November 12, 2019

Uber Works may not be as good for workers as it is for businesses

by Shainaz Firfiray • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

Uber is still best known as a ride-hailing platform but it has been branching out into other industries. Food (Uber eats), electric scooters and bicycles (Jump), and now shift work with the launch of Uber Works. It is being trialled in Chicago, with plans to launch elsewhere soon, and enables casual workers such as cleaners, bar staff and warehouse workers to find work. 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 →

November 8, 2019

Lack of leadership stifles workplace creativity

by Neil Franklin • News

The UK’s workforces are being creatively stifled because of high pressure and a lack of leadership skills, a new study claims. A study of 1,000 workplaces published in Thinking On Your Feet, a report by the commercial arm of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, RADA Business, has found that almost half (41 percent) of UK workplaces implement practises that have a detrimental effect on employee empowerment and their ability to think creatively. The study also reveals that 75 percent of workplaces lack the right environment to enable improvisation to thrive, leaving workers feeling unsupported and stressed. More →

November 7, 2019

Real estate set to remain an attractive investment despite challenging environment

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Property

Europe’s property leaders continue to have faith in real estate as an attractive option for investments, despite a number of significant political and economic challenges, according to the latest Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2020 report. With interest rates set to stay lower for longer and bond yields in many European countries in negative territory, real estate income retains its broad appeal to investors, especially in comparison to other asset classes. Equity and debt are expected to remain plentiful for most real estate sectors. The report, published annually by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC, is based on the opinions of over 900 real estate professionals across Europe, including investors, developers, lenders, and advisers. More →

November 6, 2019

Cyber security remains a key tech priority for businesses

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology

Organisations are prioritising investment in cyber security to strengthen their defences against their perceptions of a growing threat, according to a new survey of its customers to gauge their technological priorities by Softcat. According to a BBC report, 55 percent of UK firms have experienced a cyber-attack in 2019, up 15 percent compared to last year, signifying a growing threat so their fears may be well-founded. Softcat’s survey claims that 83 percent of industries ranking cyber security as their biggest technology priority for the year ahead. More →

October 21, 2019

RICS launched new Social Impact Awards

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has today launched a new awards programme. Entries are being sought for the RICS Social Impact Awards, which set out to ‘recognise the positive and transformational contribution that the built environment has on people’s lives across the UK’. According to RICS, the awards will ‘assess the human, social and environmental impact, and the innovation and collaboration, that has gone into development and infrastructure projects in the Commercial, Education, Healthcare, Heritage, Infrastructure, Land & Rural, Leisure, Residential and Student Accommodation sectors’. More →

October 16, 2019

Getting to grips with workplace safety

by Alex Wilkins • Comment, Wellbeing

Business owners can not shy away from ensuring the physical safety of their employees in the workplace. Despite this, many are still failing to have the correct measures in place to best achieve the necessary safety levels that will allow them to operate effectively and without disruptions. More →

October 7, 2019

Workplace interruptions are not all bad

by Elana Feldman • Features, Workplace design

An email pops up on your screen. It’s a client sharing a project update. A Slack message appears. It’s your boss asking a question. A text alert beeps. A colleague wants to know if you will be attending a meeting. Sound familiar? People are increasingly besieged at work by workplace interruptions through email, messaging apps, social media and in-person encounters. More →

September 19, 2019

Workers want firms to do more about air quality

by Neil Franklin • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Wellbeing

Flexible working, sharing information about local clean air routes and incentivising active travel are just some of the ideas being put to businesses today as new research suggests employers need to do more to address the issue of air quality and pollution for staff both in the workplace and on their commute. More →

September 4, 2019

Wellbeing depends on workplace basics more than trivial features

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing, Workplace design

A new report supports the idea that when it comes to the workplace and the effect it has on personal wellbeing and productivity, employees want the basics first. According to the Workplace Wellness Study published by Future Workplace, a New York-based research firm, and office technology provider View, the most highly prized features of an office are good air quality, access to natural light, and an ability to personalise immediate workspace. More →

August 30, 2019

Back to workplace basics, the joy and pain of work, squeezing people in and some other stuff

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

Let’s get the inevitable WeWork story out of the way first. A supposed news item in Crain’s New York Business has claimed that WeWork is ‘squeezing’ people into half the space recommended in the BCO’s Specification Guide; “roughly the size of two standard doors laying side by side”. You can see the editorial cogs at work here, combining a story about WeWork with one about how people are crammed into the workplace like cattle these days.

August 29, 2019

Coworking continues to reshape property markets worldwide

by Neil Franklin • Coworking, News, Property

Against a global backdrop of diminishing business confidence and a weaker outlook for economic growth, a robust labour market in the world’s largest economies continues to underpin demand for office space with high employment levels prevalent across a number of major markets. Demand continues to be driven by the knowledge economy, with the coworking boom continuing to broaden its reach across major markets, forcing traditional landlords to adapt their offering in order to best accommodate existing and potential occupiers. More →