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ITV Tonight - Future of the workplace

ended 18. March 2024

ITV’s Tonight programme is making a documentary about the future of the workplace.

They are seeking UK businesses from any sector, ideally with 10+ employees, with a strong pro-office stance for work, preferably 5-days a week. We want to learn why it is still important to have a strong office work culture i.e. increased productivity, a collaborative working environment etc.

They would like to visit the business and film for the purpose of the programme:
1) Film in the office on a busy working day, shots of the office and people working
2) Film interview with the CEO / Founder as to why they believe their employees should be in 5 days a week
3) Film a few quick interviews with employees as to their view on office working

If you're interested in taking part, can you respond in the thread. Can you briefly explain why you have a strong pro-office stance for work. Also, how many employees do you have?

6 responses from the Newspage community

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Platinum
Amy Johnson
Managing Partner at IronMarket Wealth
It would be great to have the opportunity to take part in this. As a pro-office business with a workforce of 22 all working from the office Monday- Friday.

As soon as our employees could return to the office post-COVID, they were straight back. Our employees missed the physical interaction, the collaboration, and the energy you get from being in the office and as a business owner the productivity this then delivers. I do think a lot of this is down to the culture we have created and down to our people. We also invested in our new premises in 2022 which is a physical embodiment of the service our clients come to expect and even more importantly an exceptional environment for staff to work, innovate and develop. An environment that is professional but also homely as commented by our clients.

Also, there is so much value and information that can be gained from a simple exchange over a desk to picking up on a telephone conversation with a client that just can’t happen from home.
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Premium
Debbie Porter
Managing Director at Destination Digital Marketing
I’d be happy to take part, though my business is small with just five employees.

My reason for office-based working is that I employ a lot of younger people; we’ve had people fresh from university and fresh from school.

I currently have an apprentice who is 16 years old working with us and he is five months into his apprenticeship. He would not be able to do his apprenticeship if he was WFH, ergo he’d not have the opportunity to get a first step on his career ladder at all.

Part of mentoring the younger generations is to lead by example, and I am firmly of the opinion that people can’t learn how to do an entire job on scheduled zoom meets. More experienced team members have to mentor younger members along, and it’s really important that the team bonds with casual exchanges such as simple acts like making tea for each other.

Being a very small business, you have to remain agile. Remote working slows productivity and responsiveness right down and kills a sense of team.
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Esme Marshwitch
Owner at The Glassy Witch
Just curious as to why only one viewpoint is wanted - surely it makes more sense to gather all opinions to get a better sense of what businesses in general are looking to do? Looking for only one opinion set seems a little....unbalanced?
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Ben Tadd
Director at Lucra Mortgages
Happy to take part in this.
We have 15 employees in total within the business.
As a business we actively encourage everyone to work in the office every day but we have an enforced 3 days out of 5 compulsory working days in the office to ensure we provide flexibility for childcare and bsuy family lives. We would prefer all employees to work in the office 100% of the time as this helps build team cohesion and ensures all business functions can operate at the top level possible all of the time. It also means that newer employees can learn from the old heads who are much more experienced, and get in to good habits themselves by sharing ideas and best practices. Having our sales staff in the office all together in person also drives greater competition and helps increase revenue for the business. Happy to take part - ben@lucramortgages.co.uk; 07723 025972
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Paul Hamilton
Founder & CEO at Halo Service Solutions
At Halo we strongly believe our workplace culture is what is driving our sucess. By working in the office, all together, people learn quicker.

We frequently hear words such as ‘glow’ and ‘magic’ from visitors to describe their experience of coming into our recently opened NY loft style office in Stowmarket. This would be lost if people were working from home.

Indeed, Halo has completely gone against the trend of hybrid/home working in our sector and our track record speaks for itself with exponential growth in numbers and business.

Office working is great but it has to be done properly and working together is extremely important. At Halo we have our highest level, most experienced people sat in with all the newest starters. Imagine how long knowledge transfer must take if you split everyone out into separate offices / floors or even buildings?

We’d love to invite Tonight to our offices to see for yourselves!
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Austyn Johnson
Founder at Mortgages For Actors
Will this be like The Office - Hull?
I'd watch it.