Search Results for: office

February 26, 2016

War for talent and dwindling supply in London boosts regional office market ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace

London office supply is at an all-time low according to JLL’s latest research, with around 18 million sq ft of offices required, but less than 7 million sq ft under construction. This is one of the reasons why 2015 saw a surge in pre-leasing activity across the Big 6 regional office markets, comprising Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, with 850,000 sq ft let across 17 transactions compared with 15 over the five years from 2010-14. The survey shows that rental growth and refurbishment are key themes with refurbishment schemes totalling 800,000 sq ft will be delivered in 2016, with a further 10 new schemes totalling one million sq ft due to start. Greater convergence between HR and real estate also means the war for talent is a factor influencing occupier decision making. CEOs continue to cite a shortage of skills as a concern, as many Gen Z students are expected to leave their first job within a few years.

February 23, 2016

High demand in Dubai office market continues to sustain rents ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

Office rents in Dubai’s main markets have remained strong as a result of continued high demand from both international and domestic occupiers, reports Cluttons, but despite a sustained demand, occupiers remain cost conscious and budget driven in the face of a softening global economic backdrop. Landlords, by contrast appear to be slow to react to a cooling market, with many reluctant to move on asking prices and others demonstrating a lack of flexibility for lease terms at renewal. The emerging gulf between market reality and landlords’ expectations is a concern, says Faisal Durrani, Cluttons’ head of research, “particularly for a market that is now starting to show signs of maturity.” The analysis of the performance of 22 submarkets across the city in the first quarter of the year reveals that 13 submarkets witnessed no change in starting rents in 2015, seven experienced notable increases and the remaining two lower limit rents decreased over the 12 months of 2015.

February 20, 2016

‘Ghosting’ employers + Office buildings still relevant + Millennial engagement ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Wellbeing

In this week’s Insight Newsletter; Darren Bilsborough on why office location is as important as design; Mark Eltringham says ‘ghosting’ an employer in the manner of the Spanish civil servant who hadn’t turned up to work for six years, is more common than you’d think; how office design is in the beauty of the beholder and why the office property market continues to thrive, despite rumours of its demise. A new report finds dysfunction at the heart of the public sector workplace; the government largely ignores the self-employed; younger workers are more engaged than the middle aged; RIBA consults on the future of its HQ; and many UK commercial buildings are failing to meet energy standards. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

February 15, 2016

The death of the office meme does not fit with a thriving property market ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Property, Workplace design

You don’t have to look very far to find somebody or other proclaiming the death of the office. A quick Google search will come up with over 73 million results for the past year alone. This has been going on for decades, but a search engine now gives us a far better idea than the occasional feature in a trade magazine of just how the idea has evolved into a full-blown meme. The narrative has become so entrenched that the people who use it – typically the ignorant, the self-interested, the lazy and the ill-informed – rarely have their premise challenged. Usually it is an idea appended to some disruptive and supposedly apocalyptic trend and, at the moment, office kryptonite comes in the form of coworking, where once it was flexible working or mobile technology. And yet, for all the non-fatal wounds these innovations have inflicted on the traditional office, the idea of people travelling to work alongside each other in shared buildings endures.

February 14, 2016

Office design & stress + Manchester office shortage + Global flexible working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight Newsletter; Mark Eltringham explains what Douglas Adams could teach us about workplace design and Sara Bean says there are fewer promotion prospects for part time working mums. Rise in worldwide take-up of flexible working; £1bn in savings if NHS made better use of its estate and Manchester may soon run out of Grade A office space. 2016 will see an exodus of Tech firm’s from cities, almost three quarters of small businesses believe co-working spaces are the ideal for start-ups and unpredictability and workplace environment are two most common factors influencing work related stress. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

February 12, 2016

Unpredictability and office environment are key causes of workplace stress ⁰

by Sara Bean • News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The two most common factors influencing work related stress levels are unpredictability (26 percent) and workplace environment (21 percent) according to a poll by US jobs site CareerCast.com. The results, based on 834 respondents found that most of the respondents (62 percent) rated their jobs as highly stressful, while just 11 percent felt the amount of stress on the job was low. Other key stressors were deadlines (20 percent) and safety of others (16 percent). Interestingly, few people felt that length of work day/week (7 percent), personal well-being in danger (5 percent), potential for promotion (3 percent) and travel (1 percent) were major job stressors. Any number of factors can contribute to an unpredictable workplace; either the flow of responsibility changes from day-to-day with new tasks added or changed at random intervals or expectations may change. Running a close second is the workplace environment and culture, which includes interactions with bosses, co-workers and clients/customers.

