knew it is now dead or mutating into something else, but that’s true for every aspect of modern life. The constant factor that ensures offices will always exist, in some form or other is the human they serve. We know that because, as Tom Allen proved at MIT in the 1980s, people communicate less well the greater the physical distance between them. Now new research from Stanford University shows how the very idea of ‘togetherness’ can have a significant impact on the way people perform. The study, by researchers Priyanka Carr and Gregory Walton was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and concluded that ‘social cues that signal an invitation to work with others can fuel intrinsic motivation’.

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