Mark Alker Stone, chairman of the BCO South West of England, Thames Valley and South Wales, calls on Bristol office owners to do more to encourage cycling. The recent BCO report ‘The Market Cycles’ revealed 38 per cent of office workers would consider commuting by bike if their workplace offered better facilities. This report considers the impact of growth in cycling on office specification as well as occupier and investor demand.
Back in 2015, Bristol’s then-mayor unveiled plans to double the number of bike users in the city over 10 years.
The BCO report highlights the need for better cycling facilities at the city’s workplaces and office buildings if such ambitious targets are to be met.
Currently one in ten adults in Bristol cycle at least three times a week and 47 per cent of these are commuting journeys. Bristol Cycling Campaign wants 20 per cent of all Bristol commuting journeys to be by bike by 2020. Bristol’s businesses need to start helping more.
Improved parking facilities could help, with 16 per cent of workers surveyed saying better bike storage would encourage them to cycle. Currently 45 per cent of offices do not have showers, something which almost a quarter of those surveyed said would encourage them to consider commuting by bike.
Overall, 38 per cent of office workers surveyed said that they would consider commuting by bike if their workplace had better or more facilities.
Why better by bike?
The benefits of cycling are well documented from reducing car and traffic pollution to improving health.
Nationally for every £1 invested in cycling, £4 is put back into the local economy. Bristol’s Cycling City programme from 2008 to 2011 showed that for every £1 spent, the city gained as much as £20 of economic benefit.
For Bristol employers, a healthy cycling workforce reduces sick days, increases mental wellbeing and productivity, not to mention helps combat traffic congestion for local deliveries.
Building on success
The good news is the number of people cycling to work is growing. From 2001 to 2011 people commuting by bike rose from 8,108 to 16, 211 (ONS), a growth rate of 100 per cent.
Bristol as European Green Capital in 2015 invested heavily in boosting its cycling infrastructure to 200 miles of cycleways and freeways connecting every area of the city. At least £16 per head of the city’s population is being spent on cycling every year until 2020 through funding secured.
Business zones in the city are integrating cycling infrastructure from the ground up such as Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone near Bristol Temple Meads train station, which has a target of 17,000 new jobs by 2030. A new cycling hub with increased secure storage is planned for the station to meet this demand.
The research shows that, compared to five years ago, cycling provision is increasingly accepted as an integral component of Grade A office specification.
As cycling continues to grow in popularity, workplaces now need to provide facilities which can cope with rising demand, and technology such as mobile apps can play a significant role in addressing this.
Bristol businesses must ensure their service provision for cyclists meets the evolving expectations of today’s worker.
Access the BCO research page to download the report ‘The Market Cycles’
Commissioned by the BCO and prepared by KKS Strategy, the report called‘Corporate Culture: How Office Moves and Office Consolidations can Create Cultural Change’looks at the impact of workspace design and company leadership. Businesses are thinking more carefully about how to manage internal change in the face of profound external change, to protect their most important asset – their people.
In part due to the geopolitical climate, we’re likely to see some profound changes to how companies worldwide operate over the next few years. A number of banks and financial institutions are set to move staff from London to bolster their European operations post Brexit. Technology is also increasingly changing the shape of work, with artificial intelligence holding the potential to alter the shape of our jobs, automating simpler tasks to give people space to think more creatively.
As businesses evolve and change with the times, so too does the workplace. This may involve moving to a new office, altering the layout of an existing one to accommodate growth or a merger, or changing how and where a business operates to meet differing industry standards. We’re also becoming increasingly aware of the role a workplace can play in the well-being and productivity of employees. As such, businesses will need to think carefully about how to manage internal change in the face of profound external change, to protect their most important asset – their people.
Human Resources can, and should, play an important role in this. There is a commonly held misconception that HR is a back-office function. Often, however, HR is a bridge between the commerciality of an organisation and its workforce, and is therefore well placed to help organisations manage workplace change. A recent report from The British Council for Offices (BCO), Corporate Culture – How office moves and consolidations can create cultural change, suggests some key ways HR can be used to do this:
Be involved
Often, HR personnel find themselves brought in to a programme of change at a late stage, with no chance to make a positive input to the process. They’re forced to implement a programme that they may have fundamental reservations about.
Bringing HR in early means that they can use their insights into the organisation to make valuable input, and that they are more likely to feel comfortable with the changes they will be helping to enact.
Be consistent
HR is in a unique position to support the cultural change throughout all stages of the employee life cycle, through recruitment, orientation, appraisals, reward and recognition practices. It has the means to ensure that the desired office culture is reinforced.