February 11, 2016

Manchester set to run out of Grade A office space this year, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property

Manchester could completely run out of ready to occupy, Grade A office space this year, according to a new report from Colliers International. The snapshot of the commercial property market in the city claims that take-up of space in Manchester during 2015 was over a third (37.5 percent) above a ten year average and the rate of occupation by both UK and overseas firms was double that of the previous three years. As a consequence, the local property market is currently unable to keep pace with demand and the availability of Grade A space declined by 61 percent during the year to reach its lowest level since 2006. There is now just 216,000sq ft of Grade A stock available to let in Central Manchester, with major new developments in the key Spinningfields district (above) and elsewhere not expected to complete until later this year and into 2018. Even some of these spaces are already let, according to the study.

February 6, 2016

Robot’s rise + Shrinking public sector estate + Office of the future (not) ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Property, Public Sector, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight newsletter; Gary Chandler envisages how automation will transform society and workplaces; Paul Goodchild explains why office life still attracts people; Mark Eltringham bemoans the narrow focus shown in predictions of the future office and Sara Bean says the HR discipline needs to evolve to support the changing workplace. A new report reveals 88 percent of British workers are regularly stressed at work; employees are increasingly keen to find jobs that offer them flexible working; and men are penalised for opting for a better work/life balance. Government plans to cut the size of its estate by 75 percent by 2023 and an expanding TMT sector increases demand in central London. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.

February 5, 2016

What the commercial property market tells us about trends in office design ⁰

by Paul Goodchild • Comment, Property, Workplace design

It’s become commonplace in recent years for certain people to foresee the death of the office. The problem with this argument is that, in spite of its drawbacks, office life maintains an attraction for both employers and employees and there will always be an upper limit on how long people want to spend away from other people. Things are changing but the death of the office is a myth. As we’ve known for at least a quarter of a century, there is no absolute need for us to go to work at all. Theoretically we could just do away with offices completely if we wanted to. But as we have seen, the fact we have evolved technology to the point where we could forget about bricks and mortar, doesn’t necessarily mean we will. Not only are there practical reasons for offices to continue to exist, there are emotive ones too. If you want evidence of this, look no further than the records currently being set by the UK’s commercial property markets.

February 4, 2016

Maturing TMT sector fuels demand for office space in Central London ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

The Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector was the largest source of demand for office space in Central London in 2015, for the fifth consecutive year finds the latest Knight Frank London Report, Canary Wharf is set to have the strongest Central London office rental growth in 2016 with an increase of 12.8 percent. This is followed by Shoreditch at 10 percent and Midtown at 9.6 percent. Affordability is the main driver, along with the development of Crossrail, integrating Canary Wharf with the rest of Central London, and a general shortage of available offices across London pushing tenants seeking high quality affordable offices eastwards. Expansion by TMT firms is contributing to the shift, as they are increasingly seeking larger offices. Shoreditch’s increase in office rents will principally be driven by Tech sector expansion as the more mature, established heavy weight tech firms have firmly established a London rival for California’s ‘Silicon Valley’ in the area.

February 1, 2016

M25 office market returns to pre-recessionary levels as demand increases ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property

The ‘M25’ office market returned to pre-recessionary levels in 2015 as take-up reached 4.25 million sq ft, which is the highest recorded figure since 2007. Given the higher levels of demand in the regional commercial property market, take-up is predicted to reach 4.5 million sq ft for 2016. The research by Savills claims that the ‘Western Sector’ was the strongest performer in the market within the M25 during 2015, where 1.91 million sq ft was transacted, which accounted for 44 percent of total take-up. Improving economic conditions combined with a reduction in grade B and C office space, due to permitted development rights, meant that 62 percent of space transacted was for grade A space. Total supply currently stands at 18.34 million sq ft, which is a 7 percent decrease from 2014, not helped by the fact that approximately one million sq ft of office space has been converted to residential uses since 2014.

January 30, 2016

Coworking goes mainstream + Sit stand working + Future for tech offices ⁰

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, Flexible working, Newsletter, Property, Wellbeing, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s Insight newsletter; Mark Eltringham analyses the impact of the sit-stand movement and suggests that the I-phone is a very isolating piece of equipment; Georgi Georgiev says remote work is no longer just a freelancer’s game; and Paul Goodchild explains why co-working is shaping office design more than you’d imagine. A new report outlines the key future property trends for TMT workplaces; parents are at greater risk of burn out as they strive for work life balance; fewer than one in ten (8 percent) of UK organisations currently have a standalone wellbeing strategy; the positive benefits of active work are revealed and the UK’s CEO’s worries about cyber-risks. Download the latest issue of Work&Place and access an Insight Briefing produced in partnership with Connection, which looks at agile working in the public sector. Visit our new events page, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.