November 27, 2019

Five German Design Awards for Sedus Office Furniture

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture, Workplace design

After Sedus confirmed its status as one of the most important office design innovators in Europe at last year’s ORGATEC trade show in Cologne, several of the firm’s latest generation of ground-breaking products have won prestigious design prizes in the firm’s native Germany.

The se:flex and se:motion swivel chairs as well as se:fit standing seat and se:cube Office Cubes have each been awarded the German Design Award 2020 – Winner by The German Design Council while the se:spot all-purpose chair went one step further receiving the Gold German Design Award for 2020.

The German Design Award is one of the most coveted design prizes in Europe and is awarded every year by a prestigious international jury. The Award honours innovative products and projects, their manufacturers and designers who have proven themselves pioneers in the German and International design sector.

The five award-winning office furniture pieces were developed by the Sedus Design Team, and launched for the first time to the public at the ORGATEC 2018 trade fair. They went fully into production in 2019 and have also been used in the fit-out of the new office building at the firm’s headquarters in Dogern.

In the Sedus Smart Office around 100 employees from twelve disciplines work together in a uniquely collaborative and flexible working environment. The spaces serves as a test laboratory, prototyping and model workplace for designers and customers travelling to the Upper Rhine location from all over the world.

November 25, 2019

Commuting and outdated tech are biggest work gripes

by Neil Franklin • News

Commuting, difficult colleagues and archaic tech are among the UK’s biggest office gripes, according to new research from Village Hotel Club. The study, which explores what makes UK workers tick and what ticks them off, also uncovered what benefits workers want to see most, with flexible working topping the list. More →

November 19, 2019

Young people mistakenly associate self-employment with more pay and leisure time

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Students and school-leavers see self-employment as a route to a higher income, better work-life balance and more family time and so one in five 16 to 21 year olds think they will self-employed at some point, a new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows. However, other studies from the UK government paint a different picture with people in self-employment generally earning less and working longer hours than their employed contemporaries, but often happy to forgo the certainties of paid work for greater flexibility and control. More →

November 15, 2019

One in five businesses plan to drop contractors because of IR35

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

A fifth of of UK businesses say they are planning to axe contractors completely to ensure they are fully tax compliant ahead of the IR35 changes planned for next year, according to a survey from recruitment firm Harvey Nash. The 2019 Harvey Nash IR35 Sentiment Survey (registration) of 1,200 businesses and contractors claims to reveal the confusion that still reigns around IR35 legislation among both contractors and the businesses that rely on them. The findings suggest that 83 percent) of businesses believe IR35 will impact negatively on their industry. Meanwhile 60 percent of contractors say they have experienced increased anxiety, stressing or worrying about how the new rules will affect them. More →

November 14, 2019

Next generation of property talent celebrated at BCO NextGen Awards

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Property

The UK’s rising stars in the commercial property sector have been recognised at the British Council for Offices’ (BCO) fourth annual NextGen Awards ceremony. The Awards are part of the BCO’s NextGen programme, which sets out to mentor and encourage the next generation of professionals to become future leaders in the industry, whilst providing a platform for new talent to share ideas. The ceremony, which took place at The Porter Tun, London, was attended by the country’s top designers, developers, architects and occupiers under the age of 35. It celebrated the achievements and successes of young professionals in the commercial property sector across the UK, and the leaders who have inspired them. More →

November 12, 2019

Oxford and Reading are best cities in which to live and work in the UK

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Wellbeing

Oxford has been recognised as the top performing city in the UK to live and work for the fourth year in a row in a nationwide study carried out by PwC. The city has emerged ahead of Reading thanks to work-life balance, income, transport and skills with Bradford being crowned as the most improved city. Published today (12 November 2019), the annual Demos-PwC Good Growth for Cities 2019 sets out to show there’s more to economic well-being than just measuring GDP. The index measures the performance of 42 of the UK’s largest cities, England’s Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and ten Combined Authorities, against a basket of ten factors which the public think are most important when it comes to economic well being. These include jobs, health, income and skills, as well as work-life balance, house-affordability, travel-to-work times, income equality, environment and business start-ups. More →

October 29, 2019

Workplace values matter more than career progression to young dads

by Han Son Lee • Comment, Flexible working, Wellbeing

With recent research showing that over half of young dads (58 percent) are more actively involved in day to day parenting than ever before, it is increasingly important that employers put health and wellbeing and other workplace values at the heart of their offer to employees. In particular, they should be able to offer flexible working options in order to retain their best staff. Our research looking at the Millennial Dad at Work also highlighted starkly that some business sectors are more accommodating than others when it comes to flexible working. Perhaps surprisingly, the construction industry came out of the research very well with 48 percent requesting a change in working hours since becoming a father of which 78 percent of those were successful. The retail sector and the pharmaceutical industry also did well. More →

October 24, 2019

Effects of diversity and inclusion training remain unclear

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

This week the CIPD and Westminster Business School launched their new report: Diversity management that works: an evidence based review. At a launch event at the EY offices in Canary Wharf, academics and people practitioners convened to discuss the reports findings. They also explored what it means for practice. The research maps out the current evidence on the types of diversity interventions in organisations. It analyses recent scientific evidence and exploring what works. This was then tested with practitioners and professionals who regularly work on diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices within organisations. More →

October 21, 2019

Menopause at work addressed in new CIPD manifesto

by Jayne Smith • News, Wellbeing

To help ensure women get the right support when going through the menopause transition, necessary public policy measures need to be put in place and the subject should be discussed openly in organisations, according to the CIPD which has published a manifesto for menopause at work at an event at the Houses of Parliament. More →

October 16, 2019

Business leaders out of touch and failing to inspire, say employees

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

British businesses are facing a crisis of leadership, according to new research from Tiger Recruitment, which claims that 58 percent of employees are rarely or never inspired by the leader of the company they work for. Furthermore, according to British employees, many business leaders are setting a poor example around the issues that matter to them today, including work-life balance (28 percent), managing stress (29 percent), flexible working (21 percent) and staying mentally healthy (21 percent). More →

October 11, 2019

Birmingham and Peterborough latest cities to benefit from government hubs

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Property, Public Sector

Sites in Birmingham and Peterborough are to be regenerated as part of a government programme designed to boost regional growth and save taxpayers’ money. The Government Hubs programme has so far seen the development of 14 office hubs around the country, which the government claims provide civil servants with state-of-the-art working environments designed to boost efficiency and drive savings by bringing together different departments under one roof – moving civil servants to inner-city sites located close to public transport connections, local amenities and shops. More →

October 9, 2019

Always on work cultures commonplace and harmful

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Wellbeing

Just under a third (29 percent) of employees agree with the idea that their workplace has an always on culture, but new research from Microsoft UK suggests that many more are adopting unhealthy ways of working that are having a profound impact on their wellbeing and personal lives. More →