Alex Kerr of Kerr Office Group discusses how companies can best encourage employees to return to the office, breaks down the key trends and challenges that lie ahead in the South West commercial property market, plus lots more.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hi I'm Alex Kerr and I'm the CEO of Kerr Office Group. We transform working lives by designing
00:19and delivering workspaces that go beyond the aesthetics. So we focus on return investment,
00:24creating environments that enhance productivity, well-being, attracting top talent which ultimately
00:29drives business growth. So Flight of Quality is certainly one that was leading the way in London,
00:35the Grade A space being the locations that were shifted primarily, places with balconies,
00:40garden terraces, all that sort of stuff, rooftop terraces. That's now being seen in the region,
00:44so you've got Bristol leading the way in that sense. So you've got headline rents being achieved
00:49by the likes of Welcome Building, EQ Building and the challenge now being for this year is that the
00:55demand is now outstripping the supply, so you've only got about 3% of Grade A stock remaining.
01:00This is going to therefore put pressure onto the secondary stock that's in the market,
01:04which is about 65%. EPC ratings are going to have further restrictions by 2030,
01:09so you've got lease periods that are being negotiated now which will then fall halfway
01:14through that stage. So it's trying to get the buildings up to spec whilst also having tenants
01:18in the space which is a bit of a challenge with some of the properties. The size of requirement has
01:24decreased. So if you look at pre-Covid stats, the biggest deal made in Bristol was 210,000 square
01:29foot. Last quarter it's 44,000 square foot. There's a real need for a variety of different
01:43types of workspaces. One size does not fit all, so it's really supporting a multitude of work activities
01:49and basically having lots of different spaces, breakout spaces, meeting pods, all that sort of
01:55stuff. And I think clarity on the business strategy, being really clear what is it that you're trying to
02:01achieve as a team and to get out of that space. Because once you've got that nailed down that then
02:06gives you clearly the best grounds for success out of that location. And the two biggest challenges that
02:11come up are noise levels in the office, obviously competing now with people working from home,
02:16generally having a lot more of a quiet space. So therefore trying to get a break up of quiet zones
02:23and areas that people can get that crucial focus work done. It's crucial to design high variety workspaces,
02:30so clients are moving away to unassigned seating. So there needs to be more variation on that very
02:37reasoning. So breakout zones, collaboration hubs. We are starting to see that there are shorter lease
02:43periods being agreed as well, so two to three years as opposed to five or ten. So therefore
02:47focusing on the furniture side of things, modular furniture, cool booths, breakout booths, you can
02:53then retain that as an asset. So if you do move on in two years, you've got that as something to take
02:56on to your next location. The tech and the connectivity is a big part of where things are going and
03:04obviously Generation Z being now 30% in the workforce, that's only going to have subsequent generations
03:10joining teams over coming years and they are going to have high levels of high standards of what they
03:15expect based on university, their education. So really having the tech up to spec. We use a framework
03:21called the five C's. So we start with clarification, establishing your office needs and how it needs to
03:27evolve and to get the most out of your growth and your strategy. Collaboration is the next step,
03:32so it's creating a series of listening groups, encouraging contribution from other team members and
03:36getting their involvement. Communication is key, so again that kind of communication plan and how you're
03:42going to share out the team. Consult being the fourth piece to this, so the idea being you really want to
03:48get the concerns raised early on, the sooner the better because you can then really get them
03:54involved and actually looking for the solutions and being part of the resolution and really getting
03:58those people as part of the movement and moving forward with things. And ultimately connection,
04:03think about how you use the space. So leaning into opportunities, connect more effectively,
04:07socially, professionally.
04:19I mean, you've got to look at things like, for example, the VR headsets. They're currently about
04:234k resolution. They're now developing headsets to be 30k plus resolution. And once those things
04:30actually are released, and this is a handful of years away, the brain won't tell the difference
04:34between being sat in the same room as that person physically versus being in virtual reality. So
04:41the point I made earlier around being together and everything else, well, if the brain doesn't know
04:46the difference between that person being in the room or you actually being there virtually and you
04:49can be sat in the same boardroom, not know the difference, I think that's going to play really
04:53key parts. I think mass media has been quite misleading in recent years. And I think one of
04:59the key points that they've pushed is employees feeling not trusted being the key reason that
05:04they're needed back in the office. I think there needs to be more discussion around the benefits of
05:09being back in the office and together more in the office. Things like career progression,
05:13the connections you're going to make that could lead on to your next job, your next promotion,
05:17the commercial awareness that we gain from being together, the learning that we're going to also be
05:21impacted by and meeting life partners potentially. A purely functional space isn't going to get you
05:28a return. If you're trying to compete with people that now have a home office set up, which is fully
05:34customizable, fit for their needs to how they want to work, you've really got to be delivering something
05:38well above that. So it's really got to be a destination office.