Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: Case Studies A REPORT TO THE NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE FROM CONCERTO CONSULTING JUNE 2006
The Natioal Audit Office scrutiises public spedig o behalf of Parliamet. The Comptroller ad Auditor Geeral, Sir Joh Bour, is a Officer of the House of Commos. He is the head of the Natioal Audit Office, which employs some 800 staff. He, ad the Natioal Audit Office, are totally idepedet of Govermet. He certifies the accouts of all Govermet departmets ad a wide rage of other public sector bodies; ad he has statutory authority to report to Parliamet o the ecoomy, efficiecy ad effectiveess with which departmets ad other bodies have used their resources. Our work saves the taxpayer millios of pouds every year. At least 8 for every 1 spet ruig the Office.
Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: Case Studies Case Studies of best practice i the maagemet of office space ad the use of Shared Service Cetres A REPORT TO THE NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE FROM CONCERTO CONSULTING JUNE 2006
cotets Terms commoly used i this report 4 Itroductio 6 case study 1 Adult Learig Ispectorate 8 case study 2 BAA 11 case study 3 BP 14 case study 4 BT 17 The Natioal Audit Office team comprised Gwy Bassett, Keith Davis ad Hugh O Farrell. The Natioal Audit Office was supported by a team from Cocerto Cosultig. The Cocerto Cosultig team comprised Fred Guscott, Rob Harris, Tim Paley, Paul Stasall ad Matthew Symes. case study 5 Cambridgeshire Couty Coucil 20 case study 6 Departmet of Trade ad Idustry 23 For further iformatio about the Natioal Audit Office please cotact: Natioal Audit Office Press Office 157-197 Buckigham Palace Road Victoria Lodo SW1W 9SP Tel: 020 7798 7400 Email: equiries@ao.gsi.gov.uk Natioal Audit Office 2006
case study 7 Erst & Youg 26 case study 8 GCHQ 29 case study 9 Hertfordshire Couty Coucil 32 case study 10 IBM 35 case study 11 Norfolk Couty Coucil 38 case study 12 PricewaterhouseCoopers 41 case study 14 Su Microsystems 47 case study 15 Vodafoe 51 case study 16 TV Licesig Shared Service Cetre 54 case study 17 Trasport for Lodo Shared 58 Service Cetre case study 18 Xasa Shared Service Cetre 63 case study 13 Suffolk Couty Coucil 44 Cover photograph courtesy of Alamy.com
terms commoly used i this report terms commoly used i this report Break-out areas Campus Chur rate Cocierge service Core ad flexi space Cost per workstatio Flexible maaged office Hot desks or shared workstatios Hotel.Gov Net iteral area Occupacy level, occupacy desity Iformal meetig areas positioed to ecourage iteractio ad commuicatio betwee people. A group of buildigs built ear each other, ad their surroudig grouds, where a orgaisatio carries out its work. Measures of the amout of people moves over time. Oe hudred per cet aual chur meas that the equivalet of all staff move desk oce durig the year. A exteded receptio service that provides additioal fuctios icludig room ad desk bookig, busiess services ad persoal support services. Uder best practice estate maagemet priciples, orgaisatios idetify their core log term holdigs (ad drive commercial discouts accordigly) ad their requiremets for short term flexible space to maage peaks ad troughs i the busiess cycle. The total cost of occupatio divided by the umber of workstatios i the buildig. Total costs iclude ret, rates, ladlord s service charge, facilities services (icludig caterig, cleaig, maiteace, receptio, security, telecoms, utilities). Occupiers requiremets for space, icludig facilities maagemet, are provided uder a sigle short-term cotract ad uitary charge. Desks that are shared, that allow a orgaisatio to icrease the umber of people supported by a give buildig. A term coied by the Natioal Audit Office meaig a bespoke Flexible Maaged Office solutio tued to the govermet s eeds, which provides the flexibility to expad ad cotract at short otice, to offer temporary space for idividuals or project teams ad to act as swig space eablig Departmets to move whe required. The area of a buildig which is the gross area less commo areas, lifts, fire escape routes ad other ladlord areas. A efficiecy measure ormally expressed as persos or desks per square metre of et iteral area. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
terms commoly used i this report Shared Service Cetre Swig space Touch-dow areas A Shared Service Cetre is a facility that performs admiistrative ad trasactioal fuctios for multiple divisios or subsidiaries of the same orgaisatio, rather tha havig those trasactios coducted i separate operatig areas. A term used i the property sector to describe space that is used o short-term basis to facilitate a relocatio project or programme. It is ofte used as a stagig post withi the overall migratio, allowig the permaet space to be refitted or made ready. Shared desks, but ulike hot desks (see above) these are ot bookable. It is therefore available to everyoe i a orgaisatio icludig visitors. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
itroductio itroductio This volume of the report cotais 18 case studies from across the public ad private sectors 15 demostratig good practice i the use of real estate, three demostratig the property related beefits of movig to a Shared Service Cetre. The good practices idetified i the case studies cover a umber of approaches but they all demostrate the impact o helpig the orgaisatios ivolved i improvig their busiess efficiecy ad the quality of services they deliver to ed users. While the examples we give are specific, they highlight priciples ad practices with scope for wider applicability across the public sector. To help the reader avigate through this volume, Figure 1 sets out the good practices idetified i the first fiftee case studies, idicatig which oes feature specific examples either strogly or i part. Methodology We examied ad prepared 18 case studies. I each case, we requested a set of stadardised data from each of the case study orgaisatios ad visited the key sites to: walk through ad observe the space, techology ad workig practices; iterview the key staff resposible for maagig ad implemetig; ad aalyse additioal papers ad maagemet iformatio to evidece assertios about performace, ad cost savigs. Each of the case studies was agreed i detail with the subject orgaisatio prior to publicatio. 6 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
