August 18, 2022
Hybrid working could be doomed by a failure to protect organisational culture
A new report from Poly warns that hybrid working policies could be destined to fail if organisations do not protect company culture while facilitating “a return to office”. The report claims that getting employees back to the office is a challenge being fuelled by a reluctance to return, with employees citing concerns over work-life balance and productivity. This reluctance is exacerbated by rising bills and spiralling inflation, with the cost of living putting increased pressure on employee finances, causing them to potentially choose between traveling to work or spending that money elsewhere. (more…)
Six workplaces across the North of England and Northern Ireland have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) Regional Awards today. The Northern BCO Awards dinner returned in-person to the Kimpton Clocktower in Manchester, recognising the North’s highest quality developments and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. 
Six London workplaces have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices’ (BCO) Regional Awards. The London Awards Lunch returned in-person to the London Hilton on Park Lane, recognising the highest quality developments in London and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. The winning workplaces include: 80 Charlotte Street (Commercial Workplace); Plumtree Court, 25 Shoe Lane (Corporate Workplace); Dojo, The Brunel Building, 2 Canalside Walk (Fit Out of Workplace); ASOS HQ, Greater London House, 180 Hampstead Road (Refurbished/Recycled Workplace); Pennybank , 33-35 St John’s Square (Projects up to 1,500m sq. ); 1 Triton, 1 Triton Square, Regent’s Place (Innovation) 
A couple of years ago, in the wake of a surge in self-care start-ups and viral diet fads, Forbes declared 2019 as the year of the 
Pressing the ‘reset’ button is never easy. But I’m a firm believer that, once we do, we become much less averse than we perhaps expected to the change it inevitably brings. This is particularly true of the past eighteen months. From all of the sadness and hardship endured, we are beginning to emerge into a new, changed way of living. One that is both familiar and altogether different. The dichotomy is particularly evident in our workplaces. For many sections of the economy, the office was the ecosystem of our daily working lives. Initial questions of whether the office would survive quickly fell by the wayside, and a more interesting, nuanced, debate of what we want the office to be began. 
The CFO and Finance Director role is undergoing rapid change. Not only are they required to manage the traditional priorities of the job, but they must now also juggle a wide array of operational, transactional and commercial responsibilities. With added pressure from clients because of Covid-19 and a rapidly evolving workplace, the role is increasingly hard to navigate. To gain a deeper insight into this and the evolution and future planning of a department that is central to the success of modern businesses, 
Perhaps the most famous single act of personal creativity – with apologies to Archimedes – is Mary Godwin’s moment of inspiration for the story of Frankenstein in 1816. It was born from a wet summer in a villa on the shores of Lake Geneva, largely spent with her future husband Percy Shelley, John Polidori and Lord Byron. The poor weather and isolation meant the party had to entertain themselves the best they could. 
March 28, 2022
Corporate jargon is damaging your business
by Michael Blazek • Business, Comment
Between the stressful daily commute, the awkward small talk by the coffee machine and the endless hours of face-to-face meetings, there are many things that are unfortunately slowly creeping back into our daily lives as we gradually start heading back to office life. One thing in particular that we have all been dreading is the feeling of utter bewilderment and exasperation when colleagues spout buzzwords and phrases like ‘paradigm shift’, ‘low hanging fruit’, and ‘thinking outside the box’. Corporate jargon is everywhere and we’ve all succumbed to using it at some point in our professional lives, whether it was to ‘leverage a results-driven approach’, ‘give 110%’ to ‘make sure the juice is worth the squeeze’, or ‘circle back’ on an email or conversation. (more…)