February 14, 2022

New RICS framework aims to “put people at heart of commercial property”

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property

A new framework from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has been designed to improve building use, support flexible working and put people at the heart of decision making about commercial property. RICS says the International Building Operation Standard will provide organisations an interactive easy-to-use framework, supported by an assessment tool, to measure and benchmark building performance, by collecting consistent data to satisfy the latest needs of occupiers, investors, advisors and end users. More →

February 14, 2022

Costa Coffee opts for My Work Booth to offer mobile workers a bookable quiet space

by Freddie Steele • Company news

My Work Booth has collaborated with Costa Coffee to fulfil the need of mobile workers for confidential meeting spaces in public areas. The pilot scheme sees the introduction of the four Framery Pods into Costa locations in London and Manchester, providing a sound proofed environment for concentrated working and confidential meetings/calls bookable via the My Work Booth app. More →

February 10, 2022

ESG concerns mean half of younger workers considering career change

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

Companies across the UK risk losing out on top talent if they fail to take account of younger workers’ greater ethical awareness, with the majority willing to sacrifice earnings for their values. New research by Robert Half claims that nearly two in five (38 percent) employees would look for a new role if they thought their organisation was not doing enough on ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues, such as reducing carbon emissions or operating ethically. More →

February 9, 2022

Climate change risk should be factored in to investment decisions

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Ahead of mandatory requirements to disclose climate change related risks coming into force in April 2022, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published a new Framework providing businesses with a consistent methodology for measuring climate-related risks across their built assets, as well as empowering asset owning businesses of all sizes to better understand and plan for the physical risks of climate change. More →

February 4, 2022

Want people to return to the office? Then create the best office in the world

by Mike Hills • Features, Wellbeing, Workplace design

More obituaries have been written for the office in the past two years than at any time in history. It has often seemed like even the best office in the world couldn’t preserve the idea of the office. And it’s not like the obituaries were all that rare even before the pandemic forced us to reappraise our relationship with work and the times and places we do it. While all these death notices were being served, one particularly well-informed organisation was making some more interesting observations about it all. In particular, it constantly raised the most fundamental question of all. More →

February 4, 2022

Office furniture maker Connection announces move to new £8m head office and factory

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture

In a planned strategy to capitalise upon unprecedented recent growth in sales, Huddersfield-based British office furniture manufacturer Connection is moving to a brand-new purpose-built state of the art building, which will encompass a head office, showroom and manufacturing facility under one roof. Connection have been based at their Dogley Mills home in Huddersfield since their founding in 1997 but after 25 years at the facility required a substantially larger space with the intent to double both manufacturing capacity and turnover. More →

February 3, 2022

Working from home fuels concerns for energy consumption

by Sara Bean • Environment, Features, Flexible working

Back in February 2020, consulting firm WSP UK published some interesting research that revealed those working from home during the summer saved around 400kg of carbon emissions, the equivalent of 5 percent of a typical British commuter’s annual carbon footprint. The catch was that it was just a seasonal benefit. If an average employee worked at home all year round, they would produce 2.5 tonnes of carbon per year – around 80 percent more than an office worker. This is because, during the winter, most heating systems in Britain heat the whole house, which produces far more carbon emissions than would be produced from the commute. More →

January 31, 2022

London office market ‘returns to normality’ in latter half of 2021

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

Avison Young’s latest research claims that occupier activity in the London office market last quarter increased to 3.1 million sq ft, 27 percent above the previous quarter, to reach levels last seen in 2019 in what the report claims is ‘a strong sign that London’s occupiers are approaching their workplace strategies and office use with increased confidence’. The firm claims that nine deals above 100,000 sq ft were completed during the last six months, more than in the preceding eighteen months combined. More →

January 31, 2022

Business leaders have undue confidence in the idea of hybrid working

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Technology

Flexible working has overtaken salary as the top benefit to employees (59 percent), highlighting that flexibility and autonomy over the working day is now more important than financial reward for most workers. This is according to a new report from Jabra; the Jabra Hybrid Ways of Working 2021 Global Report carried out amongst 5,000 knowledge workers in five countries worldwide, including the UK. However, the report also suggests that many business leaders have a false sense of confidence in their ability to implement hybrid working.

January 27, 2022

Firms that invest in sustainability are more resilient, research claims

by Jayne Smith • Business, News

Investing in sustainability increases the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) because they become more creditworthy, according to new research conducted by Vlerick Business School and commissioned by ABN AMRO. Although large companies are under scrutiny from regulators, consumers and the media to become more sustainable, the sustainability transition is unachievable without the involvement of SMEs. Especially since SMEs constitute more than 60 percent of the value-adding economic fabric in Europe. More →

January 26, 2022

Hybrid working is now the dominant business model for knowledge workers

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace design

Future Forum, a consortium launched by Slack with founding partners Boston Consulting Group, MillerKnoll and MLT has released the latest findings from its Pulse study, which shows that hybrid working has become the dominant work model for knowledge workers around the world. The report claims that the percentage of people working in hybrid arrangements has increased to 58 percent (from 46 percent in May 2021), as the share of workers who say their teams work exclusively either from home or from the office has declined sharply. More →

January 25, 2022

Third of people crave a return to the office for their mental health

by Neil Franklin • Facilities management, Flexible working, News, Property, Wellbeing

A new study from smart building platform Infogrid claims that nearly a third of working Brits (32 percent) want to return to their offices in January because they feel it would improve their mental health, which has been impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The top reasons UK employees cite for wanting to return to the office include working in a positive social environment (35 percent), having a reason to leave the house (26 percent), not having to worry about being cold at home (25 percent), and the daily commute providing time to transition between home and work life (23 percent). More →