itroductio 1 Navigatio overview of the 15 case studies o real estate best practice Case Studies examples Clear Chage Property Best practice Support for Office Evolutioary busiess maagemet people property workers services approach ageda approach techology plaig & away from solutios itegrated maagemet office Adult Learig Ispectorate BAA BP BT Cambridgeshire Couty Coucil Departmet of Trade & Idustry Erst & Youg GCHQ Hertfordshire Couty Coucil IBM Norfolk Couty Coucil PwC Suffolk Couty Coucil Su Microsystems Vodafoe Key: Strogest features Other good examples Supportig elemets/aspects Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study oe case study oe Adult Learig Ispectorate Itegratig the property strategy with IT ad HR policies, ecompassig ew workig practices, was a key factor i achievig the merger of two orgaisatios with highly mobile workforces. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study oe Key lessos a ew HQ buildig, ad the opportuity take to reappraise the ways of workig across a busiess, ca support the successful merger of two orgaisatios; techology solutios, i cojuctio with a forwardthikig approach to space allocatio, ca create a step-chage i performace ad staff satisfactio; directors ad seior maagemet voluteerig to work i a ope pla space seds a powerful sigal to all staff about the culture chage ad ew ways of workig; ad it is worth goig back to basics ad assessig the core busiess processes of the orgaisatio, ad the establishig property, techology ad HR solutios that support those processes. The challege 1 The Traiig Stadards Coucil (Oxford) ad the Further Educatio Fudig Coucil (Covetry) merged i 2001 to form the Adult Learig Ispectorate (the Ispectorate). The Ispectorate ispects a wide rage of govermet-fuded learig i Eglad, icludig workbased learig for all people over 16 ad traiig fuded by Jobcetre Plus. Of the 282 employees, 137 are homebased ispectors with the remaider providig Natioal Admiistratio Cetre support such as Busiess Plaig ad Developmet, ad Facilities ad Fiace operatios. 2 Movig ito the ew Natioal Admiistratio Cetre at Sprig Place i Covetry provided seior maagemet with a uique opportuity to reassess workig practices, ad to alig its property strategy more closely with operatioal practices. The maagemet recogised from the outset that ot all employees required a dedicated desk: the ispectors who sped most of their time away from the office required o desk, but eed excellet support. The challege therefore was to fid accommodatio ad techology solutios to support a highly mobile ad distributed workforce with differet workig styles, while creatig a HQ hub eviromet to express the orgaisatio s culture ad provide support. The solutio 3 The Ispectorate provides ope pla workspace for those based permaetly i the ew buildig. Everyoe, icludig the directors, works at ope pla workstatios i a bright, covetioally laid out iterior. Large L-shaped desks with low height screes ad storage uits eable easy access to cetrally zoed meetig ad quiet workig rooms. Soft furishig i iformal meetig ad breakout spaces support coversatios that are more iformal. Whe ispectors visit the office, there are twelve hot desks available. The eviromet allows them to meet colleagues, collect traiig kits, use the traiig facilities, ad drop off documets. 4 Durig its first year, the Ispectorate worked i a cellular office buildig with log labyrithie corridors. The ew iterior layout required a sigificat chage of culture. Supportig its operatios with crucial eablig policies, the Ispectorate egieered a ew busiess culture with a ew approach to the office eviromet. For example: Key Statistics Move-i: 2002 Buildig: Total buildig area: 1,862m 2 User populatio: Workstatios: 151 Buildig desity: Footprit area: Desk allocatio: Awards: two-storey office buildig o a gree field site 282 (145 admiistratio plus 137 home-based ispectors) 12.3m 2 per workstatio c7m 2 per workstatio 51% of the staff at a 1:1 desk:staff ratio (admiistratio) ad 49% at 1:10 (ispectors) the BIFM Ivestor i Excellece Award for Best Practice i a fit-out project 2003 ; the ICT Best Workplace i Iformatio Techology award for 2005 Large meetig, coferece ad traiig rooms are booked through a cetrally admiistered bookig system. Archives are located off-site with a 24-hour retrieval service. All waste paper is recycled. Staff log o at ay desktop PC, givig freedom to choose where best to work, ad givig maagemet advatages i terms of re-shapig teams. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study oe Ispectors have wireless eabled laptops ad mobile phoes. The buildig cotais cetral, well-plaed ad easily accessible resource areas with priters, fax, copyig ad scaig facilities. 5 Reiforcig the cultural chage was a radical approach to supportig those who spet much of their time workig from home. I short, the ispector workig from home experieces a high level of support ad back up, aimig to mirror the services delivered i the office. For example: the Ispectorate provides office equipmet, icludig PC, laptop, priter, fax ad mobile phoe, ad ispectors receive a home office furiture allowace of 700; Ispectorate statioery is available ad ordered o-lie with delivery of all surface mail via Sprig Place; cotracts exist with local couriers to collect ad deliver large volumes of documets aroud the UK quickly; ad a car fleet is maitaied for use by ispectors, but alteratively each ispector ca opt for a mothly car allowace of 408. Achievemets 6 The Ispectorate met its challege of supportig a highly mobile ad distributed workforce, while creatig a hub eviromet with excellet support. Busiess beefits iclude: utilisatio, or buildig occupacy, icreased from 50% to 90%; aual occupacy costs at 521m 2 ad 6,413 per workstatio; average desity per workstatio (12.3m 2 ) which ow compares well with best practice; ad a MORI Staff Opiio Survey i 2004 reported a 90 per cet staff satisfactio rate o resources ad facilities, with positive effects o productivity. 10 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study two case study two BAA The progressive ad carefully maaged implemetatio of flexible workig led to a halvig i office accommodatio, to higher staff satisfactio ad icreased productivity. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 11
