Steve Jobs had it right: the office is a hub for creativity January 7, 2021 IN 1986 Steve Jobs became the majority shareholder of a little-known company called the Lucasfilm Graphics Group. For the small sum of $5 million, Jobs acquired a motley crew of 40 computer scientists and graphic artists. But it wasn’t long before the company started making a loss. Products weren’t shifting. Something had to give. Under [...]
Wework unsure over long-term liquidity due to how Covid-19 changed the way we work January 6, 2021 Flexible office space giant Wework has raised concerns over its long-term future after the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a dramatic shift to remote-working. The company said today that it has sufficient liquidity to “mitigate the near-term uncertainty associated with Covid-19”. However it said the key judgements in relation to approving the company’s accounts as a going [...]
Majority of London offices cancel Christmas parties in face of new restrictions October 28, 2020 Almost all London offices have parked the tinsel and cancelled their Christmas parties this year, according to new research, as the capital faces a bleak festive season under Tier 2 restrictions. More than 95 per cent of London businesses have cancelled bookings for traditional office parties this Christmas, after the capital’s move to “high” alert [...]
The We Company drops name and returns to Wework October 14, 2020 Wework parent firm The We Company has dropped its “We” moniker and returned to its better-known name, as the company seeks to scale back its business operations in the wake of the pandemic. Wework, which provides shared office spaces in more than 38 countries around the world, said the move reflected its attempts to “strengthen [...]
There’s no place like work: Office spaces still have a future September 28, 2020 There is talk that working from home has become so ingrained and that the old working arrangements are so untenable in this new socially distanced and digitally enhanced world, that it will force city centre offices to be entirely repurposed — and perhaps turned into vertical rabbit hutch towers of studio flats. This debate is [...]
The realities of the four-day working week September 23, 2020 Many publications have recently covered the news of how 500,000 new jobs could be created through a four-day working week. While the reality of this extensive job creation remains to be seen, there are certainly those across the nation who can comment on the general effectiveness of a four-day working week. Most UK employers still [...]
Employers must reassure staff that offices are not only safe, but the same buzzy environment they left six months ago August 28, 2020 Yesterday, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, the boss of the CBI, issued a rallying cry to the Prime Minister to do something about Britain’s “ghost towns”. The message was simple — give people confidence to return to the workplace, or the once thriving businesses in the commercial centres of our cities will be doomed. She is absolutely [...]
Why your gloomy office is holding you back: the case for better workplace design February 24, 2020 Whatever industry you’re in, most companies will tell you that their biggest cost is talent. That’s why the prediction that stress-related illnesses will be the main cause of sickness in 2020, accounting for 44 per cent of all work-related absences, should be a big concern. One source of this stress is technology, which has altered [...]
Suffering from choice paralysis? How to defeat the indecision epidemic January 24, 2020 A clearly important decision gets delayed multiple times — or not made at all — causing office-wide frustration. It’s a situation that will sound all too familiar for many of us. In the past, we used to suffer from too few options to choose from; today, we suffer from too many. Abundance of choices has [...]
Build it better: How the office of the future can help save the planet January 23, 2020 Climate change is the headline topic in Davos this week, where business leaders and politicians have gathered for the World Economic Forum. Activist Greta Thunberg told the gathered elite that their inaction over the climate was “fuelling the flames by the hour”. While many may dismiss her warnings (President Donald Trump earlier urged leaders to [...]