Search Results for: construction

UK employers concerned for future of the post Brexit economy despite booming jobs market

UK employers concerned for future of the post Brexit economy despite booming jobs market

by • News, Workplace

Employer confidence in the UK economy has moved into negative territory, according to the latest JobsOutlook survey by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC). The net balance fell from +6 per cent last month to -3 per cent in the latest report, as 31 per cent of employers now expect the economy to worsen and just 28 per cent expect it to improve.  Employers are still looking to hire, with one in five (19 per cent) planning to increase permanent headcount in the next three months.  Confidence in making hiring and investment decisions remains positive with a net balance of 10 per cent, but is at its lowest for the past year.  In addition to signs of deteriorating employer confidence, consumers are also becoming more pessimistic. The GfK’s index of consumer confidence fell to -12, equalling last year’s post-referendum low.

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Regional office market remains strong and embraces the co-working revolution

Regional office market remains strong and embraces the co-working revolution

by • Cities, Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property

Artisan Real Estate’s New Waverley scheme in EdinburghThe creative industries sector accounted for over a third 35 percent) of take-up in the regional office market in the first half of the year, with this sector in particular driving the co-working revolution and the provision of flexible office space. Latest figures in CBRE’s H1 2017 Property Perspective, which monitors the performance of ten regional cities, overall, the UK’s regional office markets saw continued demand in the first half of 2017, with office take-up reaching 2.8 million sq ft, only slightly lower than the five-year average. For the first half of 2017, several cities witnessed improved levels of take-up when compared with the first half of 2016, these include Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester. Select locations such as Reading, Maidenhead and Watford also saw a continuation of record rents being set during the first half of the year, which has largely been driven by the delivery of new developments.

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Office sector undergoing transformational structural disruption in response to changing supply and demand

Office sector undergoing transformational structural disruption in response to changing supply and demand

by • News, Property

Amid varying economic performances and property fundamentals, North American and European office leasing markets are generally performing well as they undergo an important shift in dynamics influenced by trends transforming both occupier demand and the supply of new product. Traditional drivers of demand are being joined by emerging disruptors that will increasingly shape the future of the office-space market and commercial real estate as a whole. These are some of the key trends noted in Avison Young’s Mid-Year 2017 North America and Europe Office Market Report. According to the report, of the 64 office markets tracked in North America and Europe, which comprise almost 6 billion square feet, market-wide vacancy rates decreased in 40 of the markets as nearly 52 million square feet was absorbed. Occupiers’ desire for new products remains strong and developers have responded, according to the report, with more than 62 million sq. ft. of office space was completed during the 12-month period ending June 30, 2017.

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Large majority of facilities managers believe BIM will have a significant impact on their role

Large majority of facilities managers believe BIM will have a significant impact on their role

by • Facilities management, News, Technology

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has the potential to deliver significant benefits to the facilities management industry, according to the results of a new survey published by The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM). The FM Awareness of Building Information Modelling survey, developed in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, aims to establish a benchmark of the current perceptions of the impact of BIM on the FM sector and the benefits and challenges it presents. The report’s key finidng is that eighty-three per cent of respondents believe BIM will help support the delivery of facilities management, with the same number indicating it is already having an impact, or will do so, in the next five years.

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Reducing the risk of personal gambling becoming a corporate fraud issue

Reducing the risk of personal gambling becoming a corporate fraud issue

by • Comment, Workplace

A recently leaked confidential report for the betting industry says that, if introduced, the new rules to encourage responsible gambling in the UK would lead to closure of half of the country’s bookmakers and the loss of around 20,000 jobs. The report follows widespread concerns about the controversial use, and misuse, of Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) in betting shops which, have been shown to be one of the major causes for problem gambling behaviour (due to their addictive play). They allow customers to place wagers as high as £100 every twenty seconds. With gambling becoming ever more accessible through the spread of FOBTs, the growing number of online betting platforms and access to casinos on the high street, the pressure of funding a gambling habit has become one of the main reasons why people commit corporate fraud.

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New analysis reveals shrinking pool of younger workers in the UK workforce

New analysis reveals shrinking pool of younger workers in the UK workforce

by • Legal news, News, Workplace

New analysis reveals shrinking pool of younger workers in the UK workforceAn increase in the number of UK-born employees leaving the UK’s workforce, either through retirement or emigration is coinciding with a shrinking pool of younger workers, which a fall in immigration can no longer fill, a new report warns. An analysis of the UK’s workforce showed that the UK’s workforce grew in 2016-2017 only because of an increase in EU and non-EU workers. Mercer’s Workforce Monitor showed that retirement, opting out (i.e. due to caring responsibilities) or emigration saw around 143,000 UK-born employees leave the UK workforce with the loss of workers only being offset by the entry of around 147,000 EU-born workers and around 232,000 Non-EU workers.  In sum, the UK’s workforce grew by an estimated 234,000 over 2016-2017. From Q1 2016 to Q1 2017, the number of workers over 50 in the UK economy grew by 230,000, the under 35’s grew by 50,000 while the number of workers aged 35-49 shrunk by 48,000. According to the analysis, if net migration into the UK levels off at 100,000 per year from 2020, the number of under 50s in the workforce will fall by 200,000 by 2025; the over 50s would increase by over 1 million while the number of under-25s in the population would fall by 100,000. This means apprentices and graduates numbers will be less.