case study two Key lessos that it is possible to achieve major busiess beefits, i this case halvig property costs ad improvig staff satisfactio, by adoptig a policy of gradual, cotiuig evolutio rather tha a Big Bag approach; that busiess priorities ca chage, ad the project eeds to evolve ad respod accordigly; ad to maximise the beefits ad success of workplace chage programmes, it is vital that Property, IT ad HR policies are aliged, ad to have the highest levels of maagemet support ad sposorship. The challege 1 BAA is a airport compay that ows ad operates seve airports i the UK. BAA also has maagemet or retail cotracts ad stakes i airports i locatios aroud the world. 2 I 1994, as part of a wider busiess chage programme focusig o cost reductios, BAA examied how it might make better use of its office accommodatio which at the time comprised three buildigs at Heathrow Poit Busiess Park. The eed to reduce accommodatio overheads drove BAA to cosolidate ito just two buildigs: Poit West ad Poit East. Followig this success, however, BAA wished to go eve further i reducig office costs ad icreasig flexibility. The challege was to cosolidate ito Poit West by replacig the me ad my desk culture with a ew approach based o ope pla, o desk sharig, ad o movig people s mids rather tha walls. The solutio 3 I 1999, BAA ra a demostratio project to covert 929m 2 of Poit West ito a ope pla space. The Uity Pilot was highly successful, yieldig sigificat beefits i space ad cost savigs as well as icreased user satisfactio. However, the evets of 9/11 relegated the accommodatio strategy dow the list of busiess priorities, delayig the plaed roll out strategy. Istead of carryig out a rapid, high profile exercise to itroduce the ew ways of workig, developmets i workspace plaig, furishig, ICT ad flexible workig cotiued whe opportuities arose ad whe the busiess case justified them. Thus, BAA adopted a gradual, evolutioary approach to chagig its culture through more flexible use of office accommodatio. The steps icluded: Key Statistics Pilot project: 1999 Buildig: Total buildig area: 4,333m 2 User populatio: 540 Workstatios: 459 Buildig desity: Desk allocatio: early 1990s speculative office buildig 9.4m 2 per workstatio 10% staff at 1:1 at a desk: staff ratio ad 90% staff at a ratio of 1:1.2 voluteers leadig by example ad givig up their sigle offices; as opportuities arose, covertig team areas to ope pla; Property ad HR leadig by example i breakig the me ad my desk culture by workig from ay desk i their area; ad ecouragig fully flexible workig (i other words workig from ay locatio) through combied policy support from Property, IT ad HR. 12 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study two 4 The ew approach to flexible workig required ew policies ad the support of seior maagemet, ad demaded iovatio i the traditioal techology support offered to staff (Figure 2). 5 Maagemet of the office space became more itesive recogisig the ature of a more fluid work eviromet. For example, flexible workig requires careful maagemet of paper storage. At BAA, regular storage audits keep the volumes of stored paper to miimal levels through archivig ad group filig, ad limitig persoal shelf space to oe liear metre per flexible worker. A key aspect to the chage maagemet process was to fid ways of givig back to the users while reducig the overall space eed; the users were highly ivolved i this process. The improvemets give back i this way icluded services such as café-style break out areas, pick up ad drop off dry cleaig, electroic shoppig, ad free massages; a office maager/cocierge role to provide excellet customer service, but also carryig a elemet of eforcemet; ad traiig ad support, icludig traiig mauals, booklets, ad itraet iformatio, as well as floorwalkers who moitor ad assist durig the trasitio phases. 2 Techology: New policies ad iovatios required to support the ew approach cordless DECT phoes to eable calls to be take aywhere; providig log o aywhere capability via the WebTop facility; replacig PCs with thi cliet devices ad access to the cetral server; ratioalisig the umerous software packages i use to a agreed miimum; replacig covetioal priters with multi-fuctio devices; ad home workig policies, supported by broadbad or wireless techologies. Approaches to the use of office space: a variety of work settigs based aroud dedicated, touch dow ad drop i uses; floor layouts with a variety of furishigs usig smaller ad more diverse desks; meetig ad quiet work rooms clustered o the perimeter with exteral views; ad low screes dividig workstatios, platers, artwork, digitally projected graphics, soft furishig, bright breakout areas ad backlit aquaria addig focal poits ad iterest. Achievemets 6 A post-occupacy survey of the pilot i 2002 compared accommodatio ad services before ad after the move. The improvemets, measured o a scale of 1-5, were as follows: Accommodatio ad services Improvemet ratig Clealiess +0.4 Ambiece +0.5 Meetig rooms +0.3 Furiture +0.7 Iteractio with departmet colleagues +0.4 Iformal meetigs +0.7 Presece of a flexible workig culture +0.3 Right image to visitors ad customers +0.7 Overall a good workig eviromet +0.3 7 The Poit West project brought sigificat wider busiess beefits icludig: a doublig i the occupacy of Poit West; property cost savigs of 1.3millio per aum by vacatig Poit East; reducig chur costs by 80%; ad icreasig staff satisfactio ad perceived improvemets to productivity. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 13
