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roundtable 41


The Business Magazine staged this roundtable in Slough with sponsors Area Sq, office refurbishment and fit-out specialists within the Fourfront Group of leading commercial interior design companies. Invited representatives from workplace creators to commercial property experts, business park owners to company occupiers provided an interesting mix of views in discussing . . .


The future of work Participants


Rupert Batho: MD Chineham Business Park, Patrizia UK


Sarah Dean: Branch manager Handelsbanken


Matthew Glock: Head of sales engineering EMEA, Fuze


Stephen Head: Business space director Hicks Baker


Leeson Medhurst: Head of workplace consultancy, 360 DS


Charlie Nicholson: Partner Vail Williams Aki Stamatis: Chairman, Fourfront Group Calvin Williams: Sales director, Area Sq


Kris Wood: VP of Northern Europe, Fuze, software provider


Lined up to debate: our roundtable team John Burbedge Reports the roundtable highlights.


Technology is driving our workstyle revolution


The Internet began today’s workstyle revolution. Anytime-anywhere connectivity has provided greater freedom for individuals to live their lives, and increasingly to undertake their work. With the traditional workplace now not always in a set place, the challenge is to create ways to work enjoyably and productively within better workspaces, suggested David Murray.


Flexibility of communications will be key for everyone, and cloud technology was already enabling that workstyle shift, said Kris Wood. He also noted the app generation coming through utilising multiple digital services. “The growing trend is definitely that work is something you do, not a place you go to. Therefore you need communication tools that allow you to work from where you want to be, rather than where you feel you have to be.”


Leeson Medhurst said the future challenge for businesses would be in the appropriate use of their workplaces. ‘Agile working’ and ‘hot-desking environments’ may now be buzz- phrases, but they are becoming office reality.


Fourfront chairman Aki Stamatis spoke about creating ‘intelligent buildings’. “Technology as part of building design is now as critical as the architecture. It’s about how technology physically exists in a building. It needs to be attractive to an employer but also to their multi-generational workforce.


“What Fourfront does has changed in the past decade from fitting out buildings to understanding what workplaces really are and then creating them. For us, it has been a massive mindset change, almost revolutionary, and it will continue.”


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2016


Murray also noted how today’s skilled, digitally-enabled and often multi-generational workforce, with its demands for flexible and remote working, better work-like balance, and at-work facilities, was putting pressure to change on traditional workplaces.


. . . ironically, technology can also be a workplace barrier


Wood suggested another key employer challenge was not only providing an attractive workplace environment but also suitable technology to support the desired workstyle. Employees were now used to using compatible comms platforms in their home and social life, yet in work they were often faced with different, frequently outdated, systems. Such workplace technology could create a barrier to employee engagement, and hold back productivity.


“Businesses need to allow their employees to consume their work applications as easily as they do in their personal life, but with the right layers of security, control and compliance.”


Calvin Williams agreed that for agile working to be successful, businesses should consider upgrading their current technology.


Property consultant Charlie Nicholson mentioned workplace issues brought by BYOD and the speed of tech comm advancement. Costs of technology may have fallen in the consumer world, but for businesses introducing fresh companywide comms systems, which might outdate, the outlay could be a major barrier.


Fellow property specialist Stephen Head felt mobile and compatible tech comms was


David Murray: Managing director of The Business Magazine, chaired the discussion.


essential for modern workstyles. “In our firm, the comms lines are now so blurred that it’s almost impossible to imagine not being able to access all our systems remotely.”


Thames Valley comms infrastructure and connectivity black-spots, even in towns, were still a concern, he noted. “That’s a key driver for occupiers. It’s the first thing they ask about.”


Nicholson agreed, noting that detailed property connectivity reports were now frequently required within landlord and potential occupier discussions.


Infrastructure access used to mean road systems, said business park expert Rupert Batho, but today it involves the property’s technology. “It’s a key aspect for occupiers and


Rupert Batho


Continued overleaf ... businessmag.co.uk


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