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Government framework win for BW includes HMRC contract

Government framework win for BW includes HMRC contract

by • Company news, Workplace design

Fit out and refurbishment firm BW has been awarded a position on the government framework agreement for the Southern lot of the UK Government Hubs Fit-Out Framework. One government department to use the framework will be HMRC; their current estate of 140 offices will be re-orientated into 13 modern regional centres. This is a 4-year framework that covers the South of the UK (South of Peterborough and Birmingham inclusive) for projects with a construction value of under £25m. Anthony Brown, Sales and Marketing Director at BW, says: “Alongside the City University framework, this appointment further underpins our determination to secure several significant formal frameworks, taking the BW business to the next level.”

UK government publishes update on physical and digital infrastructure spending

UK government publishes update on physical and digital infrastructure spending

by • News, Public Sector, Technology

The UK Government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has published its 2016 to 17 annual report on major projects, reporting 143 major projects on the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP), worth £455.5 billion and spread across 17 government departments. The report is in support of the IPA’s ongoing purpose ‘to improve the way infrastructure and major projects are delivered and the government’s commitment to transparency and delivering public services effectively and efficiently’. Projects currently on the GMPP reflect the government’s priorities; ‘making our infrastructure fit for the 21st Century, maintaining the security of the realm and modernising and digitising our public services’. The spending also updates progress on spending on faster broadband and connectivity as the UK continues to play catch up on digital infrastructure.

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Acas reveals majority of helpline callers on zero hours contracts feel unfairly excluded

Acas reveals majority of helpline callers on zero hours contracts feel unfairly excluded 0

by • Flexible working, Legal news, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Acas reveals majority of helpline callers on zero hours contracts feel excludedAcas’ helpline receives many callers working on a zero hours, agency or self-employed arrangement who do so out of necessity rather than by choice, with some people feeling taken advantage of and unfairly excluded from employment rights. In its response to the Matthew Taylor review on modern employment practices the Acas Council looked at calls to its employment helpline, which revealed confusion and uncertainty around employment status and rights for those involved in the non-standard types of working. Prompted by evidence that these types of working arrangements are on the rise Acas has also published a new discussion paper on non-standard or ‘atypical’ forms of work, and identifies areas where good practice can be encouraged and improved. The discussion paper, Ain’t that typical? Everyday challenges for an atypical workforce, also reveals that the practice of ‘zeroing down’ workers’ hours is used in some workplaces to discourage staff from raising concerns or asserting rights.

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Billions of pounds in wages and holiday pay is underpaid every year

Billions of pounds in wages and holiday pay is underpaid every year 0

by • News, Workplace

Billions of pounds are denied to workers every year in wages and holiday pay, a new academic study claims. An interim report, The Weighted Scales of Economic Justice , from researchers at Middlesex University and the Unpaid Britain project shows £1.2 billion of wages are unpaid each year, along with £1.5 billion of holiday pay. The research, led by Professor Nick Clark, also found numerous breaches of employment rights, with one in 12 workers not receiving a payslip and one in 20 receiving no paid holiday. The report claims that many companies and directors were repeat offenders in withholding wages, and directors of half the companies that were dissolved and had defaulted on wages, returned as directors of other companies. Lead author, Nick Clark, said he believes these facts are the “tip of the iceberg” as accurate data around unpaid wages is difficult to uncover.

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What will the UK General Election mean for the workplace? Some experts respond

What will the UK General Election mean for the workplace? Some experts respond 0

by • Architecture, Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

Any residual feelings of certainty that anybody in the UK may have had about the country’s future following last year’s Brexit vote, will have had them pretty much eradicated by last Thursday’s General Election result. However, we must try to make sense of things for society and the wider economy as well as specific facets of it, such as the world of work. The whole thing looks like the pig’s ear that it is, of course. Fortunately, as some experts have already argued, there are some reasons to see some positive outcomes, including a soft (or softer) Brexit and the chance of a more positive approach to workplace rights, now that the Government needs to maintain a broader consensus. The fear or hope that the UK would lighten its already soft touch approach to workplace legislation would seem at least to be less well founded.

 

 

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Google submits revised plans for vast new campus in London

Google submits revised plans for vast new campus in London 0

by • News, Property, Technology, Workplace design

Google has submitted a revised application for planning permission to Camden Council for its proposed £600 million King’s Cross Campus in London. This building will be the first, wholly owned and designed Google building outside the United States. Construction on the purpose-built 11-storey building, comprising of more than 1 million square feet, of which Google will occupy 650,000 sqft, will commence in 2018. The building, designed by Heatherwick Studio and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) will feature a natural theme, with all materials sourced through Google’s healthy materials programme. This new building, combined with the current building at 6 Pancras Square and an additional third building, will create a Google campus with the potential to house 7,000 Google employees. The new building is being developed from the ground up and will contribute to the Knowledge Quarter and King’s Cross’s growing knowledge-based economy. The original plans for the building from 2013 by AHMM had been put on hold, although some features such as a running track remain.

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