November 10, 2022

Summing up where the office now stands in the scheme of things

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working

The argument about what it takes to encourage people to come into the office more often seems to have boiled down to an equation. It’s now common to hear somebody argue that the office has to be worth the commute it takes to get to it. So, if you want people to spend more time in the building, you need to do the maths. O must be greater than or equal to C (more…)

November 8, 2022

Hybrid working driving demand for areas with easier commutes

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

A report from Unispace claims that employees’ new preference for hybrid working has created an immediate need for firms to re-think their real estate footprint. Today, with over 60 percent of office-based employees preferring to work remotely or in a more flexible way, rather than commute to city centres five days a week, employers are considering the greater use or addition of satellite offices to their portfolio. According to the study of 3,000 office workers across Europe, 79 percent of the workforce would be happier to return to the office if it was just five to 10 minutes away from their home, suggesting that satellite offices could be a solution to boost collaboration, socialisation, engagement and staff retention. (more…)

November 4, 2022

Responsible capitalism, and space as a service will shape real estate industry over next 20 years

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

Europe’s real estate leaders have set out a long-term vision for the industry. In this scenario the most successful firms have adopted ‘responsible capitalism,’ the user is the centre of attention, the cycle of demolition and development has been broken, mixed-use is the norm and multi-disciplinary and in-house teams deliver space as a service across a range of sectors. Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2023, the twentieth annual survey of European real estate sector leaders’ expectations by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC, has looked beyond the year ahead at the trends shaping the industry over the next two decades. This report captures the views of over 900 sector leaders from across Europe. (more…)

October 13, 2022

Transparency and collaboration key to real estate decarbonisation

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has warned of a ‘carbon bubble’ in the pricing of European real estate and urged the industry to work together to preserve values across the sector as it aims to meet the decarbonisation targets set in the Paris Agreement. To support a more collaborative approach, at the inaugural ULI C Change Summit, the institute has published its Transition Risk Assessment Consultation Guidelines as part of its C Change programme. These guidelines set out a standardised method for assessing the costs of decarbonising buildings and disclosing between owners, investors, potential buyers, and valuers the main transition risks and impact on values. (more…)

October 10, 2022

Leading UK employers call for flexible working recruitment by default

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

A joint letter from 21 leading employers – including several in the FTSE 100 – is calling on employers across the UK to advertise all vacant roles with flexible options by default. The full text is: (more…)

October 10, 2022

Half of working parents would leave in search of flexible working

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News

A new YouGov poll commissioned by Working Families and SF Recruitment claims to underscore the impact and importance of employers prioritising flexible working as part of their recruitment strategy. Launched to mark the start of National Work Life Week (10-14 October), the poll of 992 UK parents of children aged 18 and under demonstrates that advertising all vacant roles with flexible options stated by default widens the talent pool for employers and unlocks opportunities for parents. (more…)

October 7, 2022

Third of firms expect the four-day week to become a reality ‘for most’ in the next ten years

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace

A third of respondent organisations (34 percent) to a CIPD poll think the four-day week will become a reality in the UK for most workers within the next ten years. However, only a small minority of firms have moved towards the four-day week to date by reducing hours without reducing pay for their employees, or plan to do this over the next three years. One in ten (10 percent) organisations report they have reduced working hours without reducing pay for the whole or a significant part of their workforce over the last five years, although of these, under half of employers (42 percent) did so as a result of the furlough scheme. (more…)

October 5, 2022

Will employees return to the office to save on energy bills this winter?

by Nick Gold • Comment, Flexible working

This winter will be tough for many UK households. Rising energy bills are driving a huge upswing in inflation, causing real incomes to fall as the cost of living goes up. And despite the UK Government’s announcement that energy prices will be ‘capped’ at an average of £2,500 per year, the Bank of England believes inflation will remain high for at least the next two years. According to government estimates, a £2,500 energy bill is almost double the average household’s energy bill in 2021. And as employees continue to work from their home office regularly, energy consumption is likely to rise. (more…)

September 1, 2022

Established businesses must do more to support local entrepreneurs and startups

by Matthew Watts • Company news

With SME’s accounting for the employment of more than half of the UK’s workforce, supporting these businesses is of benefit to everyone while geopolitical events and the impact of the pandemic continue to cause economic uncertainty. Entrepreneurs and small businesses are vital for spurring on evolutions in our technology and creating new markets for services and products, therefore bringing about competition which in turn boosts productivity that benefits our own and other economies, helping them withstand and recover faster from financial downturns. (more…)

September 1, 2022

Working from home can lead to fathers doing less childcare and mothers doing more

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News

An analysis of survey data on 1,694 parents of young children found that working from home can result in a “traditional division of housework and childcare”, with men fearing they may lose their masculinity when taking on more routine tasks. Although the research, by Professor Heejung Chung, of the University of Kent, and Dr Cara Booker, University of Essex, uses data from 2010-16, they believe its conclusions are still valid now, at a time when the pandemic has greatly increased home working. (more…)

August 30, 2022

Is the growing number of working mums a cause for celebration or concern?

by Hina Belitz • Comment, Wellbeing

Working mothers are a resilient group, accustomed to juggling work responsibilities and family time with aplomb. Such was the conclusion in a report from McKinsey last year. But the day-to-day challenges they face can severely test that resilience. The proportion of working mums in the UK has just matched the highest ever recorded figure. In the three months to June, 75 per cent of women with dependent children were in employment, according to the Office for National Statistics. By comparison, 93 per cent of fathers were in employment during the same period. (more…)

August 30, 2022

Working families are only three weeks from breadline, claims report

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

The latest Deadline to Breadline report from Legal & General claims that the financial resilience of working families in the UK has shrunk by a fifth since 2020, down from from 24 days to 19 days. According to the report, people overestimate by nearly six weeks how long they could fund basic living costs such as housing costs, loans/ credit card repayments, utility bills and food if they lost their income. Households have average savings of £2,431 and debts of £610. Accounting for average daily expenses of £93, this would see the average household run out of money in less than three weeks if they were to lose their income. (more…)