September 8, 2021

Landlords and occupiers must work together to meet climate change challenge

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Flexible working, News, Property

Disruption, cost, building style, individual goals, responsibility and shared space are cited as the key sustainability challenges for the flexible office sector, according to the latest research report from The Instant Group. But while there is still a lot of work to be done in the sector as the role of the workplace evolves, Instant says that flex operators have an opportunity to lead the way in meeting the challenge of climate change. By creating innovative, low-carbon buildings, curating a clear engagement strategy with occupiers and landlords, and ensuring a low-carbon ambition is understood and adopted by everyone, flex operators can be the first to implement highly sustainable workplaces. (more…)

September 7, 2021

Climate change action highlighted by coalition ahead of Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day at COP26

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Following the sobering message from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, a coalition led by C40, the Global Alliance for Building and Construction (GlobalABC), The Resilience Shift, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) announce #BuildingToCOP26 — a partnership to promote radical collaboration for climate change action ahead of the Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day at COP26. (more…)

September 7, 2021

Stronger profit margins and job opportunities as demand for facilities management increases

by Jayne Smith • Business, Facilities management, News

Workloads, profit margins and employment opportunities are set to continue to grow for the year ahead due to increasing demand for facilities management services, according to the latest RICS UK Facilities Management Market Survey. (more…)

August 26, 2021

Working from home: how far we’ve come and where we might be headed

by Georgina Smith • Comment, Flexible working, Workplace design

We’ve all learnt a great deal about working from home over the past eighteen months. We’ve seen how for some, it can be incredibly beneficial to employees, enabling them to better balance their work and personal lives and can also benefit the company, enabling business as usual during the Covid-19 pandemic, even improving efficiency. It’s also prompted some important conversations about mental health that simply hadn’t been had, normalising the challenges that we all face, especially during lockdowns. (more…)

August 17, 2021

Return to office doesn’t mean occupiers have lost sight of flexibility, claims report

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Property

Offices will repopulate over the remainder of this year, led by small companies – those with fewer than 100 employees, according to the EMEA Occupier Survey of 130 companies from real estate advisor CBRE. The survey found that small companies are further advanced in their return to office. Over 80 percent of small companies report all locations are now open. This compares with only a third of the largest companies, although a majority of them have opened more than half of their sites. (more…)

August 13, 2021

The future of work will be shaped by the needs of workers

by Neil Franklin • News, Workplace design

As the UK government has withdrawn its advice for employees to work from home, more organisations than ever will be instituting what have become known as hybrid working models: 68 percent globally, according to research from Steelcase. Definitions of “hybrid work”, however, are often contradicting and unclear – leaving business leaders without definitive guidance about how to approach the future of work. To provide businesses with a more concrete view of what hybrid working looks like in reality, and provide tangible actions to help streamline productivity and collaboration, Steelcase have researched the experiences and needs of workers worldwide in their report: Changing Expectations and the Future of Work. (more…)

August 10, 2021

WeWork partners with Cushman & Wakefield on flexible working offer

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Flexible working, Property

WeWork, arguably the world’s most talked-about flexible space providers, and Cushman & Wakefield, the global real estate services firm, have announced they have entered into an exclusive strategic partnership to market both landlords and businesses on WeWork’s management experience platform and on several new jointly developed ideas aligned with the new appetite for flexible working. (more…)

August 5, 2021

London office leasing activity gathers momentum in Q2 2021

by Jayne Smith • News, Property

There was a spring in the step of the central London office market in Q2 2021 with more businesses committing to new office space, as plans to return to workplaces took shape. Research by DeVono Cresa claims that just over 1.98 million sq ft was transacted, representing an upturn of 21 percent on the previous quarter and the highest quarterly total since the outbreak of the pandemic. (more…)

July 22, 2021

Hybrid working poses challenges of culture, morale and training

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working culture

As increasing numbers of companies offer post-pandemic hybrid working for employees, the challenges it poses to maintaining culture, morale, effective training and staff loyalty have been disclosed in a new survey of senior executives. (more…)

July 19, 2021

Thought Machine and LABS agree major deal for new Bloomsbury HQ

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Property

Thought Machine, core banking technology company, has agreed to lease all 67,000 sq ft, at 7 Herbrand Street, WC1, in a bespoke deal with leading flexible workspace provider LABS. The building will become its new London headquarters to support its ambitious growth plans. (more…)

June 17, 2021

Suburban commercial property markets outperform City Centres for first time in a decade

by Jayne Smith • Flexible working, News, Working lives

Research from The Instant Group claims that suburban commercial property markets are outperforming City Centres for the first time in over ten years. The increased demand is largely being driven by those who no longer want to work from home, but don’t want to be back in larger cities. (more…)

June 14, 2021

Never mind the agile workplace, here is something you already know

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Workplace design

The myth has it that John Lydon’s audition for the Sex Pistols consisted largely of wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt with the words I HATE scrawled above the prog rock group’s name. It appealed to the new band’s managers and its existing members at a time when they needed a singer with the right attitude as much as the right chops. Before Lydon’s involvement, bass guitarist Glen Matlock had taken to approaching anybody he saw of his age group with short hair to ask them if they could sing. This was a time when everybody had long hair.