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 [...]
Barclays wants young people to learn real life skills, so it’s putting them in a virtual reality box in lieu of work experience April 20, 2016 You simply can't underestimate the importance of work experience. Most employers will tell you that a short internship in a real life office does far more than a university course in preparing you for the working world. Keen to show young people what a real workspace is like, Barclays has launched a virtual reality "LifeSkills Pod" for students at Lister [...]
Corporate co-working: How big firms can benefit April 15, 2016 You may already be familiar with the basic concept of co-working – shared office clubs, which provide businesses with the flexibility to grow at their own pace and a community to readily tap for business leads, assistance and ideas. Once the preserve of freelancers and startups in deepest Shoreditch, today co-working clubs can be found [...]
Boris Johnson delays public hearing over £800m Bishopsgate Goods Yard development after opposition to plans April 14, 2016 Boris Johnson has delayed a decision over £800m plans for a towering high-rise scheme in London's East End, which opponents have warned would "destroy the heart of Shoreditch". The Bishopsgate Goods Yard site, a joint venture between Hammerson and Ballymore, has faced fierce opposition from Hackney Council and campaign groups including More Light More Power on the grounds that [...]
Proptech: Accelerator Pi Labs moves out of Tech City to partner with housing start-up The Collective April 6, 2016 So much for the benefits of being based in Tech City. Pi Labs, property-focused tech accelerator aimed at helping start-ups become the next big thing, has decided to ditch east London altogether after announcing a deal with property firm The Collective that will take it to Bloomsbury instead. Pi Labs, set up two years ago by Cushman & Wakefield [...]
How innovation is transforming the property industry March 29, 2016 A wave of innovation is transforming Britain’s property industry. A younger generation of motivated millennials in their early to mid 20s is coming in, looking at the traditional ways that companies have been doing things and recognising that demand has moved on and people want something different – and increasingly more social – from real estate. [...]
Five radical ideas for the new London mayor’s to do list, including car-sharing, devolution and the green belt March 15, 2016 In the fifteen years since five million Londoners chose Ken Livingstone as their first directly-elected mayor, Greater London has been transformed. The capital’s population has grown by one-fifth, and today London’s reputation as a global centre for finance and business is complemented by world-class universities, a rapidly expanding visitor economy, and growing tech, creative industries [...]
What does your desk say about you? The five workplace personalities March 8, 2016 What do your colleagues think when they look at your desk? We teamed up with the director of Space Works Consulting Lily Bernheimer to run through the secrets of office desk psychology. Clutterer Cluttered, chaotic, colourful: this is the desk of an extrovert. Extoverts are excitement seekers and get easily bored without stimulation, so they [...]
Office boom fuels rise in profits at workspace provider Regus March 1, 2016 Regus shares climbed higher yesterday after the workspace provider posted a 67 per cent jump in annual profits and hiked its dividend. The company, which has over 2,700 centres across across 977 towns and cities worldwide, reported pre-tax profits of £145.7m in 2015, on sales up 15.9 per cent to £1.9bn. Underlying earnings per share rose by 51 per [...]
Business landlord Workspace sells five London buildings for £64m February 11, 2016 Small business landlord Workspace has sold off five industrial buildings across London for £64m as it looks to raise cash to invest back into new schemes. The FTSE 250-listed group, which owns and manages 80 properties let to 4,000 growing companies, said the industrial estates had an average rent of £9.07 per sq ft and were sold at a [...]