4 opinion
Southampton will steal a march on some other cities in the UK by being among the first 16 to get 4G – the superfast mobile network
The strangely-named EE has announced that it will roll out 4G very soon, allowing downloads and streaming on your mobile at five times the speed of the current 3G network.
You may say, so what? But cities that have the latest and fastest communications are very attractive to businesses. Why locate in a city with old technology when you can choose one with the best available?
Even more important than mobile comms, in our opinion, is for businesspeople to be able to work with the fastest and most easily-accessible broadband wireless systems.
We think that cities that want to compete with the best in Europe and the US should adopt free public wifi. London adopted a free wifi zone for the Olympics – and Paris and New York are among cities that have had free wifi zones for some time.
We want to see Reading, Oxford, and other major business centres in the south jump ahead of their competitors and go wireless throughout the city.
Meanwhile, the Government should press further ahead with its strategy of bringing broadband to rural areas. We need a fully-working comms infrastructure before we need new roads…
David Murray Publisher
www.businessmag.co.uk
41% flexi-work to avoid commuting
With the holidays over it‘s business as usual on the roads for local commuters and back-to- school traffic amplifies the pain of commuting, but employers are finally taking action.
New research commissioned by Regus, the world‘s largest provider of flexible workplaces, suggests that many employers are finally freeing staff from the daily commute, with over two in five professionals (41%) in Hampshire able to work from locations other than the company‘s main offices for at least half the week. This helps them reduce the cost and stress of commuting and reclaim the hours lost in limbo between their work and home lives.
The research found that this new flexible workstyle benefits employers as well as staff. 59% of Hampshire workers report that they put in longer hours when they don‘t have to commute, highlighting the link between
flexible location and productivity. 68% also say they spend more time with their partner and family and half spend more time exercising and getting fitter.
For the two in five professionals who are genuine flexible workers, it seems that the key to success is having a choice of ‘third places‘ – neither their home nor their office – such as local business centres and co-working hubs that allow them to avoid domestic distractions without a commute.
One example of a firm in the region that has reduced the need to commute is Portsmouth- based business and education consultancy, The IBD Partnership. Raja Ali, CEO, commented: “I know from personal experience that commuting is a mental and physical drain, and one that easily knocks work-life balance out of kilter and saps productivity. With our staff we try to be flexible and work where, when and how
it suits us to get the job done most effectively – whether that‘s at home, in the office, in a local business centre or on the move.
“It is true that working flexibly to avoid commuting involves a rethink of how you approach workspace.
In my business, we
no longer have a fixed desk for each member of staff. Personally, rather than commuting into Portsmouth all the time, I often work out of the Regus centre on the Solent Business Park in Whiteley simply because it‘s nearer to where I live. I can walk to work rather than having a 30-minute drive.
“My family benefits from this, and so does my work performance.“
Steve Purdy, UK managing director at Regus, commented: “Fortunately the number of professionals now able to choose between different work locations is substantial, although too many firms equate flexible working with home working. We are seeing a growing number of people working several days a week at our centres to avoid commuting to their offices.
“Traffic congestion is reported to be one of the major sources of stress, so it is highly significant that workers reveal that the time saved on commuting would be spent on health and wellbeing activities such as getting fitter and spending time with family. Confirming previous Regus research linking happier and healthier workers to greater productivity, more than half of professionals say they devote at least some of the time saved on commutes to working more. So the benefits of flexible working are twofold, on the one hand workers are more relaxed and healthy and on the other they are also more productive benefiting the business.“
Marketing seminars on offer
Companies with a turnover of between £250,000 and £20 million are benefiting from a series of free marketing seminars run by Barclays in association with Regus and Fareham-based Logical Creative Marketing (LCM).
The series of six seminars, entitled The Power of Marketing, will run twice, and continue into 2013.
“The seminars are top quality and we are delighted to support the region‘s businesses in this way,“ commented Dan Brogan, Barclays‘ area business manager for Solent and the Isle of Wight.
The next takes place on October 11, from 5-7.30pm at Regus in Whiteley and will focus on PR and social media, followed by branding on November 22.
In the November issue of The Business Magazine
• Technology • Solent 250 list revealed • Taxation • Asset-based lending • Focus on Basingstoke • Outsourcing • International trade roundtable
Details: 0118-9766411
sales@elcot.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – OCTOBER 2012
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