Search Results for: sustain

ESG ambitions should top organisational agendas

ESG ambitions should top organisational agendas

by • Comment, Environment, Wellbeing

ESGWhen 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…)

Flexible working now arriving at aisle three

Flexible working now arriving at aisle three

by • Flexible working, News

flexible working tescoRemote workers might soon be able to do their jobs and shop for groceries at the same time, under a new “Spaces” project between Tesco and flexible office operator IWG. A trial at a branch of Tesco in New Malden that will start later in this month and will accommodate 12 private desks, 30 co-working spaces and a meeting room. The 3,800 sq ft space within the store would normally have been used for electrical goods, music, and other forms of entertainment, most of which are now mainly purchased online. The aim is to make better use of floor space and, if successful, Tesco stores across the country could become flexible working hubs. (more…)

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

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

by • Comment, Facilities management, Workplace design

facilities managersGetting 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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Nature based solutions have the potential to transform cities and buildings

Nature based solutions have the potential to transform cities and buildings

by • Architecture, Cities, Environment, News

nature based solutionsThe UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched a new framework to help organisations and planners to recognise the significant value and benefit of nature-based solutions across urban developments. The report claims to reveal the scale of positive outcomes which Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) can deliver, as well as the wide range of stakeholders who can benefit from their implementation across cities and urban areas. (more…)

BCO honours the best workplaces in South of England and South Wales

BCO honours the best workplaces in South of England and South Wales

by • News, Property

BCO South West AwardsSix South of England and South Wales workplaces have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices’ (BCO) Regional Awards. The South of England and South Wales Awards Dinner returned in-person at We the Curious at Bristol Harbourside, recognising the highest quality developments in the South of England and South Wales and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. (more…)

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

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

by • Environment, News, Property

commercial property retrofitThe 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…)

British Council for Offices honours the North’s best workplaces at annual Regional Awards

British Council for Offices honours the North’s best workplaces at annual Regional Awards

by • News, Property, Workplace design

Six workplaces across the North of England and Northern Ireland have been recognised at the annual British Council for Offices (BCO) Regional Awards today. The Northern BCO Awards dinner returned in-person to the Kimpton Clocktower in Manchester, recognising the North’s highest quality developments and setting the standard for excellence in the office sector across the UK. (more…)

We need to seize the chance to make our buildings far more intelligent

We need to seize the chance to make our buildings far more intelligent

by • Comment, Environment, Property, Workplace design

Even before the pandemic, statistics were making the case for workplaces to be made up of more intelligent buildings. This includes the fact that offices generally operate at around 55-60 percent utilisation, and as we return to the office are currently at 45 percent utilisation. From presenteeism to absenteeism and many other factors in between, workplaces have seldom been utilised by entire workforces at the same time. However, the prevailing approach has been for firms to drive an office setup with one-to-one desking – a seat for every employee, even though five in 10 would not be in at any one time. (more…)

Flexible working means half of workers says they are more able to be ‘themselves’

Flexible working means half of workers says they are more able to be ‘themselves’

by • Flexible working, News

flexible workingA poll from Perkbox claims that moves towards hybrid and flexible working are changing the workplace experience for employees across the UK, with 57 percent feeling freer to be ‘themselves’ in this environment. This is particularly strong for women – 61 percent say they feel freer to be themselves when remote and hybrid working compared to 51 percent of men. In addition, 55 percent of employees say that remote and hybrid working has been a huge step forward in supporting more diverse and inclusive working environments. (more…)

Experimentation is the name of the game

Experimentation is the name of the game

by • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working, Workplace design

Uncertain times call for different measures and approaches, the old rules and playbooks are no longer applicable – so what are you going to do? Sit around, stagnate, hanker after old solutions trying to manipulate and squeeze them into new, unknowable, untried paradigms? No! One thing human beings are fairly good at is evolving and adapting to new and unknown situations and as we all know, being flexible and  accepting change creates resilience and ensures survival. (more…)

Facilities Managers should be seen as stewards of corporate culture

Facilities Managers should be seen as stewards of corporate culture

by • Comment, Facilities management

hybrid working facilities managersThe pandemic has irrevocably changed the way we work. Once considered a place simply to do business, the office is fast becoming a ‘lifestyle choice’ among young people who value more than just a desk. Instead, they want an engaging, healthy, and resilient working environment where they can socialise, make friends, and build connections to help their career and wellbeing thrive. In fact, an EY study found that 90 percent of Generation-Z value the human connection in the workplace above salary when it comes to their at-work communication. A recent Gallup survey even found a tangible link between having a best friend at work and productivity: those who have a best friend in the office are twice as likely to be engaged in their role and company. (more…)

MIPIM revival offers up a pale, stale imitation of life (but there’s hope)

MIPIM revival offers up a pale, stale imitation of life (but there’s hope)

by • Comment, Property

MIPIMIf a week is a long time in politics, then two years in real estate is practically a lifetime. Time enough for an opportunity for MIPIM, the property world’s annual gathering in Cannes to reset itself post-pandemic. Unlike back in London where British Land had offered up space for Ukrainian care packages at its Paddington Central Campus and Quintain also pledge to make space at its Wembley Park space (as reported by Estates Gazette), unfortunately such correct reading of the room wasn’t the case on the Croisette. (more…)

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