case study three case study three BP A well plaed ad well timed move out of Lodo to a campus eviromet, graspig the opportuities recogised by a forward thikig maagemet team ad supported by the latest techology, ca deliver impressive operatig cost savigs, ehaced busiess performace, ad better support cotiuig persoal career opportuities. Key lessos major cost savigs ad performace improvemets are possible whe HR policies alig with accommodatio ad techology solutios; campus solutios offer ecoomies of scale, better or more comprehesive facilities ad create busiess flexibility; ad over time, property portfolios ca become out of lie with a orgaisatio s operatig requiremet. Moder techology solutios, coupled with ew ways of workig ad flexible accommodatio solutios ca lead to a step chage i performace. Key Statistics Buildig: Total buildig area: 41,209m 2 User populatio: 4,445 Workstatios: Buildig desity: Desk allocatio: campus site with seve buildigs occupied ad plaig permissio for ie 3,699 desks plus 100 touch dow 11.4m 2 per workstatio average 1:1.24 per perso 14 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study three The challege 1 BP occupied 12 buildigs i Lodo ad the South East. May were separated by sigificat distaces, actig as a major deterret to movig staff to differet posts withi the busiess. The dispersed ature of the busiess resulted i iefficiet commuicatios ad busiess operatios, ad worked agaist the achievemet of a commo culture ad sese of purpose. I short, the compay s accommodatio arragemet had become a busiess costrait. The solutio 2 I 2003, BP s Board decided to cosolidate the property portfolio from 12 to five locatios with a strog focus o oe site i particular, at Subury (Figure 3). The heart of the operatioal busiess would cosolidate at its Subury site i outer west Lodo, housig Exploratio ad Productio Research; Refiig ad Marketig; Gas Reewables Supply ad Tradig. This would leave a small cetral Lodo HQ; a City-facig tradig orgaisatio i Caary Wharf, ad two customer-facig operatios i Hemel Hempstead ad Milto Keyes. BP had owed ad occupied Subury for may years as a corporate research cetre, but with oly acillary office cotet. 3 The ew strategy required the redevelopmet of the Subury site, ito a campus of seve purpose-built office buildigs. These have their ow services ad dedicated parkig to meet importat commercial criteria. Cosistet with commercial objectives ad allowig the compay future flexibility, a family of fit-out desigs gives each buildig some idividual idetity, whilst low-key bradig ad sigage keep the overall image relatively cosistet. 4 Support from a fully itegrated wireless etwork eables staff to work almost aywhere withi the campus. Busiess uits ca ow expad or shrik with ease, ad project teams ca form ad disbad rapidly i respose to busiess demad. The scale of the campus gives the user populatio great flexibility i choosig where to work, ad i absorbig local peak demads for space. The wireless eviromet ad most staff usig cordless phoes, ecourage mobile staff to hot desk rather tha settlig ito the same workstatio each time they arrive at the office. Most staff use laptop computers, eablig them to work from home ad from ay locatio o the campus. The site-based staff ad the large umbers of daily visitors all maage to fid space to work withi this self-regulatig system. 5 HR policies played a key role i itroducig the ew work style. Nie-day fortights, home workig, ad flexihours reflect the 24x7 ature of the busiess, ad help smooth out the peaks ad troughs i the daily demad for desk space. Betwee 50 to 60 per cet of staff work from home at least oe day a week. A further 5 to 10 per cet sped more tha 20% of their workig i this way. The flexible workig also eases the peak flows of traffic oto ad off the site. 6 The user populatio of 4,445 is supported by 3,600 desks ad 100 touchdow statios. Busiess uits decide locally how best to orgaise ad allocate desks. Typically, the desk allocatio rages from 1:1 for admiistrative staff to 1:1.2. I some highly mobile areas the ratio rises to 1:1.5. 7 For all but a hadful of Group Vice Presidets ad legal staff (whose offices are available for meetigs whe uoccupied), everyoe works i a ope pla layout. The high level of visibility across floors, with low-height privacy screes betwee desks, ecourages commuicatio. Desks are a uiform wave shape complete with computer scree ad keyboard, ready for laptop use. 8 Employees use top-up smart cards i the shop, the subsidised restaurat, take away sadwich bar ad coffee shop. A ATM, Occupatioal Health office, detist ad a dry cleaig service are viable operatios give the scale of the campus, ad help to attract ad retai staff. Free vedig areas located o every floor ecourage staff to mix ad iteract. 9 The maagemet of facilities for meetig, storage, documet maagemet ad waste disposal all help to create a pleasat ad efficiet work eviromet. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 15
case study three 3 BP s Subury campus before ad after redevelopmet 1998 2004 10 Large meetig rooms are booked through a cetralised o-lie system; smaller rooms give priority to local staff o each floor or withi each buildig ad are booked usig separate software. Each floor features well-furished, iformal meetig areas ad touchdow workstatios. I additio: Each busiess group uses electroic, high-desity filig systems. I areas where there is a regime of desk sharig idividual storage is restricted to mobile trolleys with o persoal storage allowed uder desks. Small baks of floor-etworked machies maage pritig ad copyig, with a average of oe machie per 30 persos. Racks placed earby provide hady chargig for cordless phoes. There are cetral poits o each floor for hardcopy mail delivery. Persoal waste bis at each desk o loger exist, with oly floor recyclig bis provided. This cuts the cleaig costs sigificatly, ad ecourages recyclig. Achievemets 11 Cosolidatio at Subury has delivered major occupacy beefits to BP. Space use o the campus is highly efficiet, averagig 11.4m 2 per workstatio, ad occupacy costs compare well with best practice at 5,174 per perso, ad 6,389 per workstatio. These figures have resulted i: reductios i property operatig costs of aroud 35 per cet (some 23 millio per aum); savigs i occupacy costs of up to 15k per perso per year; a halvig i the average cost per workstatio; chur costs fallig from 1,500 per move to approximately 300. The flexibility of the campus has also demostrated the beefits of scale i absorbig growth. For example, betwee 2003 ad 2005, while the umber of workstatios grew from 2,800 to 3,600, the cost per workstatio fell by just uder a third. 12 I additio to the hard cost beefits, BP reports: ehaced commuicatio ad collaboratio; icreased team performace; flexibility for project-based teams ad work; icreased career mobility; ad icreased staff retetio. 