Search Results for: business

Landsec becomes latest major property firm to offer coworking space

Landsec becomes latest major property firm to offer coworking space

Landsec has launched its new flexible office brand, Myo, which it claims will provide customised office space for businesses looking for flexibility to enable future growth from April of this year. Coworking in other words. The move is the latest example of a major commercial property firm entering the market for flexible offices and coworking space in the wake of its recent boom. Myo will operate as a standalone brand, offers flexible leases ranging from 12 months to three years for businesses that need space for between 15 and 80 people.

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Robot delivery dogs, digital pollution, why tech firms like ping pong and some other stuff

Robot delivery dogs, digital pollution, why tech firms like ping pong and some other stuff

Today is officially* Blue Monday and instead of offering up an endless series of clickbait pieces telling you how to cope and make the day better for your colleagues, we’re turning our attention to more interesting things. Such as this recent piece arguing that our obsession with ‘millennials’ can cloud our perspective on more important issues about people, their characteristics, advantages and inequalities. It argues that birth dates are rather less important to people’s life chances than their background, individual abilities and structural issues in the economy and society. Who – as they say – knew?

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Major new research projects will explore impact of management on productivity

Major new research projects will explore impact of management on productivity

A major new project led by the University of East Anglia (UEA) will examine how health and wellbeing practices can improve employee productivity. Working with research institute RAND Europe, based in Cambridge, it will look to identify which combinations of workplace health and wellbeing practices reliably improve worker health, wellbeing, engagement and performance – and deliver the best return on investment. (more…)

The changing shape of the insurance workplace

The changing shape of the insurance workplace

HOK’s WorkPlace group has released The New Insurance Workplace (registration required), a report which sets out to examine the forces reshaping the insurance industry and how workplace design can position these companies for success. The report’s concludes that insurance firms take pride in their conservative approach to risk management and traditional business models. They also have high-performance cultures that demand strong results. Yet changing regulations, emerging technologies and increasingly obsolete work processes have left many legacy players with underutilised, outdated office and retail space that hinders their ability to meet the fast-changing expectations of customers.

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Nowy Styl acquisition of Kusch+Co latest sign of changing office furniture sector

Nowy Styl acquisition of Kusch+Co latest sign of changing office furniture sector

The Nowy Styl Group, a European manufacturer of office furniture has acquired the German family company Kusch+Co, a manufacturer and distributor of commercial furniture. It is the latest sign of change and possible consolidation in the global office furniture sector which has seen Steelcase acquire Orangebox as firms seek to expand their offering and market penetration. The trend is also evident elsewhere in the supply chain as shown by ByBailey’s merger with Insidesource and the creation of The United Workplace by Fourfront Group and partners around the world.

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Nomura and Adidas named among healthiest workplaces in Britain

Nomura and Adidas named among healthiest workplaces in Britain

Nomura International Plc, Adidas UK and Wellness International Ltd have been named, by Vitality’s Britain’s Healthiest Workplace study, as the healthiest workplaces in Britain. The bank, sports apparel company and leading health and wellbeing provider were awarded first place in the large, medium and small-sized company divisions, respectively, at the awards that took place at BAFTA in London. This is the sixth year in a row that Adidas UK have earned first place in their category, the fourth time Nomura have picked up the award, and the first time Wellness International Ltd has entered since the survey began in 2012.

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Employers must take better action to avoid sick building syndrome

Employers must take better action to avoid sick building syndrome

Sick building syndrome is a collective term to describe when occupants of a specific building suffer from a related illness. Problems can either be localised to a specific room or more widespread throughout a building. The symptoms can manifest as headaches, blocked or runny noses, skin irritations, sore eyes or tiredness and difficulties with concentration. A number of building-related factors are linked to the condition with ageing offices and factories acting as magnets for sick building syndrome. Studies have shown that headaches and respiratory problems among office workers were directly related to the use of air conditioning and inadequate ventilation. Room temperature, light and noise, humidity, carbon dioxide, chemical contaminants (volatile organic compounds – VOCs), air quality and naturally occurring poisons can all inflame symptoms for sufferers requiring more precise control over environmental factors in the workplace. Making sure buildings are healthy for their occupants is a challenge. (more…)

