Search Results for: office

February 22, 2016

Commercial property costs organisations more than commonly supposed ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The British Council for Office (BCO) has released a new report which questions the commercial property industry’s commonly ‘accepted wisdom’ that if you break down overall business operation costs, 80 percent of the total goes on salaries and 10 percent on property, with other expenses making up the rest. The BCO’s analysis has found that a more realistic split is 55 percent (salaries), 15 percent (property) and 30 percent (other business costs). So while salaries continue to dominate overall costs, property and non-property business costs play a greater role than the commonly received idea. The BCO believes this clearer understanding of how much property represents of overall business costs will now change, influence and underpin business decisions. This new analysis may also have an impact on rental forecast and could also affect the impact of changing business rates – affecting what organisations may be able to afford.

February 19, 2016

RIBA consults on the future use of its landmark Art Deco HQ building ⁰

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Workplace design

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has launched an open consultation on the future use of its landmark Art Deco HQ building in central London. The first part of the consultation strategy is an online survey, to be followed by focus group sessions to gather more detail. RIBA Client Advisor, Sarah Williams said: “This survey is the start of a detailed process which will include defining the role that 66 Portland Place plays in the RIBA’s long term vision and values. Our detailed consultation will gather views and ideas from our members, staff and other users of the building including visitors, neighbours, meeting room clients, cultural partners, sponsors and patrons.I encourage everyone to participate to help us shape the use of this important building for the next 80 years.” Click here to participate in the survey and learn more about the consultation for 66 Portland Place.

February 17, 2016

The workplace is not just about the play, but the stage too ⁰

by Darren Bilsborough • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

Why is it that just about every article I read talking about the value of workplace design, almost always ignores the broader context of the building and precinct in which the workplace is located? Similarly, almost all conversations extolling the virtues of remote working, love to predict the extinction of the office and diminish its relevance as an important contributor to the operations of a successful business. Personally, I have yet to find an acceptable substitution for face to face communication. It is just not possible for clear, consistent and unmistakeable communication to occur over email, text, phone or skype. The ability to be able to read someone’s body language, grab a pen and paper to draw a diagram, point to an example, empathise sincerely with a colleague, customer or collaborator’s struggles with complex concepts, is just not possible to do quickly, effectively and efficiently without face to face communication.

February 15, 2016

UK commercial buildings emit far more carbon than they were designed to ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

Commercial buildings in the UK may be producing an average of 3.8 times more carbon than the estimate presented at their design stage, according to research from InnovateUK. The study examined six years of data from Innovate UK’s Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) Programme. It found that only one of the 48 buildings studied produced the amount of carbon specified by its design. In some cases, total emissions were 10 times the rate calculated for Part L compliance. ‘Building Performance Evaluation Programme: Findings From Non-Domestic Projects’, identifies complex energy controls and building management systems (BMS) as significant factors in poor levels of carbon emissions, suggesting that they should be simplified. Although two-thirds of the buildings studied employed renewable energy, a significant proportion of these experienced problems that had a negative impact on their energy consumption and carbon emissions.

February 11, 2016

Majority of UK’s small businesses would opt for coworking spaces ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Property, Workplace design

Almost three quarters (72 percent) of small businesses in the UK believe coworking spaces are the ideal environment to base a start-up. Although the research was carried out by Regus, which happens to provide just that sort of workspace, the research did detect some strong preferences from small businesses that suggests sharing office space is the best solution for fledgling firms to thrive. When asked about the benefits of coworking compared to other workspace options, more than eight in ten respondents (83%) from the research, which canvassed the opinions of over 2,600 UK-based small companies, claimed it was a much more cost-effective alternative to a fixed office. The opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs (70 percent) was also identified as a major plus point, with 63 percent believing that shared space provides more inspiration than a traditional office setting and 61 percent saying that this kind of workplace offered a more creative environment that regular offices.

February 10, 2016

Moderate growth for global commercial real estate predicted in 2016 ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

US and European office markets will tighten further in 2016 as demand for space outpaces a limited number of new developments, according to CBRE Group’s 2016 Global Real Estate Market Outlook. However, the extent of tightening in individual cities will depend strongly on local job growth in major office-using industries. Global prime rents across the three major property types—office, industrial and retail—are expected to grow 2.2 percent on an annual basis, according to estimates from CBRE’s Global Rent Index. The Americas, thanks to the strength of the US property sector, is expected to see commercial real estate rents rise 3.4 percent in 2016, as consumption growth and rising employment, combined with comparatively limited new supply levels, simulates demand. Rents in EMEA are forecast to rise by 3.2 percent thanks to a combination of increased consumer spending, pent-up demand for commercial space and anticipated further monetary easing by the European Central Bank.

