Those hoping to escape London for a dose of much-needed sun in Cannes arrived at MAPIC pretty disappointed by a very rainy Croisette. Several attendees were forced to regretfully leave their sunglasses back at the hotel and at least one senior industry figure swapped their nice boots for weather-hardy trainers.
Still, at least they were able to enjoy some of the shenanigans inside the bunker, with giant lions wandering around, grumpy Smurf photo opps and animatronic dragons, to name but a few of the delights on offer, plus of course the treats on stands.
Top marks so far to Ingka Centres, which has been baking fika pastries in an oven at its stand to offer to hungry clients (and passing journalists in need of sustenance). They’re the best Swedish chefs this side of the Muppets.
Preach it
Post-pandemic, a “flight to quality” trend has been well-reported, with companies investing a lot of capital to move to offices where they can put in more collaborative spaces, amenities and wellbeing features to attract workers back. However, M&G’s Global Outlook Report 2023 has shown some markets are still 20% off where they were pre-pandemic in terms of office attendance, with Fridays and Mondays being the quietest days, while Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are generally very busy (yes, we’ve all heard the acronym).
As such, many occupiers have questioned why they need to pay for an entire week if the workspace is only in use for three days. Regina Lim, M&G Real Estate’s head of property research for Asia, has a simple answer: “I like to tell clients we only use the church once a week and that we pay full price for it.”
Flagging ships
It has not been plain sailing for the government’s “flagships” recently. First, there was the flagship investment zones policy, which was promptly scuppered, only to have its name plate fished out of the waters and slapped on an entirely new vessel.
Now there is the less-than-stately passage of the flagship Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, which has run aground in the shark-infested waters of the House of Commons. The young captain of that ship, levelling up minister Dehenna Davison, is battling a Tory crew in mutiny – including her former commanding officers, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Simon Clarke. No wonder Davison has announced that she will soon be jumping ship.
Oh, Dehenna
Speaking of whom, Diary is sad to hear that Dehenna “Rhymes with Vienna” Davison will be standing down at the next election. The 29-year old MP for Bishop Auckland – the first Tory to take the seat, ever – seems keen to return to civilian life. “I haven’t had anything like a normal life for a twenty-something,” she states.
Opting to stay in Westminster to shepherd the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill, Davison skipped a conference in Manchester, organised by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. “I didn’t want to pull out of the conference entirely,” she tweeted. “That’s why I did a video setting out my thoughts on levelling up in the north, which, as a northern lass through and through, I’m incredibly passionate about.” Alas, that was not the video that was sent.
Bemused attendees were instead treated to a completely different video about taking questions in the House, presumably intended for the MP’s popular TikTok channel (does one have channels on TikTok?). Finally, the correct video was played, in which Davison waxed lyrical about how much the city had improved since the days of Joy Division.
Styling it out like a true millennial, Davison later tweeted: “Always check your attachments, kids! [facepalm emoji, crying laughing emoji].” Davison’s experiences may not be typical, but at least some aspects of last week remind Diary of our own twenties. Back then we were also skiving lectures, messing up video recordings (albeit on VHS) and quoting Joy Division, but to a considerably smaller audience.
Waste management
Diary likes to consider time-wasting as an art form – and regular readers may well consider it the purpose of our existence – but in the wider world of real estate, it is probably frowned on. This week, the good people at Reboot Link Building Company have been curious to find out whether home workers are more productive than those who work at the office, so they conducted a UK survey of 5,265 people to find out which employees waste the most working hours per week.
When it comes to the property and construction sector, in-office workers waste three hours per week (below the national average of 4.26) but, while those working from home fritter away an equal amount, that is above the national WFH average of 2.5. Meanwhile, hybrid workers in real estate seem to get the best of both worlds, wasting five hours in total, way above the national figure (2.71). What conclusions can we draw from this? Property workers are a pretty focused bunch when you get them in to the actual office, but even though those at home are on the more distracted side, they’ll still do just as much work. Whatever you do, though, don’t make them do both.