Regional office occupier markets enjoyed record breaking level of take-up in 2018

Regional office occupier markets enjoyed record breaking level of take-up in 2018

Regional office occupier markets enjoyed record breaking take-up in 2018: Credit Like ArchitectsThere was a record-breaking rate of take-up within the regional office occupier markets outside of London and the South East in 2018, with few signs of Brexit-related uncertainty, according to an analysis by CBRE. Across the ten regional cities monitored by CBRE, provisional analysis shows that overall take-up reached nearly 7.3m sq ft. This level was 16 percent above the five-year average and 6 percent higher than 2017, the previous record-breaking year. The majority of regional office demand has again been driven by the business and professional services sectors.  2018 saw record take-up from flexible office operators across the UK, representing the leading portion of business services take-up. This was the year the co-working revolution surged into regional cities. Birmingham, Bristol and Glasgow were all stand out expansion locations. With more demand from flexible workspace operators – both from established and new entrants, further expansion is anticipated in 2019 albeit at a further pace as markets become more saturated.

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Working environment, not time of the year has most negative effect on staff wellbeing

Working environment, not time of the year has most negative effect on staff wellbeing

Working environment, not time of the year has most negative effect on staffHalf of employees say that their working environment has a negative effect on their mental health (51 percent) and wellbeing (49 percent) and two-thirds (67 percent) say that they only ‘sometimes, rarely or never’ feel valued at work. The research by Peldon Rose shows that two-thirds of employees (64 percent) currently have poor or below average mental wellbeing and that the majority (56 percent) claim increasing workloads, followed by a lack of time to focus on wellbeing and exercise (46 percent) are the leading causes of their stress.  While half of employees think introducing exercise facilities will help them to better tackle their workplace stress (50 percent) – less than a fifth of workplaces (16 percent) currently provide these facilities, something employers should consider when looking to boost the morale of their workforce.

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Demand for office space in Edinburgh city centre augmented by a lack of supply

Demand for office space in Edinburgh city centre augmented by a lack of supply

Mint building: Demand for office space in Edinburgh city centre augmented by a lack of supplyAn acute lack of supply in Edinburgh’s city centre will push up office rents to over £35 per sq ft in 2019 according to the latest estimates by Savills, which suggests that rental increases and lack of supply may cause certain organisations to consider opportunities on the city’s western periphery. The latest research from the firm shows office take-up in Edinburgh in 2018 totalled 950,000 sq ft – 18 percent ahead of the 10-year annual average – as the city continues to see robust levels of demand from across a number of key sectors and a continued focus amongst occupiers on the city centre. However, despite strong occupier demand, there was a decline in office take-up in 2018, compared to 2017 (1.04 million sq ft) which the firm attributes to a lack of good quality, city centre office supply. Edinburgh’s city centre office availability has been reducing since 2012 and take-up activity during 2018 has seen the majority of new developments being wholly or partially pre-let. This lack of supply is forcing an increasing number of occupiers to re-gear leases on existing offices against a lack of alternative options.

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Quarter of UK workers have turned down a job for not offering flexible working

Quarter of UK workers have turned down a job for not offering flexible working

A new study from communications technology business TeleWare claims that a growing number of employees are turning down jobs that don’t offer some form of flexible working. The survey of 2,300 UK employees claims that a quarter of all employees have turned down a job in the past for this reason. Whilst a further third (31 percent) would actively do so. Although the proportion of those that have done so is higher amongst younger workers (40 percent), three in 10 (29 percent) employees over 45 would turn down a job if flexible work options were not on offer.

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The workplace continues to provide people with important relationships

The workplace continues to provide people with important relationships

Three-quarters of workers have turned professional relationships into lifelong friendships according to a new study from Business telecommunications provider 4Com, which looked into Britons attitudes towards their co-workers to reveal just how willing the nation is to create meaningful friendships and relationships with those they spend so much time with day-to-day. While a quarter of workers admit to not making lifelong friends with a work colleague, three quarters have taken their professional relationships to the next level and developed friendships with a co-worker.

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