Hybrid working allows employees to enjoy the benefits of both working from home and working in the office. Since the year 2020, we’ve seen a massive increase in this way of working. It was traditionally favoured by smaller tech companies but is now popular across a huge range of industries.

Switching to this model of working is hugely beneficial to both employers and employees and we are going to look at some of the pros and cons, as well as different types of hybrid working.

Pros of home working

Work-life balance – Working from home, at least part of the week, helps employees improve their work-life balance. From receiving parcels to being around for tradespeople, working from home gives employees more freedom to arrange things around important work tasks.
Lack of commute – Without the stress, cost and time spent commuting to and from work, employees are less stressed when they begin work and make better use of their time.
Freedom – Employees have more freedom to choose when and where they work.
Productivity – Without the pressures that can come with traditional ways of working, employees say they feel more productive.

Cons of home working

Access to work resources – They may be small fry, but they do add up. Tea, coffee, notebooks, heating, electricity, office chairs etc.
Team collaboration & culture – Both are hard to achieve without physically being in the same space and require a bit more effort when managed remotely.
Disruption – It can be tempting to pop a load of washing in or mow the lawn on your lunch break but it’s important to remain disciplined. Work processes can also be disrupted by not being able to pop over and speak to someone face to face.
Work schedules – With individual freedom also comes difficulty to coordinate schedules.

Pros of office working

Belonging & relationships – working in the office can foster a sense of belonging. You have comradery with your colleagues and can build meaningful connections more easily.
Productivity – I know, we mentioned this in the home working list, but for some, working in the office is a more focused environment and helps people switch into ‘work mode’.
Onboarding – Onboarding new team members can be much easier in an office environment. They get to know the team faster, know who to speak to and you can oversee how they are settling in much easier.
Collaboration – Physically being in the same space as others helps promote collaboration

Cons of office working

Inflexible – When you’re in the office there is more of a requirement to conform to a standard timetable.
Commute – This one cannot be ignored. For some, the daily commute can be stressful, expensive and long.
Exposure to illness – Now a few years ago, we probably wouldn’t have given this that much thought, but since COVID we know how quickly and easily viral infections can spread in an office space or on the bus/train.
Conformity – From the way you dress, to what you eat, to how you perform certain tasks, you’re far more likely to feel the need to conform in the office which might dampen your creativity.

So we can see from the above that there are definitely some benefits to a combination of homework and office work.

Types of Hybrid Working

If you’re introducing hybrid working, there are a few different ways you can do this. It’s important to find a way that benefits your employees and your business without impacting your customers.

At-Will Working

This way of hybrid working allows employees to make the decision based on their own individual needs and wants. Those who work best in the office, they have a space to do so. Those who work best at home, don’t feel pressured to come in. This really is an employee focussed model and it sounds like an ideal setup, but there are definitely some drawbacks. Not knowing where people are going to be from day to day can cause confusion and a feeling of disorganisation. Your office can either feel overcrowded or under-utilised which can be expensive for organisations and demotivating for employees. On the plus side, organisations can hire workers who live further away so they aren’t bound by location.

Office-First

While not too dissimilar to the above, an office-first model means employees are required to be in the office more days than they are at home. This is probably the easiest and quickest model to implement as it doesn’t require much setup other than some new policies. This makes arranging meetings and working collaboratively much easier. As it’s a more traditional way of working, employees will need to live nearby and be able to commute 3-4 times per week.

Remote-First

Employees only have access to office space 1-2 days per week, in some cases. This helps prevent overcrowding in the office but can mean that it’s harder to work with the individuals you want/need to. This can be great for those who prefer working from home but also like the social element of office-based work. Employers can use smaller office space but it can be more difficult when onboarding new employees.

Split-Week

Split week involves having certain days you require everyone onsite. For example, you may say everyone must be in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This helps your team plan their work-from-home days, and embrace some of the pros of working from home while also maintaining the benefits of office-based work. It’s much easier to arrange face-to-face meetings or natural collaboration work. This also helps build strong relationships and has a sense of reliability. It can be more difficult to find an office setup that accommodates this.

