January 29, 2021
There is always a brighter side to uncertainty in business
The uncertainty and fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic have wreaked havoc on the mental health of nearly all of us. In a recent conversation with an HR leader, she shared with me that every single person on her leadership programme reported suffering disrupted sleep due to their anxiety around business uncertainty. The irony is the business is in better shape than it has been for years thanks to the effective management of the firm’s finances during the pandemic. Regardless of reality, the uncertainty is impacting on everyone’s resilience levels. More →
While workers in the UK have been working from home, if they can, for almost a year, a third say they miss commuting, claims research from recruiter 
Philanthrocapitalism is a term that’s only 15 years old. A modern concept for the modern age. Or is it? In the late 1800s, George Cadbury bought a plot of land five miles south of Birmingham to relocate his factory and expand his chocolate empire. But greater levels of chocolate production weren’t his only concern; he also built an entire village to accommodate the new factory’s workforce. The plan was for this village – called Bournville, which now shares its name with the brand’s famous dark chocolate – to “alleviate the evils of modern, more cramped living conditions”. Port Sunlight, built on the Wirral Peninsula by the Lever Brothers, whose manufacturing company is now part of Unilever, offers up a similar story. 
The EU Parliament has 
A new 30-storey office tower with green walls and roof nestling next to London’s walkie talkie building has been approved by the 
A new generation of long-term homeworkers created by COVID-19 is at risk physically and mentally through inadequate employer support, claims research by 
New research from Opinion Matters, commissioned by 
Recently lighting control firm Prolojik assembled an expert panel to talk about learning and working during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. The roundtable (online of course) involved participants from various fields related to the built environment including those involved in developing, designing and tech reflected on their own experiences over the last several months. While industry issues raised during the session included what productivity really means and how to measure it, what infrastructure needs to be in place to enable people to return to their place of work or education and why a joined-up approach to wellness is an indisputably necessary strand of building management. 
Companies are searching for ways to reinvent the office and give employees reasons to return to their workplace and a new report by 
A new report by 
Smart Building Certification, the organisation behind the smart accreditation, awarded its first platinum building. The founders of Smart Building Certification handed the first official platinum certification over to Coen van Oostrom, Founder and CEO of EDGE. 
February 1, 2021
Burnt out remote workers need more help than they are getting
by Karen Plum • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing