In the latest instalment of our office branding series Peter Ames, aided by Ann Clarke of Claremont Group Interiors, looks at why it’s worth considering.

1. Make the right impression

You only get one chance to make a first impression and your office may well be one of the first things a client or visitor sees about your business.  A well designed office that supports your brand identity and values will help you stand out in an increasingly competitive world. This is something we've tried to embrace in our own meeting rooms here at Genie.

2.  Invest in your staff

Happy staff are productive staff.  A well designed inspiring workplace can encourage staff to produce their best work.  Ann says, “This is more subtle than overt branding, this is about reflecting your values, vision and behaviours in your working environment.  Done well and this can be very powerful.”

3. Attract the best

We work the longest hours in Europe so it’s perhaps not surprising that workers are putting more importance on the working environment when considering a new job.  A fantastic working environment will help you to attract and retain the very best calibre staff.  Ann says, “Having a workplace that is liberating, motivating and inspiring says a lot about you and can be a real driver in getting the right people to come and work for you.”

4. Look in the mirror

One of the potentially unexpected bonuses of office branding is to take a step back and look at your business.  Ask yourself what is your brand? Does it really reflect who you are, what you stand for or how you work? Has your identity become lost along the way? 

A great example of this is BDO in Manchester who had no shared or collaborative space prior to its office redesign. Claremont designed ‘The Village Green’; a breakout space that has been a real hit. It’s encouraged workers to collaborate and communicate both at work and break times and has also brought staff from other companies into the building to meet friends. This space supports BDO’s brand identity and cultural values.

So, why not see what changes you can make? Look into things like collaborative, creative spaces or alternatively see if you can introduce more flexible working patterns and bring in some desk sharing schemes. There is a whole world of working practises you could consider.

5. Tell your story

Most businesses recognise the power of their website to tell their story and who they are. Use your office to do the same. After all, it’s one of your largest overheads, why not make it work harder for your business. At Genie we're really proud of being a Cambridge business and we've emphasised with with our mural; inspired by the view at the end of the street.

Passionate about interiors and their impact on business performance, Ann Clarke is Claremont Group Interiors’ joint managing director and has been instrumental in the development of Claremont’s design and workplace consultancy services. Ann continues to be involved in project delivery and works as design director across the business.

Increasing numbers of small companies are following the lead of multinationals such as Google, McDonalds and Coca-Cola by ‘branding’ their office space.

I spoke to Ann Clarke from Claremont Group Interiors to learn a little more about this trend. Claremont is the largest interior design and fit out business outside of London and works with clients to solver their property problems; an ever increasing part of which is “brand expression”.

The Definition

So, what exactly is office branding? Put simply it’s the act of designing your workspace to align with your company image and corporate values.

Why is it on the rise?

So, what is behind the recent rise of the branded office? It’s partly due to the nature of the modern world – one in which “we’re much more brand aware” says Ann.

The economic downturn is one catalyst for a heightened focus on office branding as companies have to work harder to differentiate themselves. 

“Now everyone has to work really hard to win business, whoever you are, and an on-brand working environment can create real stand out.  Workplace branding can improve the quality of workspaces and help employees’ better represent the brand.”

With the cost of recruiting and training staff a big source of expenditure for most businesses it’s interesting to discover the internal value of workplace branding too. Ann says: “Your workplace can be a key driver in attracting and retaining the best staff too.  It’s really about how does your office environment make your people feel…it’s more about values, vision and behaviours and finding ways to encapsulate and reflect your company culture.”

Case Study: John West

For an example of office branding at its very best, look no further than John West’s Liverpool HQ. 

Aquatic themes are brought to the fore in colour schemes and a fish print on glass surfaces.  

Claremont has also anchored the office round a stylish test kitchen, making a strong connection with John West’s core business.

As Ann says, “it’s a less obvious expression of brand and culture, but a highly effective one!”

Passionate about interiors and their impact on business performance, Ann Clarke is Claremont Group Interiors’ joint managing director and has been instrumental in the development of Claremont’s design and workplace consultancy services. Ann continues to be involved in project delivery and works as design director across the business.

The business finance startup programme was announced earlier this year. It is aimed at giving entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 30 access to a package that combines the government’s Startup Loan with a training programme and boot camp.

They will also have access to online resources from School for Startups, including an online community and library.

Doug Richard, the founder of School for Startups, said: “Lloyds has been an important partner for UK business since time immemorial and I’m thrilled they are partnering with School for Startups and Launcher, supporting us in our mission to ensure the success of startups across the country.

“Lloyds’ support for entrepreneurs through its mentoring programme — pairing new business owners with senior business professionals from a variety of backgrounds — demonstrates their unswerving commitment to strengthening the British economy.”