Workload Based

This way of working involves management making a decision based on the current workload. This can be very tricky to manage as you can’t plan your weeks in advance. Employees will need to be able to be very flexible which can be expensive if relying on public transport or parking passes. It can also be expensive if you have your own office as it will be under utilised. If you don’t have an office, you’ll be relying on finding last-minute workspaces for your team for an unknown period of time.

Team Division

You might find that you don’t need all teams to be working in the office at the same time. Perhaps you need strategy teams in on Mondays and sales teams on Wednesdays. In some cases, you may have teams that could work fully remotely, but it feels unfair if you do have teams you need onsite. This can cause friction between departments but can be much easier to manage from an operational point of view. You won’t need as much office space and your team will know when and where they need to be in advance.

What does all this mean?

There are so many different ways of working and the one that works best for you, might not work so well for individuals on your team. If you are going to implement a hybrid way of working, you need to be able to identify the best way to do this. Individual preferences need to be taken into account, but also office costs. Running your own office which is either overcrowded or under used can be expensive and demoralising. Organisations need to be able to manage their overheads which is why flexible workspaces are great to help you achieve your hybrid model. In most coworking spaces, you can have a combination of dedicated desks and hot desking. This allows your team to flex throughout the week and means you only pay for the space you actually use. Unused desks aren’t your concern. Utilities and office perks are no longer your responsibility. It can be great for staff morale as they can meet and work with different organisations, they can feel a part of a community as well as your own organisation.

There are many different types of coworking spaces so spend time finding out which one suits your needs.

By now most of us are familiar with hot desking, but what about desk hoteling?

Hot desking simply heading into the office (or co-working space, shared workspace facility etc) and using an available desk. While it does have many benefits, it also received its fair share of criticism.

Why don’t people like the idea of hot desking?

Hot desking can be uncertain. You don’t know where you’ll be sat or who you’ll be sat next to. What if the office is full? This can be especially frustrating if you’re heading in 5 days a week as you have to take all your stuff in with you every day and always changing desks. Many offices use hot desking to maximise space efficiency and encourage team members to interact with different people.

Hot desking is suited towards people who use shared office facilities a few days per week/month. For example, if your team only need to use a couple of desks twice a week, a co-working space can offer you this without making you pay for the days that you don’t use. This is much better value than hiring a whole office suite that is rarely at 100% capacity.

But there is still an uncertainty about where you will be sitting, and will you be sat with your team?

This brings us to Desk Hoteling

Desk Hoteling is very similar to hot desking, but rather than it being first-come-first-serve, you can pre-book your desks to ensure you are sat where you need to be sat.

Often using an app or booking system, you can reserve specific desks when you need them with confidence.

This method of office management is wonderfully geared towards co-working spaces as it means you know the desk will be sanitised and prepared ready for your arrival, you won’t be wasting time trying to find desks near your colleagues, and you still only paying for the space you use.

How to book a desk at The Racquets Court

As part of our research into making The Racquets Court as safe as possible during these unusual times,  we are excited to announce that we are launching a new desk hoteling model which will enable companies and individuals to specifically reserve desks as and when they need them.

Simple head over to our booking page, sign up and select your desks and take it from there or get in touch with a member of our team

You may have noticed that in 2020, nothing is quite how it was and that includes office space. With more people than ever working from home, most businesses have been forced to change the way they work – including us!

The rule book for office space has well and truly been thrown out the window and many of us are starting to look at new and better ways to use office spaces.

Co-working Spaces

Co-working spaces are far from new, but they are on the rise. According to this piece of research by Hubble HQ, 43% of those who took part would like to work in a co-working space when not in their main office.
Many organisations are embracing the world of full or part time remote working, which is great…if you have somewhere else to work from. A co-working space allows you all the comforts of a traditional office with much less of the commitment.

Have a team who need to work together in a specific location? Co-working space.

Have a team member moving to a different city and don’t want to lose them? Co-working space.

