January 5, 2015
Workers feel increasingly undervalued and over a third plan to move jobs this year
There’s been a dramatic increase in the number of workers planning to move jobs. According to the latest research by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), 37 per cent of workers are planning to leave their current jobs in 2015 – compared to 19 per cent in 2014 and 13 per cent in 2013. Of those who left their jobs in 2014, 35 per cent cited greater opportunity for progression as their main motivation for seeking a new role – compared to only 12 per cent who sought a higher salary. In 2015, that has increased to 59 per cent, meaning increased opportunity is a number one priority; beating a better salary (56%), a more interesting role (50%) and better management (30%). Staff are also feeling increasingly undervalued by their managers. 25 per cent of those planning to leave said they felt unappreciated in their current role, almost 10 per cent more than last year (16%). (more…)
BBC Wales has exchanged contracts with the developer of its new 150,000 sq. ft headquarters in the centre of Cardiff. Although still subject to final planning consent and the approval of BBC executives, the building is an anchor site in the Foster + Partners masterplanned Central Square regeneration project and work is confidently expected to begin in the middle of 2015 for completion in 2017 with full occupancy expected the following year. The new building will be home to some 1,000 staff and has been targeted to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating. Developers Rightacres expect the Central Square mixed use project to provide around 1 million sq. ft of office, residential and retail space, creating one of Wales’ largest property developments and regeneration schemes in the heart of Cardiff on the site of the current bus station.
November 5, 2014
Why isn’t the UK Government acting to curb the scandal of fake furniture?
by Tony Ash • Comment, Furniture, Workplace design
The real thing
If you’ve watched a DVD recently, it probably started with an advert highlighting that ‘you wouldn’t steal a handbag, so why would you steal a DVD?’ The point it’s making is that it’s unacceptable to buy poor quality copies of DVDs. They’re fake products and there’s a stigma attached to them, in the same way there’s a stigma attached to buying a fake watch, handbag or a forged piece of art. That’s how things should work, but this isn’t yet the case for fake furniture in the UK. And the reason for this is government inaction that is not only allowing a market for poorer quality replicas of iconic designs to exist, but to thrive. In April 2013 the UK government passed the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act, a section of which closed a loophole in British intellectual property law. Under the new regulations, artistic designs for products such as furniture would be protected for up to 70 years after the designer’s death. Before the Act was passed, if more than 50 copies of a design were made, it was considered to be mass produced and was subject to only 25 years’ protection.
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