Year: 2019

It’s more than just a place to make a cup of tea – the serviced office kitchen is the place where the British equivalent of a ‘watercooler moment’ takes place on a daily basis.

The ‘watercooler moment’ used to refer to a big-money scene in a popular TV show, which would inevitably be discussed around the watercooler the following day.

It has since become a more general term for those informal conversations that happen during a drinks break, including chats about work.

And in UK serviced office kitchens, that’s as likely to take place around a cup of tea as it is around a cup of water.

Why does the office kitchen matter?

Kitchens, canteens and other informal spaces enable quick, productive conversations about all kinds of issues.

Employees can raise minor grievances that they might not feel warrant a full meeting or complaint, or can make suggestions that help improve productivity.

But interestingly – especially in buildings like Serviced Office Company’s serviced offices in Manchester and London – this knowledge sharing can go beyond just one company.

A recent article in the journal Facilities by a team from Eindhoven University of Technology found that in communal spaces, knowledge is shared between different individuals and companies as well as those who work for the same business.

Who shares knowledge?

The researchers found that within an organisation, knowledge is typically shared in more closed environments, whereas across different organisations, more open and relaxed environments are preferred.

And the kitchen or canteen offers a balance between the two, finding favour for both types of knowledge sharing.

In their research paper, the team wrote: “Public and private non-codified knowledge is more frequently shared with people from other organisations by those who more frequently use an event space, lounge space, canteen or consultancy services.

“Knowledge sharing with colleagues within organisations was influenced by the use of individual closed workspaces, meeting spaces and restaurant/canteen and gender.”

More places to share knowledge in serviced offices

At Serviced Office Company we are proud of the rich mix of different individuals and organisations who use our serviced office space and we aim to give you as many places as possible to benefit from sharing your knowledge and expertise.

That includes kitchen facilities so you can make refreshments throughout the day and pick the brains of anyone else who is in there at the time.

We also provide relaxing lounges to use as breakout spaces, to de-stress and recover, and again as a place for informal conversations about work, last night’s TV or anything else you want to talk about.

And finally when you need a more formal space for work-related discussions within your organisation, we have meeting rooms available on-site for you to book as and when you want them.

Together with your own serviced office space, this adds up to plenty of places to share knowledge with your colleagues and with your counterparts from other businesses – allowing everyone to benefit from using serviced office space in a communal building.

In March we reported on how serviced offices for women in the north-west are helping to close the entrepreneur gender gap, with a potential £250 billion boost for the national economy.

Two months on from International Women’s Day, a report from IPSE reveals that women represent a growing percentage of self-employed individuals in the UK, but still lag behind men in terms of numbers.

Around two thirds of the solo self-employed workforce are now male, with women accounting for the remaining 35% but growing in number.

The rise of female freelancers

A particular rise has been seen in the number of highly skilled female freelancers, up by 334,000 in the past decade, a 63% increase – that’s more than the population of Nottingham.

The number of senior-level female freelancers in the UK is now 863,000 across sectors including health, arts and media, with an even higher 80% increase in the number of freelancing mothers.

IPSE chair and senior freelance business analyst Caroline Morgan said: “The senior women I speak to chose to be their own boss for a wide range of reasons, from variety in their career to balancing family life.

“As a freelancer I have been able to find that balance outside the confines of a corporate structure.”

Opportunities for self-employed women in the north-west

While the number of women in solo self-employment has risen, there are still strong opportunities in the north-west.

The IPSE report shows self-employment is concentrated in the south of the country, with 20% of solo self-employed based in the south-east and another 19% in London, plus 11% in the south-west.

Another 23% are based across Wales, the Midlands and the East of England. Just 8% of self-employed individuals work in the north-west.

With our serviced offices in Manchester and MediaCity, we cater for new entrants into highly skilled self-employment, with well-appointed workspaces and meeting rooms equipped with networking, communications and audiovisual equipment – the essentials to get you started in business on your own.

In a region with plenty of demand and a relatively low proportion of the existing self-employed workforce – whether male or female – our serviced offices in Manchester are a flexible and scalable way to grow in business on your own.

Not in the north-west? No worries!

You don’t have to live in Manchester or Salford in order to start a business based in the north-west. Our virtual offices in MediaCity and Manchester’s Exchange Quay give you a postal address and geographic telephone number located here.

We also provide virtual offices in London, allowing you to base a business on the Isle of Dogs even without working from there in person.

If you do ever want to work from your business address, we have serviced offices in London and Manchester at the same locations as our virtual offices.

Or for one-off meetings with investors and important customers, our on-site meeting rooms in MediaCity, Manchester and London allow you to host guests, again at the same address that is used for your virtual office.

After the Labour Party chose a topic of Environment and Climate Change for an Opposition Day debate on May 1st, the UK Parliament declared a national climate emergency calling on the Government to accelerate efforts to become carbon-neutral by 2050.

This follows previous similar announcements on a regional basis:

• In November 2018, Manchester City Council brought forward its zero-carbon deadline to 2038.
• In December 2018, the London Assembly unanimously passed a motion calling for the capital to be carbon-neutral by 2030.
• Other cities and the governments of Scotland and Wales have also declared emergencies.

Just two weeks earlier on April 16th, Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, spoke at the Whitehall and Industry Group of the challenge and opportunity of tackling climate change.

Adopting a carbon-neutral working lifestyle

Sir James noted the UK’s 43% drop in carbon emissions compared with 1990, but added that the next challenge is to cut emissions from buildings, transport and agriculture.

“Most of these reductions in emissions have come from closing down coal power stations and cleaning up heavy industry,” he explained. “That was the easy bit.”

He added: “Much of this is about our lifestyle choices. As I said, we have agency. We are free to make those choices: about how we work [and] how we travel.”

How offices can tackle carbon emissions and climate change

Green office space is a key element in making the UK workforce carbon-neutral, as unlike heavy industry, many office-based professions have a minimal carbon footprint other than that of the buildings in which they are based.

Serviced offices in London and Manchester represent an excellent opportunity to cut carbon emissions from offices: they allow multiple occupants to use a single building, without wasting energy on heating and lighting unused rooms.

Our serviced offices in London, Manchester and MediaCity go further, with several credentials that help you to demonstrate your commitment to cutting carbon and tackling climate change.

Go green with serviced offices in London and Manchester

Our serviced offices are located close to public transport links with good access to pedestrians and cyclists, so you can choose how to get here.

Just some examples of how you can go green with serviced offices in London and Manchester from the Serviced Office Company:

• Energy-efficient cooling and heating systems.
• Recycled materials in carpets, chairs and furniture.
• Water-efficient devices installed throughout.
• Light detectors reduce wasted artificial lighting.
• Green energy tariffs from Ecotricity.
• Carbon offsetting from Climate Care.
• On-site recycling facilities.
• On-site cycle racks, changing rooms and showers.

The list goes on, and we are always looking for new ways to go green in our office space to further cut carbon emissions and to offset any remaining carbon footprint.

Go virtual to cut commuter carbon

Finally, consider virtual offices to cut carbon associated with your daily commute to work.

We offer virtual offices in London, MediaCity and Manchester at the same addresses as our serviced office space.

This gives you a postal address and telephone number to use for correspondence, but lets you work from anywhere you want – including from home.

By eliminating the commute to and from work, and using your own premises, this further reduces your carbon footprint, helping you to go zero-emissions in your own business activities.