Commercial
Hints, tips and trends monitored. Read how to improve productivity levels, increase wellbeing and engage staff in a commercial workplace environment.
Offices: it’s no work and all play
What role does the modern office amenities now play in business? It’s a question you may be asking yourself if you don’t offer a public-facing service. There’s no question that a degree of home working is here to stay but so is the office. What is...
Considerations when planning a video conferencing room
Excessive travel is increasingly becoming a business faux pas, especially since the pandemic has taught us that meetings can be conducted in different counties – and even countries – without leaving our desks. As well as a better use of time,...
Expansion plans grip the buoyant estate agency sector
Coming to a High Street near you are bigger and better-staffed estate agency branches, if the results of a new survey are taken into account. Property company Nested questioned almost 1,000 estate agents this January to establish their attitudes to...
Is coffee the answer to increasing post-pandemic footfall?
Coffee is the answer to lots of questions. Need an energy boost before starting work? Grab an espresso. Suffering from a 3pm slump? Sip a sweet latte. Looking for an informal place to meet? Head out for a cappuccino. Coffee is also the answer for...
Could you work with just half of your desks?
With Covid edging closer to endemic status and a spring season ahead where the Government looks set to ease restrictions even further, the great return to work can begin in earnest. The Prime Minister has called upon Whitehall to lead by example,...
Not on the High Street, or are we?
It was only a matter of weeks ago that MPL was debating the future of High Street estate agency branches. We wrote about Meyers in Dorset, who had chosen a business park over a shopping thoroughfare for the location of its new branch. True to the...
User studies are the star planning tool for 2022
While it is the start of a brand-new year, it is the same old story when it comes to working patterns and places. The ultra-infectious Omicron Covid strain has left workplaces up and down the country understaffed, with reports of 25-50% occupation...
4 facets that make up the ‘perfect job’
A new survey by OnePoll, which asked people what their dream job consisted of, revealed some fascinating thoughts. As well as the obvious answers about wage (that would be £44,000 per year) and hours (26 hours or even a four-day week), respondents...
High Street v. business parks: 2022’s debate
For estate and letting agents, it’s hard to find a more positive piece of PR than the opening of a new office. Adding to the network with a fresh branch shouts success. It also displays investment in the brand and serves as an outward sign that an...
Order your workplace eco-audit now
Did you see our blog on incoming minimum energy standards for non-residential dwellings? If you missed it, new standards for offices and commercial buildings will be introduced in 2023. Each building will be given an energy efficiency rating (an...
Empty premises? Create a co-working space
Commercial and retail property owners may be thinking ‘what next’?’ for their space. We’re in somewhat of a limbo land, with the strictest of lockdowns over and the furlough scheme wound up, yet a pervading reluctance for people to go back to the...
Will your eco-failings leave your office unusable?
Many of us are familiar with EPC certificates that shows how energy efficient our owner-occupied and rented properties are but did you know that workplaces will soon be assessed in the same way? New standards set to be introduced in 2023 will see...
Acoustics become 2021’s biggest office challenge
When the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management questioned 2,000 adults who had been working from home, it found most of them had returned to the office at least once since the lockdown had lifted. Upon their return, 7 out of 10 said they...
Is your office exciting enough to tempt staff back?
September is always a watershed moment in the year. Summer ends, schools return and for many, it feels like the start of a new chapter. This year, September is also serving as a line in the sand between home working and a return to the office. Not...
7 walls option to try in your workplace
Many of the commercial refit projects that MPL undertakes involve expansive open place offices that are handed over as shells. Our design team are expert space planners and after taking a detailed brief from the client – learning about the staff,...
4 design suggestions for a two-day-a-week office
Although a new YouGov survey found that just one in five bosses will ask staff to sit at their central desk for a full working week, and with Institute of Directors claiming two thirds of business leaders will allow remote working, it has been...
3 Ways to Work Wooden Slats into your Office Design
Wood never falls out of interior design and architectural fashion but there are so many ways it can be used to add interest in the workplace, so why stop at furniture? Some of our most well-received office refurbishment feature timber slats – here...
ITV’s relocation & how it relates to you
When we saw the news that broadcaster ITV had taken on the 13-year lease at White City Broadcast Centre – once the home of the BBC – the MPL office was filled with chatter. The move highlights three current ‘hot topics’ in the office sector, some...
How to avoid Boris-style wallpaper woes
There can be no more notorious refurbishment than the very expensive one that has recently taken place at No. 11 Downing Street – the home of the newly-wedded Mr & Mrs Boris Johnson. A national outcry occurred when news leaked of a reported...
The front-of-house is here
Nothing has made us MPL's team of shop fitters happier than seeing retail stores, restaurants and pubs reopen to the public but times have changed. Rather than people casually meandering in off the street, currently tables need to be pre-booked and...
Let's exchange ideas.
Get in touch to discuss style, space and specifications so we can reinvent your interior design.