Jackie Jenks, Enterprise Mentoring Manager, at Lloyds added: “Historically, entrepreneurs starting new businesses may have found it difficult to get the early stage capital they need to open their doors.

“School for Startups is making Startup Loans available to founders, and is packaging that funding with a wide range of business solutions including valuable access to highly skilled and very experienced mentors.

“We’re excited and proud to team up with a social enterprise that has been working tirelessly to help launch new businesses in the UK.”

The survey, carried out by recruitment firm Office Angels, found only a slight increase on the 41% of respondents who said they were happy at work this time last year.

Workers in Edinburgh were found to be the happiest in the country, with some 46% saying they enjoy their job. Employees in Nottingham and Wales, where only 35% said they were happy at work, were found to be the least content.

Job satisfaction levels varied dramatically depending on the sector in which respondents worked. Some 67% of people working in the arts said they were happy with their job, but figures were lower for people in the professional services (53%) and education (47%) sectors.

Stephen Kirkpatrick, Office Angels MD, commented: “Our research shows that overall happiness amongst the UK workforce is very similar to this time last year.

“The prospect of celebratory events in 2012 built excitement and goodwill amongst workers from the outset. It is now heartening to see a positive, happy feeling persisting amongst UK workers, even though these events are in the past.

“Fluctuating levels of happiness across the country suggests more can be done to boost morale and enhance job satisfaction.

“To help create a ground-swell of happiness, employers must remember their role in fostering a positive working environment which will in turn create a more productive workforce.”

A survey of 2,000 office workers, carried out by Overbury, discovered one in three employees felt their workplace was ‘demotivating’. Around a quarter of respondents described their working environment as ‘sedate and silent’.

One in ten even described their office as ‘a creative and cultural desert’. Many respondents (35%) said they liked to work from home ‘whenever possible’; citing an uninspiring office as their main reason for doing so.

When employees were asked how their offices could be improved, the most common response was found to be creating ‘a more social space’. Many said this was because inspiration often comes from chatting with colleagues.

A band of chilly workers said they would most like better heating in their office, which was the second most popular answer. Other frequently-mentioned improvements were better furniture, more access to refreshments and better coffee.

Anthony Brown, a director at Overbury, said:  “At a time when organisations in the UK are looking to their staff to drive innovation and competitive advantage, it is worrying to hear that so many employees are lacking the tools they need to be creative.

“Organisations are missing a golden opportunity to foster greater ideas generation by putting creative collaboration and social interaction at the heart of their office design.”

A study of 2000 UK office workers and 400 managers, carried out by O2, found 75% of workers feel they are ‘most productive’ when they have control over when and where they work.

The research also revealed only 19% of workers feel they are encouraged to work flexibly, whilst 77% of the managers surveyed felt their organisations were giving workers the opportunity to do so.

There was also found to be a further disparity between the percentage of management-level employees who thought they were setting an example by working flexibly and the number of staff who felt this was the case.

Some 70% of the managers polled said they worked either flexible hours or worked from home. Only 18% of staff felt they actually did so.

O2 Business Director Ben Dowd was critical of the fact that so few workers feel they have the opportunity to flexi-work.

He said: “Just six months since Britain’s biggest flexible working opportunity, the Olympics, it’s shocking that less than one fifth of people feel they are encouraged to work flexibly.”

A whopping seven out of ten respondents to a survey carried out by Allianz Your Cover Insurance said the poor state of Britain’s roads as the most annoying aspect of commuting.

Around one fifth said they would welcome better driving from their fellow commuters. Only 15% said they enjoyed their daily drive to work.

The report also discovered the most serene commutes were found to be in Newcastle and Northampton, whilst commuters in Coventry and Gloucester were the most stressed.

A spokesperson for Allianz Your Cover commented: “People are spending nearly an hour a day commuting and a third (32%) are frazzled before even arriving at work, feeling rushed, stressed and anxious from their morning journey, which is isn’t a good way to start the working day.

“A third (31%) of commuters we spoke to feel tired when driving home from work, when roads are often at their busiest, so it’s important to keep alert in order to respond to other drivers who may have had a bad day at the office.”

The average British worker was found to spend over 180 hours commuting to and from work every year, clocking up around 7,100 miles in the process.

The report, carried out by OnePoll on behalf of Capital Capture, found 63% of the London-based businesses surveyed were contemplating moving premises.

More than half of these firms cited the high cost of their current property as a motivating factor. Over half the businesses surveyed from the IT, finance, legal and insurance sectors said they had seen rents increase in the previous two years.

A further 13% of the businesses said they were considering moving in order to bring together smaller offices, whilst 10% said they were now simply too big for their current premises.

The report also found a minority of businesses utilise space saving-measures such as digital mailrooms. Some 30% of respondents were aware they were storing too many documents in their office.