For example, if the goal is to engender a collegiate and team-oriented culture, the reward and recognition structures should not be solely focused on the individual. Often, cultural change initiatives fail because there are fundamental contradictions in the behaviour that is sought
and the behaviour that is rewarded.
Be open
Communication with staff is vital to ensure that they have the information they need to feel secure in their position in the wake of upcoming organisational change, with a view to preventing high levels of attrition. The HR department, which often discusses pastoral issues with staff, is a natural choice to facilitate communicating this information.
The thoughts and input of workers throughout the change process should also be gathered, so that the workforce feels engaged and listened to. Focus groups are a tried-and-tested method to achieve this, but HR professionals also have the opportunity to provide an informal ear to concerned workers outside of formal feedback sessions. Throughout, it is important that HR personnel are managing expectations as to the impact this feedback will have, to ensure that trust isn’t lost if staff suggestions aren’t carried out.
Be aware
The HR department can also be used to monitor the success of organisational change. It has access to data such as absences due to sickness, which can be used to understand levels of staff happiness or stress.
As well as this, HR often acts as the cultural thermometer of a company, given its frequent contact with employees daily. Even without needing to look at data, HR should be able to provide useful insights into the success of an organisational change.
Indeed, the best measurement of successful organisational change is a positive and strong corporate culture. It’s difficult to define, but enhances an organisation’s performance and pervades all aspects of the business. A weakened or toxic corporate culture, impacted by poor change management, may result in a failure to meet commercial goals.
For this reason, companies across the globe need to think seriously about how best to make use of HR next time they undergo any kind of workplace change, be it in response to growth or downsizing, a merger or a relocation. By doing this, businesses can create a working environment that not only can survive unanticipated events and crises, but make the most out of today’s frequent and disruptive accelerating challenges.
-Katrina Kostic Samen, Managing Partner at KKS Strategy, and the Senior Vice President of the BCO.
Access the BCO research page to download the report to find out more on corporate culture.
This is from independent UK law firm Burges Salmon LLP considering issues that will shape the future of the headquarter office and which are identified in our research paper: ‘The Future of Corporate Headquarters: Is London’s Dominance Waning?’. You can follow the discussion on the future of the headquarter office by using #futurehq on Twitter.
Yoga, pilates, French-speaking (basic), sewing bees…all pastimes safely confined to the local library on a Monday night, right? Umm no actually… wrong…they’re all activities happening right now in an office near you. ‘Nose to the grindstone’, ‘lunch is for wimps’…now as outdated as Gordon Gekko’s striped braces – all over London and beyond employers are embracing the concept of employee wellbeing. And it makes good business sense to do so.
Stress and mental health issues remain a constant as top causes of long-term employee absence and, as any HR professional will affirm, managing long-term sickness absence is one of the most expensive and disruptive employee issues to deal with. So it follows that an employer that takes positive steps to help reduce the pressures on its employees by improving both their mental and physical wellbeing stands to benefit. As employee engagement and productivity increases, so staff turnover will go down.
A focus on employee wellbeing is also a powerful recruitment tool. With London housing costs forcing people into increasingly long commutes, the prospect of working for an employer that recognises and takes active steps to offset the negative effects of this, is highly attractive. A comfortable, well-designed working environment with the opportunity to participate in activities that the commute would otherwise rule out makes for a winning combination.
Health and wellbeing is one anticipated change to the headquarter office over the next five years. If an employer fails to take heed it could find itself out in the cold.
This is from independent UK law firm Burges Salmon LLP considering issues that will shape the future of the headquartered office and which are identified in our research paper: ‘The Future of Corporate Headquarters: Is London’s Dominance Waning?’. You can follow the discussion on the future of the headquarter office by using #futurehq on Twitter.
People are demanding to work differently – the ‘9-5, job for life’ model is fast becoming outmoded and no more so than in London, where agile working, flexibility and portfolio careers are the buzz words ‘du jour’. So for employers keen to win in the war for talent, an enthusiasm for looking imaginatively at how and where their employees work is key.
With housing costs making central London living out of reach for most, many employees are looking to work for employers who are willing to embrace regular home-working and have in place the technology to allow this. Cutting out the commute can be a win:win for all; offering opportunities for the employer to reduce/reallocate office space and, for the worker, the benefit of valuable time-savings.
However, beware the bear trap that is ‘out of sight out of mind’. Employers’ responsibilities towards their employees don’t stop at the revolving doors in the HQ atrium and the contract of employment may need to be updated accordingly. For example, care needs to be taken to ensure that the home environment offers a safe place of work for the employee and Working Time obligations and data protection requirements must continue to be met. Equally the employer will want to ensure that acceptable confidentiality standards can be maintained and that expectations as to required levels of productivity are clearly understood by the worker.
