Car Free Day can put businesses on the road to flexibility September 22, 2016 Today is World Car Free Day – an initiative designed to raise awareness of green issues and sustainability. Several places in the UK are closing roads in support of the project, including Lambeth, which is closing Cornwall Road to cars on Saturday 24 September. While such ‘world event’ days are becoming increasingly commonplace, corporates would do well [...]
London’s the most expensive place in the world to locate a tech startup September 15, 2016 London is the most expensive place in the world to locate a startup, with the average cost of renting office space in Shoreditch outstripping that of San Francisco, Brooklyn and 19 other tech and creative hubs around the globe, putting at risk the city's potential of producing its very own Google. The cost of renting business space in the [...]
The right business partner: Here are five things that’ll ensure a match made in heaven September 15, 2016 In business there is nothing more important to leadership and organisational success than partnership. While these are often pre-planned, sometimes they can sprout when you least expect it – it’s worth keeping an open mind. I met my co-chief executive on a beach in Thailand. I can safely say that wasn’t in my itinerary when I [...]
How the office of the future will lure staff back from home August 22, 2016 Today's workers are nomads. But tomorrow’s workers are less likely to be. Two thirds of workers say that they work more productively in the office than anywhere else, according to a new survey we have conducted, and half say that working away from the office makes them feel stressed and disconnected from colleagues. As businesses [...]
Peter Thiel-backed “Airbnb for work space” eyes London July 4, 2016 Move over co-working spaces, there's a new way of working in town. A US startup similar to Airbnb but for renting office space and meeting rooms in the short-term that's backed by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures has expanded to London. Targeting startups which often want to keep costs low, as well as those looking for a more professional alternative [...]
Opinion: Why canny investors need only look for co-working spaces to find London’s housing hotspots June 16, 2016 London’s biggest employment story during the last decade is Tech City, surrounding Old Street Roundabout. In recent years Tech City has undergone significant redevelopment, with investment from companies such as Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel and McKinsey & Co. Now the third largest tech cluster in the world, it generates 27 per cent of London job [...]
Euro 2016: Why those that catch the match should not be red-carded June 14, 2016 The European football championship in France has thrown up something of a dilemma for fans of the beautiful game – and placed the UK’s working patterns under scrutiny. The much anticipated England vs Wales match has been allocated a 2pm kick-off on Thursday 16 June. For the UK’s workforce – and bosses – the timing could not be much [...]
Over half of City workers think they will have changed jobs by this time next year June 6, 2016 Cuts to bonuses and stagnant salaries are causing many workers in the Square Mile to consider jumping ship. As a result, more than half of City workers do not believe that they will be doing the same job in a year’s time, research released today indicates. The poll, conducted by recruitment firm Astbury Marsden, suggests that [...]
The key to a good meeting: Why you need to start doing things on the move May 23, 2016 We all know what it’s like. A meeting is called and you can see at least an hour disappear from your day. Unfocused meetings are a drain on productivity, with research estimating that only 44 per cent of meeting time is actually valuable to a business. What’s more, the average office worker spends nine hours each [...]
WhatsApp’s new desktop app is about to ruin workplace productivity May 11, 2016 As if an Internet full of listicles, cat videos, Twitter storms (and perhaps the odd bit of news) weren't enough of a distraction while you're trying to get some work done, there's a new diversion from the daily grind coming to your desktop. Messaging app WhatsApp is escaping the confines of your smartphone and has now arrived on Windows PCs and Apple Macs [...]