Using space efficiently was found to be a growing priority however. When asked how they could improve, businesses were found to be considering implementing digital mailrooms and other methods of document management (34%); increased home-working (30%); sharing documents across a range of sites (28%) and centralising document storage (23%).  

Mark Kirpalani, MD at Capital Capture, said: “Technology offers distinct advantages for the many document-intensive businesses in London that are facing relentless increases in operational costs.

“Specifically, replacing manual processes with business-oriented capture solutions will aid compliance, enable growth without increasing fixed costs, ensure disaster recovery and open up important opportunities such as the chance to increase staff productivity and cleanse historical records.”

This comes as measures to protect households from increasingly costly energy bills are announced today

Ofgem plans to make energy companies review their price plans and cut the number of tariffs they offer.

Providers must also make customers aware of the cheapest prices available, even if it is with another company. Fines will be issued in cases where energy companies are adjudged to have not acted fairly

The FSB argue small businesses should be offered similar protection. They say SMEs are particularly vulnerable to rising costs due to ‘rollover’ contracts, which tie them to an unfairly high tariff.

They found around 25% of businesses had been unknowingly ‘rolled over’. Some 82% of the SMEs surveyed said they would be in favour of abolishing rollovers.

“Small businesses are important energy consumers and so should be offered the same protection from suppliers as domestic customers are receiving,” said John Allan, the Chairman of FSB in Merseyside, West Cheshire and Wigan.

“When we talk about small business finance mounting overheads, such as energy costs, are often overlooked but keeping costs down is central to maintaining a healthy cash flow.

“It is essential that businesses can proactively control these costs by switching suppliers to better deals, but certain practices, particularly imposing rollover contracts, leave them with inflated bills and little room to do anything about them. 

“The best advice for small business owners is always to shop around for a better deal, but Ofgem has to put in place the same protective...measures as for domestic customers to allow them to shop around the energy market.”

Hundreds of employees at the Department for International Development are being moved to a new HQ in which they will be required to share desks. Around 500 workers will be making the move from their current home near Buckingham Palace.

They will move to a ‘minimalist’ workspace set up in vacant government-owned premises in Whitehall. The office will contain only seven desks for every 10 members of staff, which could encourage employees to work on a more flexible basis.

It is also hoped an emphasis on practises such as video conferencing can help staff cut commuting times.

The move is expected to save around £10 million a year from now until 2020. This should amount to a total of £62 million worth of savings to the taxpayer.

Alan Duncan, the Department for International Development minister, underlined how the new workspace was designed with efficiency in mind.

He said: “We are maximising the use of space and most of the office will be paperless. People in DfID travel a lot so it makes sense to do more hot desking.”

The scheme, introduced in May 2010 as a means of helping small businesses access finance, is thought to have benefited over 10,000 SMEs. For every £1 the government invested, the economy has been boosted by £33.50.

The research, published today, also revealed several other ways in which the scheme has aided the UK’s small businesses. It is thought to have created 6,500 jobs and saved a further 12,375.

Business Minister Michael Fallon commented: “Enterprise Finance Guarantee loans are delivered through the banks, and I want to see them making more use of the scheme.

He added: “This latest research shows that the EFG is helping precisely those businesses who can't get finance elsewhere. It is getting money to where it is needed, saving jobs, and delivering a huge benefit for the wider economy.

“Clearly the demand is there for this type of financial support so we must start to see an increase in take-up. I have already begun publishing EFG lending by each individual bank, because businesses should know which bank they are best off approaching and I will continue holding the banks to account until lending levels improve.”

The Open University’s Quarterly Survey of Small Businesses in Britain, supported by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Barclays Business Banking, did find 38% of SMEs are still worried about how the downturn could affect demand.

Small businesses that turn over between £1-5 million were found the most optimistic for their prospects this year. The smallest ventures were found to be the most pessimistic.

The report also found SMEs in the manufacturing sector saw sales dip, although this was the sector in which firms were anticipating the highest levels of employment growth. Retail and transport SMEs displayed the weakest performance.

Professor Rebecca Taylor, Dean of The Open University Business School, said: “The latest findings show us that some firms are proving more resilient than others in the face of very tough trading conditions.

“We already know that firm size, sector and region are important influences on firm performance. This study highlights just how critical it is for us to take a much closer look at the skills and capabilities that SME owners and managers need if they are to keep their businesses on track in these challenging times.”

Sue Hayes, MD at Barclay’s Business Banking, added: “It is challenging environment out there right now for SMEs but despite this there are still many opportunities to be seized upon.

“The ability to make those important decisions at the right time is vital to the growth of all businesses and the overall UK economy. It is critical that SMEs seek as much help as they can from their bank, accountant, trade organisation and even other business.”