Search Results for: media

Skills and new businesses drive decade of recovery for UK cities

Skills and new businesses drive decade of recovery for UK cities

by • Cities, News

Improving skills levels and new business formation have been the key long-term drivers of growth for UK cities since the financial crisis, according to the latest Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities 2018 index that ranks cities on a combination of economic performance and quality of life. The latest Index analyses a decade of economic and social data to determine what long-term factors drive Good Growth. PwC analysis shows that the average city in our index has improved its good growth score significantly over 10 years from 2005-7 to 2015-17, and has now more than recovered from the recession and downturn triggered by the global financial crisis.

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Office take-up in Central London looks set to grow despite Brexit looming

Office take-up in Central London looks set to grow despite Brexit looming

by • Cities, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

Continuing demand for office space within the Central London commercial property market has helped dispel pessimism about the future of London post-Brexit, according to the latest figures from Savills. Take-up of office space in the City of London reached 5.1 million sq ft at the end of the third quarter of 2018, just 1 percent down on the same point in 2017 and 18 percent up on the 10-year average, while the amount of office space under offer in London’s West End market was 1.9 million sq ft as of the end of September, a new record, which challenges the view that the market is in danger of decline. (more…)

Top global industries leading the way in remote work

Top global industries leading the way in remote work

by • Features, Flexible working, Property

More business owners are swapping rigid 9-5 schedules and traditional office environments in favour of flexible space and remote work as an option for saving costs, retaining employees and encouraging a healthy work-life balance. With this in mind, Instant Offices has investigated what industries are leading the way for remote working and how to overcome the typical challenges of managing a remote team.

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Conversations may be more productive when held in the great outdoors

Conversations may be more productive when held in the great outdoors

by • News, Wellbeing

Conversations are more responsive in natural environments such as parks and gardens than indoors, finds new research by the University of Manchester and Cardiff University. The researchers recorded conversations between three- and four-year-old children and their parents while they explored a city park and the park’s indoor education centre and found that the conversations in the park were more responsive and connected compared to those recorded indoors. The study ‘Responding to nature: Natural environments improve parent-child communication’ is published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.

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The death of desks, the truth about smart cities and a long list of things architects should know

The death of desks, the truth about smart cities and a long list of things architects should know

by • Features

You can’t judge an international marketplace by wandering around an exhibition of its products for a day or two. This is a simple fact overlooked by a new piece in Dezeen which declares that desks are finished. This notion is based on a trip to the Orgatec furniture fair in Cologne. Our own review of the show will appear tomorrow, with the hysteria dialled down to a dull roar and with some added facts about what organisations actually buy most from office furniture companies (spoiler: desks and chairs) compared to what makes the sector more interesting.

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This design and fit-out firm would like to give its time to a charity

This design and fit-out firm would like to give its time to a charity

by • Company news, Workplace design

Burtt-Jones & Brewer is giving away its time for free as part of its tenth birthday celebrations. Formed ten years ago over a cup of coffee between Steve Brewer and Adam Burtt-Jones, the workplace designers are celebrating by giving away ten thousand pounds’ worth of its workplace consultancy time to a single charity. So, instead of putting a birthday present list – they are sharing their experiences from a decade of design, development and delivery – from Moorgate to Milan, banks to brand agencies, lawyers to lottery operators, insurers to investors, the Bank of England to The Treasury.

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Flexible workspace market in Asia-Pacific outpaces global markets

Flexible workspace market in Asia-Pacific outpaces global markets

by • Flexible working, News, Property

The flexible workspace market in Asia-Pacific has been the fastest growing in the world over the past 12 months, according to a new study from Instant Offices. Supply of flex centres in the regions key cities has grown consistently above 15 percent with the only inhibitor to growth being a lack of available space for expansion. Supply of flex space increased by 16 percent over the last year with an estimated 8,600 centres now providing flexible office solutions across the APAC region. This influx of capital to the flex market, alongside increasing levels of demand from clients for flexible offices, has enabled rapid expansion in a short period of time. Of the 10 largest global markets for flexible office space, which incorporates co-working, executive suites, serviced offices and hybrid space, six now fall within Asia Pacific.

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Regus to sue WeWork; blinkers for office workers; and some other stuff you should know about

Regus to sue WeWork; blinkers for office workers; and some other stuff you should know about

by • Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

What to make of the announcement that Chengdu is thinking of creating an artificial moon so that it can do away with street lights, bathing the city’s streets in permanent dusk? Well possibly a big thumbs up for the ingenuity and maybe thumbs down for the impact on people’s circadian rhythms and awareness of what’s in the heavens. People really should look up more, both figuratively and literally. Maybe there’s also room for a thought about we we can over-complicate designed solutions when we look to innovate beyond a certain point.

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Area expands operations into mainland Europe

Area expands operations into mainland Europe

by • Company news

Area, the workplace fit-out arm of Fourfront Group, is expanding from its UK base to become a dominant player across Europe – establishing offices in 10 cities in mainland Europe, in addition to its two existing offices in the UK. The move comes after consistent success in the UK, delivering workplace projects for thousands of clients, covering millions of sq. ft. Area’s claims that its track record has led to an increasing number of enquiries from clients to deliver workplace requirements in Europe, with over 30 projects in mainland Europe having been completed to date.

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Wearables and apps to help you stay organised and keep track of your time

Wearables and apps to help you stay organised and keep track of your time

by • Company news, Products, Technology

Technology in the workplace is both a blessing and a curse. Workplace Insight recently published an article about tech multi-tasking and how switching through different platforms takes away ones focus. Employees need to stay updated through digital means all the time but staying connected to the cloud also means being susceptible to various distractions. However, technology usage just takes a little bit of refinement to increase productivity and various wearables, devices and mobile apps are the way to do that.

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European research network sets out to discover exactly how the Internet is bad for us

European research network sets out to discover exactly how the Internet is bad for us

by • News, Technology, Wellbeing

A pan-European network to tackle problematic internet usage officially launches today with the publication of its manifesto, setting out the important questions that need to be addressed by the research community. As the internet has become an integral part of modern life and its use has grown, so too has its problematic use become a growing concern across all age groups. It has provided a new environment in which a wide range of problematic behaviours may emerge, such as those relating to gaming, gambling, buying, pornography viewing, social networking, ‘cyber-bullying’ and ‘cyberchondria’, which can have mental and physical health consequences.

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Employers struggling to attract skills needed for digitalised workplace

Employers struggling to attract skills needed for digitalised workplace

by • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

Employers struggling to attract skills needed for digitalised workplaceMore than half of CEOs (53 percent) admit they can’t find candidates with the necessary skills to help them navigate an increasingly digitalised business landscape a new survey from Robert Half has claimed. These include data analysis and digital skills, as well as softer skills such as resilience, adaptability to change and critical thinking. This means that nearly five million UK SMEs, the equivalent to four out of every five (82 percent) small and medium-sized companies, are struggling to attract the skills they need. As a result, many are being forced to offer salary packages higher than originally expected to recruit the right talent. (more…)

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