However, with employees increasingly welcoming the opportunity to work from home on a regular basis, employers who are able to offer this should reap the rewards from this competitive advantage.
On November 22 2016, over 200 office sector professionals gathered for the first ever BCO NextGen Awards. An event which saw awards being given to rising stars within commercial property and to the people and places that inspired them.
Held at U+I’s offices in London, young professionals from across the UK gathered to recognise and celebrate mentors, innovative workplaces and inspirational future leaders of the office sector.
After several months of nominations, shortlisting and judging by panels of NextGen committee leaders, sponsors, members and BCO President, John Forrester, the night finally arrived to reveal the winners.
The BCO NextGen Awards had the privilege of being presented by architect, sustainability champion and TV presenter, Oliver Heath who announced the winners of nine categories: mentor of the year, five regional rising stars, Innovative FitOut, Innovative Workplace and Trailblazer. Read on for details of the winners and pictures of the evening.
The BCO and BCO NextGen would like to say a special thank you to our sponsors U+I, Wates, Aecom, Gardiner & Theobald, Aberdeen Asset, Alinea and Faithful & Gould.
The winners of the 2016 BCO NextGen Awards:
We have asked some of the Judging Chairs, what advice they would give someone planning to submit an entry for the 2017 Awards. Here are their answers:
Nigel Clark (National Judging Chair): “When you answer the ‘Judges Questions’, make sure you emphasise every noteworthy credential in your submission. Also: focus on people, not buildings and bear in mind that shortlisting may have to be done on the strength of your submission, so make sure it stands out.”
Stephen Lewis (Scottish Judging Chair): “The occupier as end user of offices is key, so the submission should highlight how the project meets their needs, whether it’s speculative (commercial) or let (corporate).”
Matt Viall (Midlands & Central England Judging Chair): “It’s always great when you see a submission that clearly demonstrates the passion for the project. We look for entries that show that the project team set the bar high from the outset and challenged the ‘norms’. And: always include the numbers and check the maths… we do!”
HOW TO ENTER YOUR PROJECT
To enter your project for the awards simply register on our entry website www.bcoawards.co.uk and create an entry. Entries are submitted online in three easy stages:
1. Enter project details
2. Answer the ‘Judges Questions’ as outlined in the entry guide
3. Upload 10 images and submit
BCO’s Junior Vice President, Katrina Kostic Samen, shares why wearable technology is such an area of interest for the BCO and its members.
The managing partner of KKS Strategy, speaks from the launch of our Wearables in the Workplace report on some of the key issues wearables raise around big data and privacy.
For more highlights from the launch, view our round up of live tweets from the Wearables in the Workplace launch on Storify and we invite you to join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #wearableswork.
Download the full Wearables in the Workplace report on the BCO website
Technology moves fast with wearable technology now having an increasing influence on daily life, but what exactly does that mean for the future of offices? How will the increased awareness of health brought by wearables impact employees and employers? And what are the legal and ethical implications?
BCO’s Wearables in the Workplace report, produced by Arup and Professor Derek Clements Croomes of Reading University, tackles these questions whilst summarising the benefits of wearable technology and its influence on the future of work.
Watch highlights from the report launch hosted by Wedlake Bell with key insights from Helen Garthwaite of Wedlake Bell, Katrina Kostic Samen of KKS Strategy, Richard Isham of Wedlake Bell and report authors Professor Derek Clements-Croomes of Reading University and Mallory Taub of Arup.
For more highlights from the launch view our round up of live tweets from the Wearables in the Workplace launch on Storify and we invite you to join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #wearableswork.
Download your copy of the full Wearables in the Workplace report from the BCO website.
The review process was headed by Peter Crowther of Bruntwood and BCO National Awards Chair in 2015 and we have quizzed him about the rationale behind the changes:
The BCO has introduced some changes to its Annual Awards, can you tell us briefly what they are?
They are fairly straightforward. The key change is that we have made it a far more straightforward entry process, with an entry form which is less reliant on technical data.
We have also introduced two new regional awards – The Regional Committee Chair Award and The Innovation Award – and the 2,000m2 or less category will be reduced to 1,500m2 or less. There are also some regional constituency changes, which will see London as a stand alone category, with the South East counties distributed accordingly between the South West, Thames Valley and South Wales and the Midlands and East of England judging regions.
Why has the BCO brought in these changes?
Our aim was to make it as straightforward as possible to enter the Awards by making them less time-intensive and more accessible.
The structural changes are in recognition of the evolving market in which we operate. The best BCO Award winning buildings over recent years have been those that put people first. So we have made sure the judging process delves further into the practicality of the building – what it is like to work there, how it helps staff in their day to day work and how it reflects the ethos and outlook of the occupier. We have simply followed the movement and the trends in the market to keep the Awards relevant and fresh.