16 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study four case study four BT A large busiess trasformatio project spaig several years, ivolvig dramatic reductios i space ad property costs, while at the same time itroducig radically ew workig patters, accommodatio solutios ad techology support. Key lessos a compay-wide plaig approach releases major savigs; a headquarters buildig is a dyamic eviromet, ad eeds to house may thousads of visitors o a highly trasiet basis. The balace of permaet desk space ad flexible desk space eeds to be kept costatly uder review; ad major savigs are oly possible if techology solutios alig ad support the ew huma resources policies ad tie i properly to wellmaaged estates solutios. Key Statistics Buildig: multi-storey office, built i the early 1980s, ad recetly refurbished Total buildig area: c26,500m 2 User populatio: Workstatios: 1,800 Buildig desity: Desk allocatio: 1,500 plus c2,500 daily visitors 14.7m 2 per workstatio 1,500 at 1:1,300 flexi desks ad touchdow workspaces Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 17
case study four The challege 1 Privatisatio i 1984 gave BT the opportuity ad the stimulus to repositio its busiess i a icreasigly competitive global market. BT s strategy was to reduce the cost base ad improve its service delivery by chagig its workig practices, staffig levels, use of eablig techology ad accommodatio solutios. The most recet major chage maagemet programme, Workabout, started i 2002. This icluded about 6,000 people optig to give up permaet office space, optig istead for mobile workig ad workig from home. The aims of Workabout were: to reduce property overhead costs further; to improve productivity; ad to help retai ad motivate valuable people. 2 This case study, based o the BT Cetre i Newgate Street Lodo, illustrates the scale of the chages i the accommodatio solutio, made i tadem with sigificat HR ad techology chages. The solutio 3 The BT Cetre i the City of Lodo is BT s headquarters. It supports thousads of visitors each week, ad has a auditorium, coferece rooms ad traiig facilities. Product ad techology demostratio evets take place regularly. As such, the buildig essetially has two fuctios: to support the HQ maagemet, ad provide a major customer iterface. Betwee 1997 ad 1999 BT refurbished the BT Cetre, to exploit the latest applicatios i iformatio ad commuicatios techology, make better use of space, ad eable flexible ways of workig. 4 Some 1,800 workstatios are provided i the buildig. Of these, 1,500 provide moder dedicated workstatios. The other 300, combiig flexi desks ad touchdow poits, support some 2,500 staff ad visitors o a casual basis, providig vital flexibility for people visitig the HQ buildig. The average daily occupacy levels are 60% at the dedicated desks ad 85% for the flexi ad touchdow workstatios. BT will shortly adjust the allocatios i favour of more flexi ad touchdow desks. A wireless LAN throughout BT Cetre ad VoIP givig call-routig flexibility, eable people to work at ay locatio i the buildig. 5 Web bookig systems eable people to reserve a flexi desk, or ay of the 110 small- to medium-sized meetig rooms. However, 40% of the booked meetig rooms remai uused. BT plas to improve usage through a icetive scheme ad by providig a few stadby rooms which do ot eed bookig. Busiess uits ow the larger meetig rooms. 6 Workabout staff are supported by a Help Desk, accessed either via the web or by phoe. They receive a full IT ad furiture solutio to equip a home office, ad full access rights to all BT s buildigs ad facilities. The furiture ad IT solutio varies i value betwee 800 ad 2,500 depedig o the type of home workig selected. I additio to the Help Desk there is also a cocierge service withi the buildig. This icludes supervisig all pritig ad photocopyig. 7 BT is ow further icreasig operatioal flexibility. Project Ramp will itroduce thi cliet devices, flat screes ad a mai server termial at each desk. Employees will access iformatio very quickly usig ew persoal idetificatio software. Ramp replaces desk top computers, thereby itroducig sigificat space savigs, reduced maiteace ad capital costs ad reduced heat gai. The devices also icrease comfort levels ad further ehace flexible workig practices. 18 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study four Achievemets 8 The success of BT s flexible workig strategy is clear. I space terms aloe, the iitiative has resulted i savigs of aroud 50%. The Workabout programme has eabled BT to reduce its Lodo office portfolio from 76 to eight buildigs i 10 years; eablig aual savigs i Lodo occupacy costs of some 70 millio. 9 Despite the fact that BT Cetre has a large umber of space-hugry uses icludig coferece ad product demostratio rooms, the ew flexible workig practices produce average desities that that are higher the the atioal average. Each workstatio has a area of 14.7m 2. The total occupacy cost of each workstatio is 12,500, which is slightly above best practice, but explaied by the large amout of space dedicated to coferece ad demostratio rooms. 10 I additio to savigs these chages have impacted positively o staff. A questioaire survey of 195 of BT s Workabout employees foud that: 65 per cet reported a good work-life balace; just over three quarters reported that workig hours had icreased; 65 per cet reported reduced work stress; 69 per cet reported higher productivity; ad Workabout has led to estimated aual commutig cost savigs of approximately 1,000 per perso. 11 The refurbished BT Cetre makes much better use of space, ad raises the brad image. The flexible workig practices, supported by eablig techology, provide further capacity to accommodate busiess growth. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 19
