Search Results for: commercial

November 14, 2015

Where to have great ideas + Workplace professions + London’s office market ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Wellbeing, Work&Place

In this week’s newsletter; Giuseppe Boscherini explores the growing importance of creativity at work; Mark Eltringham argues that the three professions of the workplace, HR, IT and FM need to adapt and notes a growing disconnect between a firm’s earnings and the number of people it employs. In commercial property, demand for office space in London continues to overwhelm its availability, with English regions outside the Capital leading construction growth. High job demands, stress and job insecurity are among the main reasons why people go to work when they are ill, and data shows the Internet of things will connect 6.4 billion objects next year. You can also download the new issue of Work&Place and access our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

November 12, 2015

English regions outside the Capital lead construction growth ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The construction industry has returned to growth after six months of contraction, according to figures released by industry analysts Glenigan. Its latest Index also found that the value of projects starting on site are higher than a year earlier for the first time since March, fueled by growth across the industry; with housing, civil engineering and non-residential building sectors all up on a year earlier. Non-residential starts as a whole were up 4 percent on a year earlier, as growth in private sector activity offset continued weakness across the public sector. Industrial, office, retail and hotel and leisure starts all registered growth. Although UK construction has moved back into growth, it is the English regions outside of the Capital which are seeing most activity. London, Wales and Scotland last saw growth in March this year and South West England hasn’t recorded a rise in starts since May 2014.

November 11, 2015

Record construction of London office space, but supply shortfall remains ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Demand for office space in London continues to overwhelm its availability and in spite of record levels of construction, according to two new reports. The latest CBRE Monthly Index claims that rents in Central London’s booming office market grew by 10.3 percent in the year to October 2015, the first time annual growth has hit double digits since April 2008. Despite rapidly rising rents, take-up of offices in Central London continues to outpace the 10 year average. The capital saw 1.1 percent growth in October, with 3.6m sq ft of space snapped up by businesses in the third quarter of 2015, with a further 3.8m sq ft currently under offer and expected to complete before the end of the year. Change could be on the way however as the latest biannnual London crane survey from Deloitte claims that the amount of office space being built in central London has risen by a fifth in six months, the highest level for seven years.

November 9, 2015

Business success is progressively less related to employment levels ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

If you want to understand exactly how the economy has changed over the last few decades, one of the most important statistics is also one of the least remarked upon. It is the growing disconnect between a firm’s earnings and the number of people it employs, a statistic that puts paid to the lie that people are an organisation’s greatest asset. Once upon a time, of course, there was a direct correlation of one sort or another between the a firm’s revenue and the number of people it employed and consequently the amount of space that it took up. This was especially true for the world’s great manufacturers and other industries engaged in what was once proper work; moving, creating, destroying and maintaining things. Growth and success meant more employment and more space. There were economies of scale but the upshot was more or less an arithmetic progression in employment based on earnings.

November 9, 2015

Non-death of the office + Property owners lag behind + New issue of Work&Place ⁰

by Sara Bean • Insight Briefings, Newsletter, Property, Wellbeing, Work&Place, Workplace

In this week’s newsletter; Philip Ross says the main driver of the growing convergence of HR, IT and FM roles will be the availability of data to make informed decisions and Mark Eltringham gives a number of reason why office has an enduring appeal. In news; HR guru Cary Cooper warns about the deleterious effects of email on productivity and wellbeing, a third of home workers fear they’ll get fat, commercial property owners are not keeping up with tenant’s needs and the launch of a new study to develop a prototype UK scheme that mirror’s Australia’s ‘design for performance’. You can also download the new issue of Work&Place and access our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories

November 3, 2015

Less than one year’s supply of office space now available in Central London ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Office occupiers are being forced to search further afield from traditional London commercial property centres as the vacancy rate of office space in Central London falls to a 15 year low. According to research from BNP Paribas Real Estate, at just 4.68 percent of total stock, the level of supply during the third quarter of the year was just 10.29m sq ft; equivalent to less than one years’ supply at current levels. Take-up to the end of September reached 10.78m sq ft, 18 percent above the long term trend, whilst the investment volume of £11.91bn is 28 percent ahead of the average. The West End’s office market was boosted by several large transactions involving Media Tech firms and take-up in Q3 2015 reached 1m sq ft, making the third quarter the busiest so far in 2015. The City is still attracting media tech companies, but there’s been a resurgence in traditional City occupiers from the professional sector.