Looking to get a smaller office but still have a place your team can assemble or work together when required? Co-working space.

Co-working spaces mean you can have 4 dedicated desks and 8 passes for your team to share. This allows your team to work in the office when they need to but have the flexibility to work from home or elsewhere when required.

Office ‘Timeshares’

The word ‘timeshare’ is enough to make many of us shudder. But, did you know that you can have a timeshare office?
What this means is, you and another organisation would sign up together and split the use of the office or desks however you like. If your business would only realistically need desks 2 days a week, but you want to guarantee their availability, you can pair up with another company who could use the space on the other three days and share the costs.
This is different from typical co-working because you wouldn’t inhabit the space at the same time as your timesharing friends, but rather use the space on alternate days. The benefits of an office timeshare are:

• Get the office you want at a more affordable price
• Offer flexible working without your office sitting empty half of the time
• Work your schedule around what works best for you both
• Create a great, local contact who can become an advocate for your business.

Rent A Desk (Hot Desking)

Rent a desk as and when you need one! Such a simple concept.
Hot desking, in this respect, is buying a ‘pass’ for a hot desking facility where you will have all the comforts of a traditional office. If you’re the type who often occupies space in a coffee shop, you’ll know what a pain it can be. Having to keep buy hot bevs so you don’t get asked to leave, the all too tempting cakes and pastries by the tills, the lunch time rush, sketchy WiFi…not to mention, what do you do with all your stuff when you need to nip to the loo? Well, all of this can be avoided by booking a hot desk. With your pass you typically get:

• Full day access
• Proper workstations with desks, office chairs and power supply
• Fast and stable internet connection
• Use of the facilities
• Security
• Beverages included

Virtual Offices

If you’re thinking “well, hang on, I don’t think I need a physical office at all!”, then you could consider a virtual office. This is ideal for remote teams who need a physical address for post and for their online profile. Often with these, you also get a phone number and basic reception duties such as taking messages and dealing with your incoming mail. It’s a great way to shake off the traditional office set up all together and let your team be 100% remote.

If you’re reviewing your office requirements, why not get in touch with our team to find out more about the facilities we offer?

Hiring employees should be quite straight forward. Right?

All you need to do is write a job description, post it online and start interviewing. While this sounds quite simple, attracting and retaining the right people is hard. In an ideal world, you’ll find someone quickly who is:

• Qualified
• Experienced
• A good fit with your team

But this is challenging. Flexible working is one of the things being used by businesses to draw in the best people.

In the UK 84% of businesses are using flexible workplace policies to attract and retain top talents. The global average is 77%. According to the IWG Global Workplace Report, businesses believe flexible working plays a critical role in widening the talent pool. And workers confirm that having a choice of work environment plays a key role in evaluating work opportunities (70%).

Organisations of all sizes take advantage of remote working and no longer need to be restricted by location. Businesses don’t have to wave goodbye when a talented employee needs to relocate for personal reasons or turn down an applicant because she lives somewhere else.

Having said that, remote working can con with some challenges.

I’m worried that remote working will impact on our company culture

Will the business end up with a team of people who just don’t know each other? Should the business be worried that remote workers won’t work as hard? A lot of this comes down to how the team is managed. It is important regularly to bring remote workers into the main office. Scheduling recurring skype meetings ensure remote workers aren’t strangers to everyone else. If there are concerns about home distractions impacting on work output, then working in a co-working space ensures an ‘office environment’.

Using technology to enable remote working.

Remote working can be more expensive initially. The business will need to supply a company computer/laptop and possibly a phone. There is the need to ensure a good, robust and reliable internet connection. It may also be necessary to set up VPN connectivity or access to individually used bandwidth.

Ensuring security for remote working

Depending on the work, security may be a concern.  Do employees need access to secure printing and sensitive documents? This is harder to manage when working outside the office. 45% of workers report business concerns about data security and 19% are concerned about a lack of remote cybersecurity systems.

Informal remote working for example from a coffee shop may give rise to issues to do with physical possessions (what do you do with a laptop when the loo calls?)