case study five case study five Cambridgeshire Couty Coucil Illustratig how improved service to the public ca be achieved through itegratig a ew property strategy with ew workig practices. 20 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study five Key lessos a properly costructed accommodatio strategy ca eable a deep-seated ad fudametal chage i a orgaisatio s performace; for such a chage to succeed, the HR ad ICT policies have to alig, ad the seior maagemet has to work together from the outset to make the chage happe; itegrated workig across differet support services eables departmets to beefit from the cetral provisio of similar or commo support services; ad the importace of excellet FM services i supportig staff workig i a more flexible, mobile way. The challege 1 The restructurig of the coucil from five Directorates to three i 2004 highlighted the eed to deliver moder, flexible buildigs from which the coucil ad co-located parter orgaisatios could provide effective customer-focused frot lie services. 2 The key challege was to chage the modus operadi of the coucil from supportig cetralised workig out of Cambridge to oe i which the coucil provided multi-discipliary support services from a etwork of 32 coutywide offices. The solutio 3 The coucil developed a office replacemet programme that ot oly provided a opportuity to challege how space was utilised, but how Facilities Maagemet supported occupiers. Hereward Hall was the first project delivered uder this programme. Sice the a joit services buildig has bee delivered i the ew settlemet of Camboure ad a 4.5m replacemet office developmet commeced o site i Hutigdo i 2005. 4 Followig the restructurig of the coucil durig 2004-05 a further 14 local area offices are plaed to deliver improved frot lie services throughout Cambridgeshire. Work is curretly uderway to idetify suitable sites. The replacemet of usuitable office accommodatio with ew flexible accommodatio is key to supportig staff based throughout the couty. The portfolio of 32 coutywide offices, which will icrease to 50 providig both back office support ad local frot-lie services, is supported by three core buildigs: Hereward Hall i March is a ew bespoke buildig, servig the orth of the couty. It is the base for Childre ad Youg People Services, Highways, Couty Caterig ad the local PCT; Sackville House i Camboure serves the west of the couty providig multi-service support combiig a library, GP, Primary Care Trust, local police ad mobile workers from Couty Tradig Stadards; ad Speke House i St Ives is the Coucil s first dedicated telephoe Cotact Cetre, offerig customers exteded access to a rage of coucil services. A secod Cotact Cetre at Amudse House wet live i 2005. 5 Completed i 2003, Hereward Hall supports a miimum of 112 people. The buildig s iteral cofiguratio optimises frot-lie service delivery by better supportig the differet eeds of its users. These iclude: Key Statistics Move-i: 2003 Buildig: Total buildig area: 1,185m 2 User populatio: Buildig desity: ew two-storey office buildig o gree field site 112 Couty ad PCT users 10.5m 2 per workstatio Desk allocatio: 53% at 1:1 ad 47% at 1:1.2 staff with dedicated workstatios; fieldworkers based at Hereward Hall ad sharig workstatios; ad peripatetic staff based elsewhere ad accessig touchdow workstatios. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 21
case study five 6 With the exceptio of two maagers retaiig small offices for highly cofidetial work, everyoe ow works i a ope pla eviromet. 70 per cet of buildig users are field workers, eablig the coucil to achieve a desk to people ratio of 8:10. Social Services, Highways ad Caterig teams use combiatios of dedicated ad shared workstatios, workig i ope pla areas with lowheight furiture screes to improve operatioal visibility. Tea ad coffee makig facilities ad a luch break room ecourage iter-departmet commuicatio. 7 A touchdow suite opes betwee 07.00 ad 20.00 each day to support mobile staff based at other buildigs. Persoal smart cards provide tailored roamig rights withi the buildig. A specially secured etrace maages out-of-hours access to the buildig. Further iovatios for improvig staff productivity, work-life balace ad security are uderway ad iclude: persoal smart cards eable simple, obureaucratic buildig access maagemet (a pilot study is lookig at extedig the cards applicatio to vedig ad car parkig); rovig profiles support mobile workig; itegrated HR ad ICT policies, with supportig ifrastructure, eable staff to work from home at the discretio of sectio maagers (NETILLA, a coucil coectio for broadbad services, is a cetrally provided support service); specially furished, private rooms improve the service to the public; a web based room bookig system eablig better use of shared resources; a pilot study o electroic data maagemet systems is uderway, with the aim of cuttig paper waste ad further improvig efficiecy; cliet files ormally archived for up to 70 years ow are stored off site supported by a cotracted out ext day delivery service; ew etworked, multi-fuctio machies reduce the eed for local priters ad copiers, savig equipmet costs ad reducig floor space demad; ad use of video-coferecig to sigificatly reduce the six millio miles travelled by the coucil each year. Achievemets 8 The coucil has improved its level of services to the public, by accommodatig its employees ad supportig parter orgaisatios through a itegrated ad coheret estate strategy. The project, as exemplified by movig ito Hereward Hall, has delivered ew corporate stadards for services ad accommodatio icludig: corporate support for frot-lie services through mobile, decetralisatio workig; a ew customer-cetric service ethos throughout; a more secure ad resiliet work eviromet; ad greater staff satisfactio (ad productivity) through improved accommodatio ad support from the cetralised FM service. 22 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study six case study six Departmet of Trade ad Idustry A example of a Govermet Departmet turig the problem of a ufuded retal cost rise ito a opportuity to deliver much wider busiess performace improvemet. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 23
