(Y)OUR SPACE highlights five key forces that will influence the future real estate strategies of occupiers and landlords alike. It also presents lessons learnt from Bloomberg on the development of its new award winning European Headquarters, and the findings from the Knight Frank Global Occupier Survey.
Your space has never been more important. If you are an occupier, real estate is now a strategic priority for your business and the workplace represents a further strategic lever lever available to business leaders in their pursuit of competitive advantage. In this respect, real estate decisions influence and reinforce an array of business priorities – from talent management, corporate and social responsibility, inclusion and diversity, to the transformation of corporate culture and brand or the restructuring of business models in light of rapid technological advances. Failing to put your space at the heart of your strategic agenda is, simply put, failing your business.
If you are a Landlord, this strategic agenda raises the stakes and demands a fundamental rethink of your market proposition. As business-planning horizons shorten, greater occupational flexibility and lease terms are required. Your space must become, to a certain extent, a fluid and flexible business service not a fixed physical product. Although the provision of a high quality, well-designed physical environment remains important, providing excellent customer service and curating an unrivalled and productive customer experience will become more so. This will be the route to maintaining a base of income generating customers. Failing to put your space firmly in the hearts and minds of your customer is, in simple terms, toplace income, return and asset performance at risk.
Against this changing dynamic, our space has become even more exciting. Over the last three years, Knight Frank has made a significant investment inour Global Occupier Services & Commercial Agency service line. The investment will continue. Our space – advising leading Occupiers and Landlords around the world - coupled with the expertise of our transactional, consultancy and research teams around the world, puts us in an unrivalled position to shine a light upon global best practice in the changing global workplace. I am delighted to do so through this report.