May 5, 2020

From the archive: We shouldn’t rely on narrow ideas to define flexible working

by Luke Munro • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Wellbeing

This piece was originally published five years ago. While we now read it with different eyes, what is interesting is how the ideas have stood up. Some better than others perhaps but a welcome reminder that the conversations we are now having about life after lockdown began some time ago. One of the particular and often unspoken issues that shadows in any debate about flexible working is what we mean by the term. We’ve been talking about new ways of working for a good quarter of a century now and what is generally understood about the practice has evolved considerably. The very idea was conceived at the birth of the new online era so is inextricably tied up with the Internet and new technology. More →

April 30, 2020

We need to talk more about how we get to work in the first place

by Andrew Brown • Comment

More and more politicians and business leaders are keen to see the UK ease lockdown and begin a move towards returning to work. Is it’s too early to plan the exit from lockdown? Maybe. But either way, the general chatter about what a post COVID19 will look has predictably fanned the debate about how workplace will cope. It is a good debate, with valid ideas shared by the likes of Antony Slumbers, Neil Usher and others. More →

April 30, 2020

Team building exercises have never been more important

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Workplace

These days, almost every company implements team building exercises — and rightly so, as decades of research have shown how beneficial they can be. Indeed, in a Forbes article O2E Brands CEO Brian Scudamore argues that team building activities are the most significant investment companies can make. More →

April 30, 2020

The lockdown gives us a chance to reconsider business ethics

by Mark Strassman • Comment

The past few weeks have been a time of extreme disruption and tension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but there has been a sliver of good news – people around the world have been quick to notice the environmental benefits of people remaining in their homes. More →

March 3, 2020

Remote working has no effect on careers, research suggests. But…

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Working from home is known to be good for a strong work-life balance, advantageous for employee productivity, and is even touted as being beneficial for the environment. However, telecommuting has also carried a stigma that employees who work remotely have difficulties rising in their career. More →

August 1, 2019

Number of remote workers in US shows massive increase

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

Based on an analysis of American Community Survey data by Global Workplace Analytics and FlexJobs, the number of remote workers in the US increased 159 percent between 2005 and 2017. This new data is based on an analysis of the most current US government data available (from 2017, released in 2018), and represents the most up-to-date statistics about remote work in the United States. 3.4 percent of the total US workforce currently telecommute, up from 2.9 percent in 2015. The terms telecommuters and remote workers are defined in the report as non-self-employed people who principally work from home at least half-time. More →

March 4, 2019

London’s West End office market stays strong despite slow start to year

by Sara Bean • Cities, Facilities management, News, Property

The volume of transactions in London’s West End was down 45 percent, the lowest for January in over 10 years. This is to be expected with the continued ongoing Brexit negotiations, according to Savill’s, who expect to see a lower volume of transactions complete over the first quarter of this year. Despite this, space under offer still remains well above the long-term average, with 237,000 sq ft going under offer during the month. This held the overall total at just over 1.2m sq ft, giving a strong indication that leasing activity over the course of 2019 will remain robust. Pre-lets accounted for 42 percent of the overall sq ft let in January and there were five transactions to the Insurance & Financial sector and four to the Tech & Media sector.

December 18, 2018

As we enter our darkest hours, quality of office lighting needs attention

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Lighting, News, Wellbeing

As we enter the darkest days of the year, office workers in the UK are set to get virtually no natural light. For instance, today (18 December) sunrise in London is at 08:01 and sunset is 15:52, meaning office workers are commuting to and from their offices in the dark. The quality of lighting within many workplaces is often not much better, as despite 80 percent of UK office workers, saying good lighting in their workspace is important to them, two-in-five (40 percent) say they have to deal with uncomfortable lighting every day and a third (32 percent) said better lighting would make them happier at work. However today some Londoner’s will have the chance to get a much-needed dose of light at an uplifting Light Station supplied by Staples at Southwark Bridge tunnel which will be open to the public from 9:00 to 16:15.

November 26, 2018

Reducing commuting times could drastically reduce CO2 emissions

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Flexible working, News

A decrease in commuting times in the UK will reduce levels of carbon dioxide by 7.8 million tonnes per year by 2030, according to a new study by Regus. The economic study, carried out by independent researchers, found that if the growth in flexible workspace continues to increase, commuters in the country could save 115 million hours of commuting time per annum by 2030 from a turn to flexible working. Meanwhile, the nation which would see the largest annual carbon emission saving by 2030 is the United States. It is predicted to save nearly 960 million hours in commuting time, and with US commuters relying heavily on cars, this time saved translates to over 100 million tonnes of CO2.

November 14, 2018

Far too few people cycle to work despite promotion and investment in infrastructure

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

In spite of the government investing £1.2 billion into cycling, new research claims that it is still only a few people who are cycling to work, with many citing nervousness about cycling in traffic as the reason. A survey of more than 7,600 UK adults published by Decathlon in the Decathlon Activity Index 2018, shows that only 7 percent of the nation is commuting to work with a bike. Despite cities including Manchester, Cambridge and London having made improvements to accommodate cycling, more than 1 in 4 (26 percent) still feel it is too dangerous to do so. This was followed by 21 percent who said they are still too scared to cycle the roads to work.

November 13, 2018

Annual commuting time is up 18 hours compared to a decade ago, finds TUC

by Mark Eltringham • News

Commuting to and from work now takes 5 minutes longer than a decade ago, according to a new analysis published by the TUC to mark the annual Commute Smart Week organised by Work Wise UK. Rail commuters face the longest journeys, taking an average of 2 hours and 11 minutes every day – an increase of 4 minutes on the last decade. Drivers spend 52 minutes on the road to work and back (up by 3 minutes), while bus commuters must set aside 79 minutes a day (up by 7 minutes). Cyclists (44 minutes) and walkers (29 minutes) have the quickest daily journeys.

November 8, 2018

The commuting gap: men account for two thirds of commutes lasting more than an hour

by Mark Eltringham • News

Men undertake almost two-thirds of commutes lasting more than an hour, a new analysis from the Office for National Statistics shows. It also reveals that women tend to undertake shorter journeys to work, accounting for more than half (55 percent) of commutes lasting 15 minutes or less. But, for all people, commuting times are most likely to last 15 minutes or less and least likely to last more than an hour.