Search Results for: investments

October 22, 2018

Regus to sue WeWork; blinkers for office workers; and some other stuff you should know about

by Mark Eltringham • Features, Property, Technology, Workplace design

What to make of the announcement that Chengdu is thinking of creating an artificial moon so that it can do away with street lights, bathing the city’s streets in permanent dusk? Well possibly a big thumbs up for the ingenuity and maybe thumbs down for the impact on people’s circadian rhythms and awareness of what’s in the heavens. People really should look up more, both figuratively and literally. Maybe there’s also room for a thought about we we can over-complicate designed solutions when we look to innovate beyond a certain point.

October 12, 2018

World Bank report sets out the challenges of the changing nature of work

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Work is constantly reshaped by technological progress. New ways of production are adopted, markets expand, and societies evolve. But some changes provoke more attention than others, in part due to the vast uncertainty involved in making predictions about the future. The 2019 World Development Report studies how the nature of work is changing as a result of advances in technology today.

August 3, 2018

New analysis sets out to define fastest growing sectors in London in 2018

by Neil Franklin • News, Property

A new analysis from Instant Offices sets out to identify the largest business sectors driving London’s economy. It claims that the three most prominent are information and communication, financial and insurance, and professional, scientific and technical services. The UK Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES) showed distinct trends in growth for specific sectors, in London and in the UK as a whole.

July 17, 2018

London, Singapore and Seoul are the top smart cities in the world

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Technology

London, Singapore and Seoul make up the top three smart cities worldwide, according to new research from the Eden Strategy Institute. The 2018-19 study, in partnership with ONG&ONG Experience Design (OXD), involved 140 smart cities ranked across 10 measures; clarity of vision, leadership, budget, provision of financial incentives, support programmes, talent readiness, a people-centric approach, development of an innovation ecosystem, implementation of ‘smart’ policies and, finally, a track record of previous initiatives and projects. New York and Helsinki rounded off the top five cities, with Montreal, Boston, Melbourne, Barcelona and Shanghai finishing in the top 10.

June 20, 2018

Asian investment in City of London offices now hitting record levels

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

Asian money is pouring into office investments in the Square Mile at a pace rarely seen before, according to a new analysis by Savills. About £3.4 billion of Asian capital has been invested in London offices already this year, according to a study from the property consultancy. That is 70 per cent of the total volume and a record high for the first six months of a year. In the past three months alone, Asian buyers have snapped up £3.5 billion of buildings in London’s financial district. This is the highest figure for a second quarter since 2007, when the commercial property market was at its peak just before the credit crunch hit, according to Savills.

May 29, 2018

Drones could add £42 billion to UK GDP by 2030

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

Drone technology has the potential to increase UK GDP by £42 billion (or 2 percent) by 2030, according to new research from PwC. The research estimates there will be more than 76,000 drones in use across UK skies by 2030. More than a third of these (36 percent) could be utilised by the public sector (including in areas such as defence, health and education). The report claims that drone technology could help the UK achieve up to £16bn in net cost savings by 2030 through increased productivity. The technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector stands to save the most by using drones, with a potential net saving of £4.8bn by 2030.

May 23, 2018

New study reveals industries most likely to be subject to digital disruption this year

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

A new survey of British and American IT decision makers claims to reveal which industries are most and least likely to be subject to digital disruption in 2018. The study, Digital Disruption: Disrupt or Be Disrupted (registration required), also claims to identify the qualities of companies most likely to be disruptors, and concludes that cloud technology is the new key to digital transformation. The report, based on interviews with more than 300 respondents in the United States and the United Kingdom found that 50 percent of IT stakeholders think they are leaders and will disrupt, while 50 percent feel they are behind and will be disrupted by the competition in 2018. By industry, more telcos (65 percent) and technology (65 percent) companies predict they will be disruptors, while 17 percent of IT stakeholders working for government and non-profit organisations worry they will be disrupted.

April 16, 2018

Artificial intelligence should have a clear ethical dimension, claims new government report

by Mark Eltringham • AI, News, Technology

While the UK is in a strong position to be a world leader in the development of artificial intelligence which would deliver a major boost to the economy, ethics should be at the heart of its development, according to a new report from the House of Lords. AI should never be given the “autonomous power to hurt, destroy or deceive” people, it adds. The Lords’ report called on the government to support businesses in the field. It also recommended that people be educated to work alongside AI in the jobs of the future. It said that such education would “mitigate the negative effects” on jobs which are possible as AI develops.

April 16, 2018

Local authorities spend £3.8bn on commercial property in last five years

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector

Local authorities have invested around £3.8 bn in commercial property over the last five years, a new study claims. The report (registration required) from property consultancy Carter Jonas and Revo claims that of the £3.8 bn invested, nearly half was spent on the acquisition of office space. It found that Spelthorne Borough Council in Surrey (pictured) was the largest local authority investor committing £477.1 m to assets within its domain. This is more than double its nearest rival Warrington Borough Council (£219.5 m) and is largely down to the purchase of BP’s International Centre for Business & Technology in Sunbury for £360 m.

March 30, 2018

UK remains a world leader in technological innovation

by Mark Eltringham • News, Technology

A new report from KPMG suggests that the UK is the third most dynamic global centre of innovation, disruption and technological development behind the US and China. KPMG’s 2018 Global Technology Innovation Report surveyed almost 800 global business executives to reveal the world’s top technology innovation hubs. Of those surveyed, 19 per cent named the UK as the third most promising market for tech breakthroughs behind China at 26 per cent and the US at 39 per cent.

March 28, 2018

Poor numeracy thought to account for an estimated £3.2 billion annual cost to businesses

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Almost one in two working age adults currently lack numeracy skills and this skills gap is estimated to cost businesses £3.2bn annually, with a cost to the UK economy of up to £20.2billiona year. This is why charity National Numeracy has joined together with founder supporter, KPMG, to establish the first ever UK National Numeracy Day – created to drive a change in recognition of the importance of numbers, as well as improve employee careers. The day, which takes place on the 16th May will be designed to celebrate numbers, and aims to help individuals to check their numeracy levels, and provide free tools to support improvement amongst those who could benefit. Businesses are being called on to get involved in a variety of ways; from becoming an official supporter, to encouraging employees, suppliers and the local community to check their numeracy levels using the free online numeracy assessment tool.

March 21, 2018

There are at least some reasons to be optimistic about the UK’s tech sector post Brexit

by Gary Chandler • Comment, Property, Technology, Workplace design

Making detailed predictions about the economic consequences of Brexit has proved a mug’s game many time over the past couple of years. The most accurate summation of what is happening might be ‘mixed’. Most recently, a report from the CBI has highlighted the resilience of many sectors while bemoaning a lack of skills in the economy. Meanwhile former Commercial Secretary to the Treasury Lord O’Neill also recently conceded that the UK economy had been more robust than he had expected following the Brexit vote, which he attributed primarily to the thriving world economy. An argument almost immediately dismissed by the economist Ruth Lea writing for the LSE, who put forward a more nuanced and mixed explanation. The same picture of tempered resilience is also evident in specific sectors, and especially those that were seen as the most likely to feel the consequences of the Brexit vote, including London’s crucial tech sector.