If it is easier to enter the BCO Awards, will it become easier to win an Award?
BCO Award winners define excellence – so only the best offices will ever win one of our awards. The rigorous nature of the competition will continue; the judging will be as robust but the process of entering will be more accessible.
Matching the criteria which is laid out in The BCO Guide to Specification is a key component of the entry, will this still be the case?
The BCO recognises that the use of the Guide to Specification is influenced by the boundaries of each project. The Guide will still be as relevant, but its application will be more specific to each project. It will no longer be used as a check list in which you have to tick each box.
There are now five questions which allow entrants to describe how they used the Guide to aid their specific project and how they went about their decision making process. What we are interested in, is the practical application and what has been achieved.
It is not about numbers and data but about how the building is used, and how the design has assisted working practices. The judges want to know why the project teams did what they did and whether it has worked.
What about the financial data?
There is now a straightforward costings form for all entrants to fill in. This is standard information that will be available to the judges for all projects and can be easily compared across the board.
And sustainability?
The BCO judges will be considering sustainability in the real world: What it means for the wellbeing of the staff, the efficiency of the office, the bills and staff recruitment.
We will not require in-depth information and figures on the output of the HVAC system. We still want to know about what accreditation has been achieved, but we will also be interested in why that route was chosen.
How will the changes affect the judging process?
Judging will now be more transparent. The revised application will make it easier to draw comparisons of schemes from across the market, regardless of their use or location. The judges will still apply the same stringency and utilise their expert understanding and knowledge, but they will operate with greater clarity and comparison.
Can you give us some more detail about the new awards and the boundary changes?
Boundary changes
Making London its own category recognises the unique nature of the Capital’s market; the size and finances of many of these schemes make it difficult for efficient comparison with developments outside the Capital.
Award for developments of 1,500m2 or less
The size reduction of the categories will reduce overlap with other categories for smaller buildings. This also recognises the fact that, in most parts of the country, a 2,000m2 scheme is seen as a significant office development.
Regional Innovation Award
Whilst schemes cannot enter this category specifically, judges can now recognise innovative schemes regionally rather than just nominating them to be considered for a national Innovation Award. This will introduce extra opportunity for projects to be celebrated in their region for something that is innovative and that the teams can be proud of.
Regional Committee Chair’s Award
This award recognises the importance of those individuals or companies that are making significant contributions to their regional markets. It is the chance for the BCO to recognise their hard work and dedication. As with the National President’s Award, the Regional Committee Chair’s Award is by nomination and not entry.
What happens once someone has won an Award?
Our aim is to utilise the information from the winning schemes and make it available for other members to learn from.
We would like to share the information in a progressive nature. We are not talking about releasing trade secrets but just looking at how we can help improve the environment as a whole.
And finally, are there any more changes afoot?
We are continually evolving so the Awards will always be fluid, in order to meet market requirements. We already have plans for the 2018 Awards -but you will just have to wait and see!
Many thanks for taking the time to speak to us, Peter!
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HOW TO ENTER:
Entries for the 2017 BCO Awards open on Wednesday 5 October 2016. The closing deadline is Friday 25 November 2016.
Projects for the 2017 Awards must have been completed after 1st January 2013 or due to be completed before 1st November 2016.
Our entry guide is available to download now and will take you through the new submission process step by step. Please make sure you read the entry guide, to ensure that you give your project the best opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
The BCO Awards registration is separate from the BCO website and you will need to go to www.bcoawards.co.uk and set up a new account with separate login details specifically for submitting a BCO Award. For more information on the awards go to the BCO website.
The Urban Group was established to look at the way the office and workspace interacts with the surrounding urban environment. To communicate the growing importance of this relationship and to share knowledge and examples of where we have got it right, where we may have not and how the future might look. The Urban Group has the flexible remit to encourage alternative thinking, challenge convention or simply support best practice.
We wish to invite members interested in the built environment to submit proposals for an exhibition, a seminar, an external speaker, a site visit, a research project or any other event that may be relevant to satisfy the groups remit.
This is a unique opportunity to chair an event which will be promoted to members, to discuss issues that are important to you and your organisation and contribute to the arena of debate, allowing us to share knowledge across the industry.
Proposals will be assessed by the Urban Group and successful candidates will be mentored and assisted by a committee member. Subject to agreement, it is intended that successful candidates will then serve on the Urban Group, replacing their mentors and until the next group are identified.
Should you wish to make a proposal, please email – research@bco.org.uk.
March 16, 2026 
By BCO Media 
