44 roundtable ... continued from previous page


other Thames Valley towns in creating an attractive 24/7 culture.


Dean mentioned Handelsbanken research – When you take into account use of online banking, apps, telephone support etc, these days the lion’s share of interactions do not take place face to face; nevertheless over 60% of young people still want to talk to someone in a bank when making important financial decisions. “It’s this interaction piece again, people want to see people. It can be a very difficult balancing act for businesses to create the right workspace for staff and customers.”


Batho felt the pace of workplace change and the growing tension between employees’ desired working environments and employers’ ability to provide them was being driven by significant macro issues:


• The corporate war on talent – recruitment and retention


• The work ethic of upcoming generations eg multi-jobs and various careers


• Where such employees will want to work – “They will be far more agile in a global sense, than just within the Thames Valley.”


preferred human interaction rather than virtual meetings, which they found uncomfortable. “But, if you grow up with such technology, then it’s fine.”


Murray: “So, do you design video- conferencing areas into workplace environments?”


Glock: “Why would you need a specific space or room? It should be available to you wherever you are throughout the workplace technology infrastructure.”


Leeson believes workspace will become less territorial in future. “We will see a trend towards sharing of spaces, like the peer-to-peer networks we have in IT.


“Life-slicing will increase, the boundaries between home and work will become more cloudy.


“Some visionaries are also saying companies will need 30% less space over the next 10 years as we become more agile and technology becomes a bigger enabler.


“Companies don’t actually occupy the space that they perceive they do. But, once they look at their space footfall and traffic and realise that, they will begin to sweat the asset. The actual environment used will still lend itself to the collaboration, sharing and open communication that we have been talking about.”


Murray: Will the workplace need a reception?


Leeson: “Probably not.”


Stamatis: “Many Cisco receptions are already virtual. You walk in and are met by a virtual receptionist, who, through the meeting invitation technology, already recognises you and knows all about who and where you are meeting.” Intelligent buildings like this become their own brands, and landlords who create these buildings have a marketing opportunity to attract more tenants, he suggested.


Kris Wood


Say ‘hello’ to the hologram


Murray asked: “What will future working life be like? In five to ten years time will we still have a working day? Will people just do work when and where they want to?


“Technology allows us to do that right now,” said Wood. Face-to-face meetings will never be replaced by video or Skype, he felt, but such technology does reduce travel time and costs, so businesses welcome it. “However, in some companies travel is a cultural thing and staff prefer to do it.”


Stamatis felt face-to-face meetings were partly a generational divide. Some staff were very used to them,


businessmag.co.uk Calvin Williams THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY –JULY/AUGUST 2016


Head agreed that concierge services, and alternatives to the office reception desk ‘barrier’ were being introduced. Thames Valley landlords were also now willing to embrace provision of a broader workspace environment offering.


David Murray


“Clearly in the years ahead, there is a responsibility on landlords to create flexible, dynamic, vibrant and diverse environments.


“As an industry we have got to make sure that urban and business park environments respond to the challenges of occupiers and the building users, and respect those tensions, going forward.”


Head and Williams indicated that critical mass and commitment would also be required to ensure additional environmental offerings and services within workplaces were market viable.


Fragmented ownerships of specific business parks, with different landlords vying for occupiers, was not helping the common cause of achievement of modern agile workplaces, in a mixed-use environment with amenity provision noted Nicholson.


Head: “The offer for occupiers between town centre and business parks used to be very black and white; the choice used to be out of town parking versus in-town amenity. The lines are now much more blurred.”


Buildings need to be fit for the future


Developers and landlords needed to provide buildings adaptable to occupier demands, stated Williams. Although companies were requiring less overall floorspace, there were many more small companies today, so split floorplates were becoming necessary and more common.


Building flexibility was vital, agreed Batho. Also, occupier requirements and tech comms infrastructure advancement were now making some office premises obsolete. With occupier flight to quality, in certain markets outdated pre-2000 office stock is being released to enable its conversion to residential, he explained. “So, on a macro level, the industry is actually cleansing itself of product that is not fit for purpose.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48