Are remote workers motivated and productive?

Let’s face it, working from home can be distracting. Whether it’s the housework, family or door-to-door sales calls, you can be surrounded by distractions. But businesses have deadlines which must be managed and performances and behaviours which are appraised. There is little evidence to suggest that remote workers perform less well than others. Well managed people are productive whether they’re working 20 meters away or 20 kilometres away.

A high turn over of staff will cost businesses time and money. Allowing employees to work remotely where appropriate will help a business stand out from the crowd and show their team that they are trusted.  So while the initial setup may take some getting used to, we believe that remote working can be beneficial to businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Get in touch to find out how The Racquets Court can support companies or individuals interested in remote working.

I’ll be honest, several years ago I didn’t know what co-working, hot desking or virtual offices were. It turns out I wasn’t alone. Since we opened, we still receive plenty of enquiries asking to understand these services and who they are for.
Co-working, hot desking and virtual offices are all aspects which can make up a workspace like The Racquets Court. They are used by businesses of any size from sole-traders to global corporations.

Co-Working

According to Lexico “[co-working] is the use of an office or other work environments by people who are self-employed or working for different employers, typically so as to share equipment, ideas, and knowledge.”

Co-working spaces are thought to have stemmed from 90s Hackerspaces. They were created for the ‘creatives’ but nowadays, they are a sought-after solution for companies of all sizes. Imagine being able to hire the talent you want but without having to relocate your HQ across the country? Larger companies are making full use of this great opportunity by hiring a few desks in the towns and cities across the UK so they can set up new offices, hire local talent to work remotely or to set up project teams closer to their clients.

The self-employed, freelancers and micro-companies also benefit from co-working spaces. They can have all the benefits of an office without the worry of isolation and huge overheads.

There are many perks to a co-working space but one of our favourites is the fantastic networking opportunities available. You never know who might move in on the desk across the way or who might be in the kitchen. They are typically 24/7 too so you’re not confined by the standard 9-5.

Co-working spaces generally require a commitment in the form of a monthly fee. For that you’ll get a dedicated desk, you can store your equipment and all your bills (should be) included.

Hot Desking

Hot desking is the practice of working as and when you need. Workspaces which offer hot desking usually mean you can hire a desk on the days when you need one. This is a great short-term solution for:

• People who work from home and want to get out of the home office for a day or two
• People who travel for work and need a base to work in-between appointments
• Small task forces who need to solve a specific problem away from the usual office
• Teams who work remotely and like to have somewhere to meet

Hot desking is a great solution to the coffee shop take-over as it provides workers with dedicated, purpose-built workspaces (read this great blog here by Hubble “There are so many better places to work than a coffee shop”).

One of the joys of hot desking is the freedom to come and go. You can try out lots of spaces with next to no commitment before you find one that works. Once in your perfect space, you can usually upgrade to a co-working membership and make it your new home from home (or office from office…).

I used coffee shops as ‘day offices’ in between meetings while we were developing TRC. While it was great to be surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city centre, I ended up frustrated with the Wifi, spending way too much on coffee and left generally feeling I’d been unproductive…and it was weird asking strangers to watch my stuff while I nipped to the loo!

Virtual Offices

Virtual offices are another solution offered by workspaces but for people who maybe don’t have the want or need for a physical space. These are often used by those who want to be associated with a specific place or building.

A city centre virtual office, for example, gives your business a city centre presence. This is great if you wish to have a presence in a new city, or perhaps you just don’t want your business address to be your home address.

Often you can get different packages which include various business services such as mail handling, phone answering and message taking services and meeting rooms to name a few.

Virtual offices are used by many different businesses such as:

• an established business who want a presence in a different city
• a sole-trader who doesn’t want their mobile to be their business number
• a freelancer who is happy to work from wherever but wants a stable business presence for their clients.

If you are looking at virtual offices, look for one which also allows you the option to hot desk or book meeting rooms so you can impress your clients and suppliers.