October 27, 2015

OECD report urges firms to use Big Data analytics for growth and wellbeing ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Technology, Wellbeing, Workplace

A new OECD report claims that organisations could be doing far more to use the data they and their employees generate to deliver a wide range of social, economic, commercial and personal benefits. In Data-driven innovation for growth and wellbeing, it suggests that governments do more to encourage investment in Big Data and promote data sharing. The report urges countries to act to train more data scientists, reduce barriers to cross-border data flows and encourage investment in business processes to incorporate data analytics. It also claims that few companies outside the ICT sector are changing internal procedures to take advantage of data. This is particularly the case for small and medium-sized companies who face barriers to the adoption of data-related technologies such as The Cloud, partly because they have difficulty implementing organisational change due to limited resources.

October 25, 2015

Vacant property management survey seeks FMs main concerns ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

When squatting in a residential building became a criminal offence three years ago an Orbis survey revealed that a third of property managers predicted a rise in squatters targeting commercial properties as a result. Orbis has now launched a new vacant property management survey for 2015 with the BIFM to obtain views from property and facilities managers about the empty buildings in their portfolio. It seeks to understand what facilities managers’ main concerns are when it comes to empty buildings, their understanding of the legal and insurance requirements around empty properties and how they currently manage them. The survey also considers urban exploring, the exploration of man-made structures, to determine whether this is a growing trend and a threat. Guy Other, chief executive officer of Orbis said: “With this new survey we will better determine the extent of the problem in 2015, and the extent of any new threats.” Click here to take part

October 21, 2015

Small businesses vital for cities, but London SMEs struggle with property costs ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property

Two new surveys demonstrate that while small firms in creative sectors are essential for the economic success of the UK’s cities, many small businesses are struggling to find appropriate and well-priced office space in London and are now calling on the incoming new Mayor of London to address the issue as a matter of urgency. While a report from the Centre for Cities shows how small businesses in the creative, professional and digital sectors drive job growth, productivity and average wages in ten key UK cities, the study by the Federation of Small Businesses claims that the cost of commercial property remains one of the most pressing concerns for many SMEs based in London. The FSB study also found that the cost of living in London was also a concern for small employers in the capital, with many claiming it makes it incredibly hard to attract and retain employees.

October 17, 2015

Insight briefing + Changing face of office design + Global cities ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Public Sector, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

This week’s newsletter features our first Insight Briefing, produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Adrian Campbell says office design needs the direct contribution of its most important influencer, the end user; and Mark Eltringham welcomes a new report that debunks the belief that ‘sitting is the new smoking’. Demand for flexible co-working space looks set to soar; investment in commercial property is at its highest level worldwide since 2008, and businesses continue to find the creation of a productive workplace challenging. Sydney leads the world in Activity Based Working according to the Global Cities report; and working parents in the US are reluctant to let employers know how stressed they really are. Visit our new events page, subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and weekly news here. And follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

October 16, 2015

Sydney leads the way in activity-based working finds global cities report ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Workplace, Workplace design

If employers want to attract the best, they need to create spaces where their staff want to work, because providing an inspiring and enjoyable office is now the most critical, cost-effective way to successfully attract the world’s most talented employees. Knight Frank’s Global Cities: The 2016 Report highlights a shift in thinking by the newest generation of workers who expect the same kind of environment which historically, was the preserve of technology and media firms. This new office combines collaborative spaces with individual work areas, as well as providing amenities that encourage people to think of work as an extension of home. Sydney is leading the way with just under a third (28 percent) of all offices already offering activity-based working (ABW) for employees, where the workspace is specifically designed to suit the whole range of activities which will be accommodated.

October 15, 2015

New research uncovers hours lost due to bad tech, meetings and distractions ⁰

by Neil Franklin • News, Technology, Workplace

According to the Productivity at the Office report published this week by comms firm Jabra, UK businesses are continuing to find the creation of a productive workplace challenging. According to the study, although businesses are investing proactively in time and tools for skilled professional office-based staff to effectively collaborate and concentrate with each other, employees continue to face up to 17 different distractions throughout each working day, attend unproductive meetings and struggle to use technology that was originally intended to improve productivity. Amongst the key findings of the report are that 36 percent of respondents think office meetings diminish productivity, 46 percent think noise levels are the most distracting issue in the office and 28 percent are annoyed by too many emails, though 78 percent would rather send an email than make a call to resolve an issue.