case study six Key lessos it took a potetially severe retal icrease to force maagemet to thik outside the box ad develop a much improved way of ruig their busiess. All departmets should thik i this way, challegig the status quo ad accepted practice; ad desk-sharig ad o-territorial behaviours ca lead to major cost savigs ad improve busiess performace. To break the me ad my desk culture, the chage has to be led by example from the very top. The challege 1 I 2004 the Departmet of Trade ad Idustry (DTI) faced a substatial icrease i ret ad rates at its cetral Lodo offices, for which o further fudig was available. Facig the eed to make sigificat cost savigs, the DTI developed a real estate strategy that required substatial culture chage. Chagig the way the DTI operated by movig from Directorate or silo based workig to more project ad team orgaised workig was a essetial busiess driver. 2 I 2004 the DTI occupied eight buildigs, providig aroud 5,000 workstatios. The DTI s strategy ivolved reducig the umber of buildigs from eight to just three: its HQ at 1 Victoria Street, part of 151 Buckigham Palace Road ad Kigsgate House. The plaed payback period for the whole project is five years. The associated busiess case is uderpied by a survey showig that occupacy levels rarely reached 60 per cet, defiig the scale of the cost savig opportuity. 3 While supportig the efficiecy-led strategy, the DTI s Board also saw the opportuity to use the project to deliver a chage maagemet programme across the whole orgaisatio. The Departmet s work was becomig more fluid ad project-cetric, ad the Board wated to move towards team-based practices supported by a project culture. This meat developig a more customer-focused culture, ad chagig the traditioal orgaisatioal silos patter of workig. 4 The Programme Board icluded a mix of Director Geerals ad Seior Civil Servats from across the departmet, ad it took resposibility for deliverig the busiess beefits such as the reduced costs ad improved ways of workig from the chage programme. To achieve efficiecies i accommodatio use ad busiess workig methods, team-based desk sharig withi flexible ope pla office space took cetre stage. This required a fudametal chage to workig culture by: Key Statistics Move-i: 2005 Buildig: Total buildig area: c30,000m 2 Usable floor area: c20,000m 2 Workstatios: Desk allocatio: 8:10 refurbished 1960s multi-storey office block 2,000 desks plus 70 hot desks breakig the relatioship betwee me ad my desk ; ad creatig relatioships betwee me ad my team ad me ad my outcome. 24 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study six The solutio 5 Phase Oe of the chage programme was completed i 2005 ad ivolved 1 Victoria Street. 6 Practical aspects of the project iclude: with very limited exceptios, persoal assistats, secretaries ad people with special eeds are the oly staff with the choice to use a dedicated desk. All other staff ow share space i their team areas; busiess teams have eight desks per te staff withi their villages ad uit maagers decide how best to work this arragemet i practice; low height screes betwee desks provide log views across floors ad eable better commuicatio withi teams; quiet rooms support the team villages, together with touch dow workstatios ad iformal soft seatig areas; a PC-based meetig room bookig system with obookable flexi spaces for quiet workig ad touch dow. Director Geerals have their ow meetig rooms that ca also be used by others ad booked via persoal assistats; ICT service areas o each floor provide cetralised high-speed pritig, scaig, photocopyig, fax facilities, ad statioery ad post poits. Removig 450 local priters from the workig areas saved cost ad improved productivity; mobility ad flexibility was made possible by a ICT etwork ad telephoy that allowed staff to work from ay desk i the buildig; ad pooled laptops made available to staff to support remote workig. 7 The DTI plas to move from a uiform allocatio of eight desks per 10 people towards a allocatio based o actual desk usage, the evidece for which will come from ICT auditig of computer use. Achievemets 8 The project s mai achievemets have bee: a reductio of over 30 per cet i the space occupied i Lodo, icreasig the buildig s capacity from 1,680 to 2,400 people; takig the opportuity of a accommodatio project to drive i a deeper-seated culture chage, covicig seior maagers to ow ad take resposibility for the chage maagemet programme from its iceptio leadig to a step chage i trasformig a traditioal silo based Civil Service work culture ito oe of team-based flexible workig; ad layig the groudwork for the DTI to move towards more home workig ad improvig work life balace of its staff. 9 Staff report that the opeess of the floors is a improvemet to commuicatio i terms of a reductio of barriers with colleagues that used to be there i the previous locatio. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 25
case study seve case study seve Erst & Youg LLP Property ratioalisatio ad relocatio ca be used as the eabler of a busiess trasformatio, but requires a strog visio, seior maagemet ivolvemet ad clear busiess ad techical targets. 26 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study seve Key lessos ope pla workstatios for everyoe, high-desity floors ad bookable workstatios ad meetig rooms, supported with wireless workig ad matchig HR policies, ca trasform a busiess s operatio, eve where cliet cofidetiality is importat; ad strog visio from seior maagemet uderpied by clear busiess ad techical targets with early collaboratio betwee the Accommodatio, IT ad HR teams is eeded to deliver a programme of moderisatio withi a large orgaisatio. The challege 1 Recogisig the growig mismatch betwee its out-dated ad dispersed real estate ad its future busiess visio, Erst &Youg s maagemet decided to moderise the firm s workig methods ad accommodatio. With busiess processes icreasigly based o team workig the dispersed property portfolio with its cellular space impeded performace: a ew workplace to eable the trasformatio of the busiess was required. The solutio 2 Erst ad Youg cosolidated its busiess ito two buildigs, oe beig a ew buildig, More Lodo Place, ext to Tower Bridge. Completed i December 2003, the eleve-storey office buildig provides 35,700m 2 of space, with floor plates of 1,625m 2 to 1,811m 2. Its acquisitio allowed EY to reduce its portfolio of Lodo buildigs from ie to two, ad the floor area from 100,000m 2 to 53,000m 2, while accommodatig the same umber of employees. EY retaied Beckett House, ear Waterloo as a support buildig. 