In Conclusion

Think of workspaces like hotels. There are many different types, from huge budget ones to small, luxurious boutique ones. It’s easy to see them all as offering the same basic thing (ie a bed for the night) yet not understand why they all charge different prices. Don’t overlook the value and quality of what you get. Make sure you do your research and find one which reflects your business, the work you do and will help you attract clients.

There are many different reasons why a company or an individual may want to use a workspace. Whether they want to test out working in a new area, have recently relocated, or hiring talent from further afield, The Racquets Court is here to help. Get in touch with our Community Manager to discuss what solution works best for you.

What a way to spend a Tuesday evening!

With canapes circling, drinks flowing, and enticing cupcakes, Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council, officially opened The Racquets Court.

The exclusive launch event, held on 14th May 2019, included well-known representatives from leading tech businesses, Newcastle City Council, NE1, Newcastle and Northumbria Universities.

Nick said:
“Newcastle was home of the first industrial revolution and we need to be a part of the next industrial revolution too, and what The Racquets Court is hoping to achieve is to consolidate our position as a global leader in digital technology and understanding big data. What you’re achieving here is, I hope, a part of a bigger narrative for the rebirth and regeneration of Newcastle as a major global city.  The transformation of this building symbolises the rebirth and regeneration of Newcastle.” 

The Racquets Court is the first building to be connected to the Stellium 40km metro fibre network which delivers latency to New York of 65 milliseconds; the network supports near real-time access to rapidly changing data (you can read more about our connectivity here). This phenomenal technology is helping the city become one of the best connected cities in the UK and really helping to put Newcastle on the map.

Paul Miller, co-founder of Gavurin, talked to guests about the journey the building had been on and how the vision for The Racquets Court was realised with the help of some of Newcastle’s finest’s businesses. Tolent, IDP Architects and Elliotts Quantity Surveyors played key roles in the restoration of the building (read more about this here).

Their teamwork has earned a place on the shortlist for the Constructing Excellence North East Awards for the award for Integration & Collaborative.

Paul said:
I’ve learned that Newcastle has some great businesses creating wonderful things. The City’s connectivity offers opportunities to take that creativity everywhere – fast.

The event provided a platform for The Racquets Court to showcase how far the building had come in a short space of time.

In its original form, the building had only one floor, was open and as dull as an empty sports hall often is! The transformation has included the restoration of the beautiful glass roof and eye-catching victorian spiral staircase. Another floor has been added to create more space, but it has been left open to retain the buildings unique character.

The Racquets Court was also shortlisted for the 2019 RICS awards which took place in April, and is also shortlisted for a second CENE award for Preservation & Rejuvenation. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 14th June 2019.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our guests for helping celebrate with us, and we’re excited to welcome all members to The Racquets Court.

The co-working hybrid is a mix of the modern and the traditional. We’ve picked the best aspects of each to create our product

Traditionally favoured by independent workers and start-ups, co-working has steadily grown over the years and is now considered a ‘must’ by many large companies and remote workers. It’s even a great way to create a new base for your company in various locations with fewer overheads while allowing you to recruit from a wider pool of candidates.

The first official co-working space opened around 2005, however, this office movement is thought to have stemmed from 90s Hackerspaces. These spaces were originally created as a solution for lone workers, allowing them somewhere outside of their home to work and socialize. Historically, co-working spaces were different from serviced offices as they were created by and for the ‘creatives’ rather than the ‘suits’. In recent years, these two types of the workplace have begun to blend making way for a new collection of spaces with different focuses.

Take us for example, while we have taken some elements of a serviced office, we have also taken inspiration from the co-working movement. This is partly to do with the physical aspects of the building. As a former sports court, there was a huge open space and high ceilings allowing us to add an upper floor. Rather than creating traditional, boxed in offices, we wanted to look to the new way of working and the ‘co-working values’ of collaboration, openness, community, accessibility, and sustainability.

Open-plan spaces are social. They are designed to encourage communication and promote a sense of teamwork due to the diversity of its members. It becomes a place where like-minded businesses can inspire one another, network and potentially find collaborative work partners. Finding yourself sharing a space with an array of people from different backgrounds, with different interests, different businesses and different goals give you unique opportunities that would have otherwise pass you by in a more typical office building.

