i-FM B-Corp

Editor's Viewpoint

Why can’t we entice people back to the office?

Hybrid working is here to stay. We’ve all read the headline: as oversimplifying as it is, it’s still basically true.

Is FM bulletproof in 2024?

Things always come back around.  I asked the same question in 2017 when the tides of uncertainty seemed to be rising.

Random thoughts

Something about emerging from the relatively intense conference development process always brings on a reflective frame of mind.  Indulge me.

There’s no ‘I’ in team

Or is there?  In a recent tribunal case one employee’s request to work full-time at home was rejected. Teamwork was a key factor.

Looking for the way forward

We’ve just published our annual FM market landscape report, Trends & Opportunities.

Shaping the future

We can’t predict the future, but we can make it happen in ways that work best for us.

Drones: they don't just fly

I recently spent the day at Vinci’s Bedfordshire Technology Centre learning just what drones can do these days.

What defines us?

The latest i-FM senior leaders roundtable was held earlier in the week. There was so much input from all present that my head is still spinning.

Doing the right thing

What do people outside FM know about this industry and what would we like them to know?

IWFM: where to from here?

I have to congratulate IWFM on a remarkably well-choreographed AGM held last week.

IWFM members: a call to action

I sometimes feel like a broken record. I can’t recall how many times over the past many years I’ve expressed concerns over the sustainability of IWFM strategy.

Giving back

The other day, I travelled across the country, then across to London’s East End in order to start work in an industrial kitchen at 8.30am.

How long is a piece of string?

One small side-effect of the modern world’s non-stop access to information is the proliferation of surveys and market reports.

Something’s wrong in the workplace

In recent weeks we’ve seen several high-level resignations over allegations of inappropriate behaviour and/or bullying in the workplace.

Let’s light up our buildings blue

The spotlight that shone so brightly on FM during the pandemic is quite evidently over and long forgotten by almost everyone today.

What next for FM?

I know I’ve asked that question before. But this time it seems more serious.

From CSR to ESG and beyond

The principles of responsible business have been around forever, varying across time and place in scope and definition, and certainly in application.

Has work left the building?

I recently attended a conference entitled WorkSpace. It was full of promise about insights into the short, medium and long-term future of the office sector.

Technology in the workplace: what next?

Technology is arguably the biggest game-changer that FM faces. We all need to be ready for a new digital landscape - and start to shape what exactly it is that this holds for us.

Always look on the bright side of life

This year’s IWFM AGM, along with the 2021 Annual Review, brought firmly to mind Eric Idle’s delightful anthem from the Monty Python film ‘The Life of Brian’. They’re just so positive!

Hot and bothered

It has never been quite as hot in the UK as it was on Tuesday, the 19th. Records were shattered, memories of the summer of ’76 were dredged up and climatological red flags were raised even higher.

Change/no change

FM is a funny place: a place known for continuous change, yet at the same time much of the industry goes on doing what it has always done year after year.

Go back to go forward?

The cries to get back to the office can be heard all over Westminster, in some parts of the City and in some parts of the mainstream media.

Post-conference reflections

The theme of last month’s Workplace Futures conference, FM and sustainability, could not have been more timely.


← Previous 24 Editors Viewpoint