January 25, 2024

Forty percent of firms expect people to work from the office five days a week

Virgin Media O2 Business’ first full-year Movers Index claims that 2023 was the year of the ‘Great Office Return’, with 40 percent of companies returning to a five-day office working week, despite more than half (55 percent) of workers experiencing public transport delays of an hour or more on their commute. The Movers Index claims that businesses and consumers alike are doubling down on getting the most value for every pound spent amid the cost-of-living crisis. (more…)

January 25, 2024

BCO’s new research agenda sets out a new vision for the office

by Jayne Smith • Facilities management, News, Property

The British Council for Offices has unveiled its new research agenda, which will it says will aim to guide and inspire the office sector amid disruption. The BCO says the agenda is a direct response to the current and ongoing dynamics in the office sector. The publication aims to lay the groundwork for a new vision of the office as an economically productive, occupier-first, technologically enabled and sustainable part of our built environment. (more…)

January 25, 2024

The final word on … responsibility

by Mark Eltringham • Business, Comment

There have been many experiments over the years that expose the darker aspects of human nature. One of the most telling of these was carried out by two American researchers called John Darley and Bibb Latane in 1968. The two men’s work was partly inspired by a notorious 1964 murder in which a woman called Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in public. The murder took place over a period of around half an hour, during which a number of witnesses who watched the crime from their windows failed to help the victim.

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January 24, 2024

ARCHITECT@WORK set to welcome architects and designers to its March show

by Freddie Steele • Architecture, Company news, Events, Workplace design

On 20th and 21st March ARCHITECT@WORK London will open its doors at the Truman Brewery and the team are ready to welcome the architecture and design community from London and everywhere else on both days. Discover over 200 carefully selected product innovations brought to you by a selection of high-end brands. Register online and get your visitor badge. Admission is free for all trade visitors. (more…)

January 24, 2024

Chance to retrofit offices is going begging, report claims

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched new guidance on retrofitting large office buildings. Setting out the most cost- and carbon-effective retrofit measures in the immediate and longer term, the guidance reframes retrofit as an iterative process rather than a standalone project. UKGBC has found that significant opportunities are being missed by office investors, owners, and occupiers who do not have clear strategies to retrofit offices in place. Firstly, through missing the “easy wins” –low cost, low disruption measures that reduce energy consumption – and secondly, through missing key “trigger points” in lease and maintenance cycles that facilitate easier, more efficient retrofit. (more…)

January 23, 2024

Landlords and occupiers don’t see eye to eye on the decarbonisation of real estate

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Progress on the decarbonisation of real estate portfolios is being held back by a lack of understanding and collaboration between property owners and occupiers, according to a new report from the Urban Land Institute C Change programme. If better alignment between the two parties is not prioritised, it has the potential to increase total emissions from the built environment over the medium to long-term as real estate decisions are often medium to long-term commitments, according to the authors. (more…)

January 23, 2024

Salford’s record breaking sustainable office building reaches completion

by Freddie Steele • Environment, News, Property

The City of Salford is now home to Eden, one of the UK’s most sustainable office buildings, containing Europe’s largest living wall. From the site of a derelict surface car park with no benefits to the people of Salford, English Cities Fund (ECF) has created a 115,000 sq ft development that will transform this neglected urban area into a diverse mixed-use destination and form a key part of ECF’s £1bn regeneration of the Salford Central area. (more…)

January 22, 2024

Third of UK adults experience a high level of stress each year

by Neil Franklin • News, Wellbeing

Over a third of adults experienced high or extreme levels of pressure and stress always or often in the past year (35 percent), according to the new annual report from Mental Health UK. The report warns that the UK is at risk of becoming a ‘burnt-out nation’. Against a backdrop of rising levels of people out of work due to long-term sickness, the polling of over 2,000 UK adults by YouGov for the Mental Health UK reveals that one in five workers (20 percent) needed to take time off due to poor mental health caused by pressure or stress in the past year. (more…)

January 22, 2024

Regional divides, falling incomes, booming jobs markets; and lower productivity. The current state of the UK

by Neil Franklin • Business, Cities, News

No part of the UK has escaped the impact of the flatlining of the UK economy since 2010, according to new analysis published by the Centre for Cities in its Cities Outlook 2024 report. At the national level, people have been left with £10,200 less to spend or save on average since 2010 than if the economy had grown at pre-2010 trends. The report also suggests that a marked rise in employment has happened in parallel with overall falling productivity. (more…)

January 22, 2024

Woven Image adds five new colours to its acoustic offering

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture

The allure of the natural world is the inspiration for Woven Image’s extended colour palette with 5 new colours: dusk, mint, butter, cayenne and nutmeg. By embracing the ongoing evolution of colour and textural finishes in the built environment, these portfolio refreshments from Woven Image support interior designers and architects to deliver sustainable, acoustic solutions that evoke moods of relaxation and happiness through clever function and aesthetics. (more…)

January 21, 2024

Senator Group opens new showroom in Dubai

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Furniture

Dubai has long been the destination of choice to showcase the most iconic of British Designs, and now it is the home to The Senator Group’s newest showroom. The 3700 square foot space is nestled in Dubai’s Marina Plaza, a 28-story tower with panoramic views of the marina, city, and desert. Visitors to the showroom will fully experience, ‘The Social Office’, which blends the Senator and Allermuir brands to create a fluid and flexible contemporary working space. The concept was developed to address the challenges of every organisation, how can we align people and space efficiently, to nurture productivity and culture? How can we create human-centred environments with the right mix of focus, privacy, and collaboration? (more…)

January 18, 2024

British workers don’t want people to think of them as ambitious

by Neil Franklin • Business, News

Ambition is a word now out of favour in the British workplace, according to Randstad’s latest global Workmonitor survey [registration] with workers in the UK less willing to describe themselves as ambitious than workers in other countries. The research, which surveyed 27,000 workers in 34 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas, shows that while more than half (56 percent) of workers globally consider themselves to be ambitious, only 42 percent of workers in the UK do. Workers in other countries — including China (80 percent), Malaysia (73 percent), and India (90 percent) — are more likely to describe themselves as “having career ambition”. (more…)