18th May 2020
Returning to the Office: Expert Comment for Trade Associations and News Channels
Workplace consultancy isn’t just about creating great design. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as people begin returning to work, we’re immensely proud that our knowledge and reputation has been recognised by a number of business networking groups and trade associations who have invited our experts to be panellists on webinars about preparing the workplace for the safe return of employees.
Only last week, our Chairman and Founder, Rob Day took part in a webinar hosted by TheBusinessDesk entitled “Preparing for the office of the future”. You can watch it here.
On the back of this, Rob was also invited to be a panellist on a members only webinar for The UK Science Parks Association on Monday 18 May (UKSPA). And if that wasn’t enough, we also got a phone call from ITV news who have interviewed him for a news programme we expect to be aired later this week. We hope to be able to share the on social media, so please look out for his interview!
Whilst the UKSPA webinar was only for members, the BusinessDesk webinar attracted over 400 facilities managers, property landlords and employers, who were keen to ask questions about the day to day issues they are facing, such as enforcing workplace distancing rules and best practice as they begin to re-open workplaces in these changing times.
Rob was joined by Julia Thomas who is Head of Legal from Finch Consulting, Thomas Bateson from Gleeds and Nicki Robson from Breedon Consulting. Together they offered legal advice on addressing employee and employer issues and concerns, social distancing in the workplace, HR compliance, issues surrounding childcare, health and safety matters and of course workplace design.
It was also clear that employee mental wellbeing is a major concern. It’s encouraging that the importance of workplace design in promoting and maintaining positive mental health is becoming much more widely recognised.
At Blueprint Interiors we’ve long championed the fact that the workplace should be a more adaptable and agile environment, designed for the wellbeing of your people. The new normal is certainly creating conversations that support the fact that happy, safe and motivated people are far more productive and loyal. Long may this continue!
If you’re responsible for helping your company prepare your workplace for the return of your employees, we have consolidated our advice in all of the above areas into a really helpful ‘back to work guide’. If you’d like a copy, please download it here.