July 28, 2022

Personal space is not merely an issue of hygiene, but a biological imperative

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Wellbeing, Workplace design

The current debate about how much space we will need in the office from now on is not new. As with many of the debate’s facets, the point at which we find ourselves has long been our destination. We’re just here earlier than we might have expected. (more…)

July 8, 2022

Flex office space market in UK set to increase by half over next four years

by Neil Franklin • Company news, Property

Hybrid working policies are driving demand in the flexible workspace market as companies are using coworking and serviced offices at record levels. In its annual UK Market Update Report, The Instant Group’s data claims that demand for flex office space across the country is up 22 percent in the last 12 months. Cities – such as Leeds and Manchester are leading the way in this increase although there are also signs of a recovery in central London. The size of the space being taken with flex operators has also increased by 44 percent since the pandemic as larger companies incorporate more flexible workspace in their real estate portfolios. (more…)

June 30, 2022

The fifteen minute city will transform the way we think about workplaces

by Wybo Wijnbergen • Cities, Features, Flexible working, Property

For most of history, there have been a small number of immovable truisms that formed the nature of what work is, and how communities form around it. While individuals have long held some agency around the structure and pattern of their work, being present in a communal workplace has been a non-negotiable reality. This need to work from an office comes wed with parallel requirements to help facilitate it. Employees have been willing to strike a compromise between where they wish to live and where they want to work through commutes, with the financial and time cost and associated stress that comes along with it. (more…)

June 23, 2022

BCO Conference challenges the office sector to up its game

by Jo Sutherland • Features, Property

Regarded as one of the property sector’s leading events, the BCO Annual Conference saw key players from all parts of the office industry flock to Manchester – the vibrant, modern cosmopolitan powerhouse that is celebrated around the world for being the UK’s most competitive, economically productive, liveable and vibrant region. In her keynote, Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said that the most demanding, challenging and important priority is climate change, closely followed by making a positive difference to the lives of the people who live and work in the city. (more…)

June 7, 2022

Offices remain key to hybrid working strategy, claims report

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Property

Hybrid work adoption is growing and becoming a permanent element of the future of work, according to the new Workforce Preferences Barometer report [registration] from real estate firm JLL. However, the report’s authors also conclude that, as employee expectations and reality reach an equilibrium, the continuing use of offices remains pivotal to work routines. (more…)

May 29, 2022

Decarbonisation of buildings key to cities hitting net zero targets

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

City governments are setting ambitious sustainability targets, often well ahead of national goals; yet plans to tackle the carbon emissions from buildings are frequently given insufficient attention. To deliver an effective plan for the decarbonisation of buildings, partnerships with landlords, investors, developers and occupiers are essential, the report claims. In a study of 32 global urban centres, Decarbonising Cities and Real Estate, JLL’s research claims that real estate’s contribution to emissions averages 60 percent, even higher in the world’s largest business centres – as much as 78 percent in London, 73 percent in Tokyo, 71 percent in Washington, DC, 70 percent in Paris and 66 percent in New York. (more…)

May 23, 2022

Coworking workstation price jumps nine percent

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property

Between January 2021 and January 2022, the average price for a monthly hot desk rental at a coworking space increased by 9 percent globally, according to the latest report from Coworking Insights, a news source for analysis of the flexible workspace industry. Coworking Insights’ 2022 Hot Desk Price Index Report [paywall] compares pricing from 19,500 coworking spaces in 172 countries across six continents to provide evidence of the demand for shared workspace. (more…)

May 19, 2022

Firms rethink office portfolios to accommodate hybrid working

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property

A significant majority of businesses, (68 percent) expect to be promoting a more regular return to the office by the middle of this year, according to the latest EMEA Occupier Sentiment Survey from real estate advisor CBRE. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23 percent) said the process is already underway, with 45 percent focussing on the remainder of H1 as the return period. However, nearly three quarters are doing so as part of a shift to hybrid working. (more…)

May 12, 2022

ESG ambitions should top organisational agendas

by Siobhan Byrnes • Comment, Environment, Wellbeing

When the idea of ESG (environmental, social and governance credentials) first surfaced nearly two decades ago in a 2005 United Nations report, it was just an acronym businesses were trying to understand and get to grips with. But in the last few years, ESG strategies have gathered steam – it has become integral to C-Suite strategy and business purpose, and is a deal-breaker not just for investors but also for those considering new roles. In fact, a recent report revealed that job-seekers are turning down job offers by companies showcasing weak ESG credentials, a sure sign of the importance of substantive ESG policies for potential talent. Most of the larger conglomerates (if not all) have set targets to reach net-zero by a set date – ranging from as early as 2025 to anywhere within the next two decades. But is this going far enough for employees, stakeholders, future talent, and more broadly, for society? (more…)

May 11, 2022

Facilities managers: you never noticed us because we did such a great job

by Simon Heath • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

Getting all hot under the collar about brushed chrome door furniture is an understandable but classic displacement activity when much of your work is messy, unglamorous and even occasionally dangerous. You work alongside designers and architects and look longingly at their apparent casual trendiness and clean lines, marvelling at the quality of the beech from sustainably managed European forestries (kiln dried to 10-12 per cent moisture content) with which they have specified the side tables in reception. Achingly cool and effortless in a way you feel you’ll never be.

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May 5, 2022

Retrofit is essential for the UK’s stock of poor performing commercial property

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News, Property

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has published a guide that calls on businesses to retrofit the country’s poorly performing stock of commercial buildings. From 2025, every commercial building in the UK will require an energy performance certificate (EPC) which rates its energy efficiency from grade A to G. The Government is seeking to strengthen these standards and has proposed that all commercial properties being let have a minimum EPC rating of at least ‘B’ by 2030 and is considering a possible interim requirement of level ‘C’ by 2027. Buildings which fail to meet these new standards would require owners and landlords of commercial buildings to upgrade their stock. (more…)

May 2, 2022

Five new companies join Urban Land Institute net zero carbon goal

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

The Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance announced today that five more of its real estate members have aligned to ULI Greenprint’s net zero carbon operations goal. These real estate leaders join the 25 ULI Greenprint members that have already adopted this goal to reduce the carbon emissions of their collective portfolio under operational control to net zero by the year 2050. (more…)