February 6, 2002—New research shows the UK office industry is lagging behind its US counterparts in terms of performance, by failing to meet the levels of service demanded by its customers.
The report by the British Council for Offices, The Service Challenge – How Well is the UK Office Industry Serving its Customers?, describes UK landlords and developers as “conservative and reactive, failing to support the core businesses of their customers, unwilling to offer a sufficient choice of lease lengths and terms, offering a narrow range of services and amenities and not focused on helping with wider business challenges such as environmental governance.”
Comparing the UK with the US, research consultant Kingsley Lipsey Morgan found that both British and American property directors rated service in the US much higher than in the UK. They said it was more flexible and customer focused because of the much shorter and flexible leases in the US.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Richard Kauntze, chief executive of the British Council for Offices, said: “This BCO report is part of a broad ranging research program designed to encourage the office industry to debate the quality, level of service and value offered by its products”.
“While the report shows that the office sector has made considerable improvements in both the design and construction of offices in recent years, there is no room for complacency.”
He explained the complexity of the problem by saying that the office industry is under pressure from all sides: “investors seeking higher rates of return to offset the end of the institutional lease; government threatening extended regulation; wider interest groups seeking sustainable environmental benefits; economic slowdown reducing demand for offices; and occupiers demanding increased choice, better service and greater value for money.”
—Jessica Jarlvi
Reprinted with permission; copyright 2002 i-FM