February 5, 2016

Embracing the inevitable rise of the robots in the workplace ⁰

by Gary Chandler • Comment, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

We often have reason these days to speculate on the truth of an idea known as Amara’s Law. First coined by the researcher Roy Amara it states that “we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run”. But defining what we mean by short and long term can be very difficult when technology is changing so quickly. Nothing better illustrates this than the issue of how automation will transform society and workplaces. For the past few years, the effects have mainly been the subject of academic and scientific research alongside some lurid headlines in the mainstream media. So, a fairly typical 2013 paper from researchers at Oxford University assessed the risk faced by over 700 professions and discovered that nearly half of all jobs in the US could be categorised as at high risk of automation. Less academic studies such as a report published last year by Deloitte draw similar conclusions.

February 5, 2016

Employers believe Millennials are the most demanding workers ⁰

by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

It seems unfair to brand Millennials difficult, when you consider they are the less experienced generation of workers, but new research suggests they require more hand holding in the workplace. When asked about workers they’ve dealt with, 48 percent of bosses felt that millennials were more reliant on detailed targets and required regular progress meetings in order to stay motivated. However, the majority of bosses (89 percent) agreed that these demands indicated that millennials were highly career driven. Over one third (39 percent) named generation X as the most self-sufficient, as this group required less guidance, with Baby Boomers a close second (34 percent). Millennials were also cited as the generation most incentivised by reward and praise (41 percent), followed by Generation X (26 percent), Baby Boomers (22 percent) and Generation Z (11 percent), while Generation X had the biggest desire for a work life balance (37 percent).

February 4, 2016

London’s ability to foster startups lagging behind other key UK cities ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Cities, News, Property

The UK’s largest regional cities have produced twice as many startups as London over the last two years, according to research based on Companies House Data. The report, commissioned by office broker Instant Offices, compares the number of startups in each city to create a list of the country’s most entrepreneurial cities. The authors claim that the UK is now Europe’s most entrepreneurial country with over 2,644,100 businesses started within the last two years alone, according to data gathered from Companies House. The report cites the example of Liverpool with an estimated population of 440,000 and 57,323 new companies starting over the past 2 years. This results in an entrepreneurial population percentage of 16 percent. Birmingham’s entrepreneurial population percentage was 14.5 percent followed closely by Manchester at 14 percent. These numbers are significantly higher than the UK average of 2 percent and London’s 7.5 percent.

February 3, 2016

Government plans to cut size of estate by 75 percent by 2023 ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Property, Public Sector, Workplace design

The UK Government has today published the latest edition of its annual State of the Estate report, which gives an update on plans to consolidate, divest and modernise the central government property portfolio. Minister for the Cabinet Office Matt Hancock claims that the current administration has reduced the size of the estate by 2.4 million sq. m. since 2010. (As is the way of these things, the minister claims this is equivalent to 336football pitches, 43 Shards or more than the entire principality of Monaco. Presumably individual departments measured their own successes in blue whales and double decker buses.) He claims that this means that the total central government estate has fallen below 5,000 holdings for the first time and could fit inside the area of West Finchley (which is a new measurement on us). The reduction has been achieved by selling property ranging from the historic Old War Office (top) to an old bakery and lighthouse.

February 2, 2016

Record investment in UK commercial property in 2015, but trouble ahead ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property

A near record £67.5 billion was invested in UK commercial property in 2015, making it the second strongest year on record and 46 per cent above the 10-year average, according to research from commercial property analysts CoStar Group. Momentum slowed sharply in the second half of the year, with investment down 19 per cent from the previous year. According to CoStar, this reflects the fact that investment activity has been especially strong over the previous 18 months and good opportunities are harder to find, but also that global economic and political uncertainty are impacting investment decisions. Nevertheless, 2015 was a strong year for the UK’s Big Six regional cities. Office investment increased 16 per cent to £3.2 billion, which is the highest level since the recession and more than double the eight-year average. Foreign investors seeking standing assets and development opportunities underpinned much of this investment.

January 29, 2016

Delivering the low-down on the sit-stand workstation phenomenon ⁰

by Ashley Hayward • Comment, Furniture, Wellbeing, Workplace design

While the UK, US, Australia and other nations continue to treat them as something of a novelty, across Sweden, Norway and Finland, over 80 per cent of office workers use sit-stand desks. Offering employees a height adjustable work station is now mandatory in Denmark. However, sit-stand working is still in its infancy in the UK, with only 2 per cent of similar workers having access to variable-height workstations. Given the huge amount of news coverage devoted to the subject of sedentary lifestyles in the last couple of years, ‘sit-stand’ and ‘active working’ have become buzz terms in UK workplace design. The ‘On Your Feet Britain’* campaign has raised awareness of the health perils risked by the many Brits who spend an average of 8.5 hours a day sitting, whether at their desk or slumped in front of the telly. Inevitably, savvy employers will be asking themselves if they can afford to ignore the problem.