“[Co-working] is a place and a style of working that combines independence and co-dependence. One that allows you to be a soloist, but still plays in the orchestra. To be social when you need to and to hold you accountable for delivering the things you say as important” (Dunstan, M (2015) The Co-working Revolution: Four Secrets to Successfully Working for Yourself)

While bean bags and pool tables may be suitable for the more quirky co-working space, we have followed a more traditional aesthetic but with our own twist. We chose a calming blue colour scheme as this is said to improve efficiency and performance, and rather than removing the original glass ceiling, we restored it and added several other large windows around the space. Natural daylight has been proven to enhance productivity, health and mood. We knew also that for the work our current and future members do, our priority had to be to get the essentials right (such as connectivity, comfort, location and a focussed environment to name a few) and offer a high quality, well thought out product.

Newcastle / Gateshead has only one FTSE listed HQ, and we’ve felt privilaged that the core team that built Sage Software’s HQ has joined together again to restore The Racquets Court.

We own and inhabit The Racquets Court and that makes us unusual as building developers. We were told that it’s unusual for developers to be as involved as we were with every detail – to include the coat hooks.  We were fussy but not once did the teams at IDP, Tolent or Elliot do anything other than rise to meet our frequent challenges.  And the ‘process’ was managed as well as the build itself. This came home to us about half way through the construction …

… we were visited on site by two women responsible for a regional charity.  As they were leaving they asked us, in relation to Tolent’s people on site, “are they all like that” .  When we asked what they meant, they replied “are they all … nice”.  Of course, the answer was “yes” and that was our experience throughout – alongside stunning professionalism.  The project finished in the week that it was forecast to finish at the outset.  How about that for unusual!

Tolent and IDP and Elliots are local businesses and walking around Newcastle, Tolent’s brand is found frequently.  But – and this may be the crucial variable – their market is national and perhaps it’s this that makes them competitive and productive.

The implications of the local (small) market

The Newcastle / Gateshead market is a small one.  Indeed, that of the North East as a whole is also.  But that’s not the real issue – the real issue is that there simply aren’t that many businesses.  In other words, the number of businesses per head of population in the North East is around one-quarter that of London and the South East.  Put crudely, there are four times as many interior design businesses in London as there are in the South.

There are a number of implications of this – and some of the most important are not relevant here -but let’s take the implications for a potential customer for any service.  If that customer is not aware of this core fact; if that customer travels little in the UK and to the South East not at all, then that customer is very likely to be faced with a price which is high and service which is poor.  If local purchasing is ignorant of these facts (and most will be) they are likely not to recognise uncompetitive pricing and will not be demanding customers.

An example

As developers of The Racquets Court, we commissioned relatively few services ourselves.  One of the larger services that we did commission is that of connectivity and the bits and bobs associated with it. The core element of that is the Stellium line – upon which we comment elsewhere.  Stellium is not a locally owned business and it is by definition global. It behaves that way and service was outstanding.

Stellium only brings a line to the front door – at that point is hits a range of swithches and stuff which distribute connectivity around the building. We initially sought 2 proposals from local businesses. The costs of these were similar – and it seemed to us, rather high.

So we decided to call 2 businesses in Leeds.  The first thing to say is that the Leeds conurbation has a signiticant number of IT service businesses from which to choose.  The response from each of these businesses was superb – speedy, uncomplicated and friendly. The estimates from these 2 were also suprisingly close to one another.  But here’s the thing, these 2 were HALF the cost of the Newcastle based businesses.  And that is a very significant sum.

In the end, we had 4 proposals.  Each of the 4 offered different switches (3 were Cisco offers), but the fundamental cost differences were down to the offered firewall.  We carefully considered the proposals and our key requirements and decided that the expensive firewalls were not appropriate to our needs.  We did not consider that local offers quizzed us sufficiently before offering such expensive firewall options.

We did not award the project to the cheapest of the 4 proposals we received.