3 A hot desk system maximises the use of the space, recogisig that may cosultats ad audit staff work i other locatios, either with cliets or from home. They ca book desks up to 10 days i advace, for a maximum of 10 days cotiual use. The ratio of people to desks is 3:1. Other HQ-based staff have dedicated desks that, alog with the hot desks, are laid out i ecoomic footprits of just 5.7m 2 each. 4 The ew desk-sharig arragemets, combied with effective techology support ad home workig creates flexibility for the firm to accommodate may more fee-earig employees per uit of floor area tha before. The large floor plates of provide high visibility betwee employees, eablig good commuicatio. Ope pla workstatios fitted with low furiture screes accommodate teams of four, six ad eight people. New iformatio techology ow meas: Key Statistics Move-i: September to December 2003 Buildig: Total buildig area: 37,800m 2 User populatio: 4,200 Workstatios: Buildig desity: Average workstatio: 5.7m 2 eleve storeys (ie workig floors) with two itercoected wigs 3,164 icludig permaet ad bookable `hotel 11.3m per workstatio Desk allocatio: 65% staff at 1:1 ad 35% staff at 1:3 over 80 per cet of staff use laptops, with wireless workig provided greater busiess ad persoal flexibility i the orgaisatio of work; local busiess uit maagers ca decide whether work should take place with the cliet, i the office or from home; ad VoIP throughout the firm provided the potetial to make large savigs o the costs of telephoy. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 27
case study seve 5 Reported by staff to work brilliatly overall the buildig provides high quality staff ad cliet facilities. Cliets get a better braded experiece tha before with the top floor of each wig give over to coferece ad meetig facilities. The buildig makes a strog impact with views across the Thames ad the City. Facilities ad services that lower costs ad help staff to work efficietly iclude: accessible meetig ad quiet workig rooms; bookable ad o-bookable meetig ad quiet workig rooms with glazed partitios; cetralised etworked priters ad copiers with a capacity of 45 copies per miute, oe located more tha 7m from a workstatio; high soudproofig specificatios, importat for cliet cofidetiality, which provide a 38dB reductio betwee meetig rooms ad 45dB reductio o cliet floors; ad shelvig is some distace away from workstatios to discourage local estig by occupiers. Hot desk users have oe liear metre of storage each. Those with permaet desks have three liear metres each. 6 To improve efficiet workig throughout the buildig office machies are located such that multi-fuctio sca, prit ad copy machies are provided at 1 per 50 staff, ad higher capacity office service cetres, located i the two buildig wigs, provide capacities of 65 copies per miute. The firm expects to reduce its aual pritig costs by at least 35 per cet by itroducig a policy of double-sided pritig. The curret demad is 55 millio black ad white copies ad 6 millio colour copies per aum. Achievemets 7 EY s busiess trasformatio through its property ratioalisatio has bee very successful amogst staff, brigig with it sigificat busiess beefits, icludig: a halvig i floor area while accommodatig the same umber of staff; spaceless growth - hot desk arragemets allow the busiess to grow further without the eed for additioal space; a overall buildig desity of 11.3m 2 per workstatio; ad a electroic desk bookig system that helps to eve out peaks ad troughs i the demad for space. 28 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies
case study eight case study eight GCHQ The use of good practice project maagemet to achieve whole-busiess chage, icludig a ew approach to workplace plaig, while satisfyig strict security demads. Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies 29
case study eight Key lessos eve orgaisatios with the strictest security requiremets ca work i ope pla offices, ca adopt desk-sharig policies that save space ad ca support mobile workig away from the office; staff ivolvemet from the outset is paramout, helpig shape ad ow the solutio; ad desk-sharig is ot oly more efficiet i terms of occupacy desities, it supports spaceless growth. The challege 1 Sice 1952 GCHQ was based at Chelteham, occupyig fifty separate buildigs o two sites: Behall ad Oakley. By the mid-1990s, the buildigs required substatial ivestmet to meet future busiess eeds. Operatioal pressures required greater flexibility i the use of space ad the re-egieerig of busiess processes for chagig requiremets i a post Cold War world. Chages to govermet policy also preseted ew challeges to procuremet, resource accoutig ad the eviromet. The solutio 2 I 2000, Miisters approved the costructio of a ew Private Fiace Iitiative (PFI) buildig at Behall. At over 1.5 billio for the 30 year life of the cotract icludig provisio of FM services, the deal was oe of the largest of its kid. The New Accommodatio Programme (NAP) was set up to maage the project, which icluded: costructio of a ew headquarters buildig; movig over 4,000 staff ad maitaiig busiess cotiuity; the largest IT relocatio i Europe; chages to behaviour ad processes; ad itroducig ew ways of workig ad ew busiess beefits. Key Statistics Move-i: 2003 Buildig: Total buildig area: 59,000m 2 User populatio: 4,900 Workstatios: Buildig desity: Desk allocatio: average 1:1.15 Awards: Behall is a ew multi-storey; doughut-shaped, high security buildig 4,089 desks plus 60 touch dow 14.4m 2 per workstatio; 12.0m 2 per perso Public Private Fiace Project of the Year, 2000; British Costructio Idustry Judge s Special Award, 2004; British Coucil for Offices, Buildig of the Year 2004; ad Associatio for Commuter Trasport, Highly Commeded for Gree Travel Policy 2004. 3 Ivestigatios ito the optimum shape ad layout of the ew buildig resulted i a doughut desig, with a ladscaped garde at its cetre servig as a retreat for staff. The distictive shape of the buildig had advatages i terms of cost effectiveess, site efficiecy, a stroger sese of commuity ad higher security. Its thermal performace will save 40 per cet i eergy costs whe compared with a more covetioal structure. Everyoe ow works at a ope pla desk, ad with fewer desks tha the total user populatio, each busiess uit ow makes its ow arragemets to desk share. 4 Desks are booked electroically i icremets of half-days. To fid out where spare desks are available for ayoe without a allocatio, busiess uits swap bookig iformatio. Simple desk desig supports desk sharig ad helps maitai operatioal flexibility. 30 Gettig the best from public sector office accommodatio: case studies