Archive for February, 2010

Office Furniture – Project Managed from Start to Finish

Friday, February 19th, 2010

For an office furniture refurbishment that brings your building to life, choose an established design and supply company.

Every office needs a makeover now and then, and whether you’re expanding your workforce and need a more organised space, or you’re moving to a new office and want to give it a fresh look and a productive atmosphere, you need someone who can provide you with more than just office furniture.

 A New Life For Your Office

Furniture plays a big role in motivating your staff, welcoming your clients and helping everyone involved with your business to feel confident. Choosing the right configuration, making the best use of your space and ensuring that changes are made without disrupting the day-to-day running of your company are all important factors in a successful office refurbishment. Lighting, communications, reception areas and visitor seating all take time to plan and install, which is why it’s worth using an office furniture company that can help you with even the smallest details:

Planning – getting your project started relies on good planning, and using experienced office developers give you the chance to get things right first time. Making the best use of the space available and taking your business’s needs into account, a good office planner can help you to provide enough working space, break-out areas and meeting rooms to help your office run smoothly.

Office furniture – getting the right mix of team desks, individual work stations, meeting tables and relaxed seating areas can help to create the right atmosphere in your office. From the latest in workstations and ergonomically-designed chairs, to corporate tables and quality reception areas, you need a company that can meet your needs.

Installation – when you need to keep disruption to a minimum, you want a project manager that can handle everything from running computer cables to installing lighting and partitioning. Working around the ongoing needs of your businesses, properly-managed installation gets your office updated without getting in the way and helps you to move seamlessly from old to new.

Office Furniture and Project Management from Hunts

At Hunts Office Furniture, we can managed projects of all sizes, from a straightforward home office to large commercial office refurbishments. With everything you need, from 3D plans to a great choice of office furniture, we can help you to achieve the office environment you want for your business. Take a look at our case studies and online shop today to see how we can help, or call us on 0845 4000 333.

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Sit up Straight! Ergonomics Gets to Work

Friday, February 19th, 2010

When it comes to office furniture it’s all about ergonomics. But who knew that ergonomics wasn’t just about knowing how to sit up straight? According to the Guardian newspaper a career in ergonomics can pay up to £60,000. Clearly there must be more to it than putting your elbows at the right angle to your computer desk and not crossing your legs! An ergonomist is also known as a ‘human factors professional’ and a mid-range salary of just three or four years’ experience could get you a salary of £40,000, with £20,000 being the starting salary of a graduate. But it isn’t just about knowing how to buy ergonomic office furniture it seems – you need to do a BSc or MSc in ergonomics to become a professional ‘human factors professional.’

Although some may feel they don’t need a degree to know how to sit properly at their office desk, it’s estimated that over two-thirds of workers suffer some kind of repetitive strain injury costing an estimated £300 million in lost working hours!

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Office Relationships, Your Pod or Mine?

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Office Relationships – Your Pod or Mine? 

It’s a bit of a cliché but offices are something of a hotbed for romance, so much so that the Sunday Times has published a feature advising on office etiquette when it comes to affairs of the heart (conducted over the photocopier). 

Perching in a provocative way on the office furniture may not be etiquette in many offices but it seems the office has always been a place of sexual tension. The idea that people sleep their way to the top is an old fashioned one. And yet there can be few offices where eyebrows aren’t raised at certain promotions. It’s true that sexual politics is still a huge subject in many modern day offices. 

The fact that statistically, we are more likely to meet our other halves at the office is proof that office relationships can go further than the stationary cupboard. In fact, it’s been guessed that 70% of relationships are formed in the office (including affairs with clients!) with one in six meeting their life partner at work (according to research by the Work Foundation). Of course, working in close proximity is bound to throw up a few liaisons. But the Times concludes that being attractive or using your sexuality disturbingly could be just as crucial in today’s job market as your degree. Because degrees are two a penny, being attractive will give you the edge you may need from the competition. As the Times states: “This isn’t just vanity. Britain in 2010 is a lookist society; image matters.” 

High profile business women – or any high profile women – seem to have a personal trainer as the norm. Likewise, successful men enjoy beautiful suits and are increasingly just as obsessed with their body image as women are, hitting the gym several times a week. In America, mixing sexual politics or attractiveness with work can be more problematic. Some companies have introduced ‘love contracts’ to forbid relationships between employers for fear of sexual harassment claims and legal costs or disharmony in the office if the relationships fail.   

But of course when it comes to matters of the heart, it isn’t always possible to solve problems in the same way you would solve a health and safety regulation. However the case of a more junior office worker being made redundant by her boss after their affair had ended is an important lesson for HR departments; she won £11,000 for unfair dismissal after a court ruled her boss was holding a grudge against her after their relationship ended. 

About Hunts Office Furniture:

Hunts Office Furniture is the most comprehensive online directory of stylish and practical office chairs, desks, workstations, conference tables and reception furniture ranges, available in the UK. Whether you are embarking on an office refurbishment, relocation or revamp we have office furniture solutions for all.

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Office Furniture, No Place Like Home

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Most of us keep our home a world apart from ergonomic, functional office furniture, but could this all change as more people take up home in office space?

According to a report in The Independent newspaper, the home-work divide could be getting a little bit blurry. Fancy a filing cabinet for a chest of drawers? Or how about an executive office chair to watch the box from? Renters may not literally be living with office furniture but a trend has emerged in London whereby renters turn to empty office buildings to set up home rather than traditional residential flats. 

Are Offices the New Lofts?

It’s been dubbed the ‘new work-life balance’. But no matter how much you love your job, the idea of waking up in an office block complete with garish office lighting, harsh grey carpet and off-white walls, isn’t something many of us would cherish. In fact, it sounds like a living hell. But London has always been an expensive place to rent, and when times are tough, needs must. Demand for rental properties also outstrips supply in the capital, so it’s not surprising more people are willing to brave office furniture in the comfort of their own home. Cost-conscious tenants are snapping up the empty office blocks – many victims of the recent recession – and embracing office-loft-style living.

Room with a View

It may be hard to think of the benefits of home life in the office. Office furniture is geared after all to getting the most out of workers, whereas home furniture should be geared to relaxation. But many high rise offices in the city offer incredible views – views that would cost a fortune if they belonged to a residential block. Moving into offices is now considered a ‘creative solution’ for tenants. Landlords and squatters have already begun the trend of grabbing big empty office buildings and putting them to financial use – just as they did with the lofts and mill buildings that fell into disrepair. Before you know it, old office blocks could become the Next Big Thing, or even – like lofts – become the lifestyle choice of the well off city dweller. After all, space is one of the most valuable commodities in the London property market.

However if you do opt for office living, you may need to consider a change in taxes, fire regulations and legalities – as well as re-wire, install showers and kitchens and invest in the basic facilities found in the home but not in the office – such as dishwashers and washing machines. Tenants who have embrace office living have said it can take plenty of ‘energy and creativity’ making an office into a home to get rid of the institutional feel many office blocks have. 

Hunts Office Furniture –For all Your Workspace Requirements

Established in 1990, Hunts Office Furniture has expanded over the last 20 years to become the leading supplier of office furniture. Have a question or need advice? Call us on: 0845 4000 333 or email:sales@huntsoffice.co.uk

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Home Comforts in the Office

Friday, February 19th, 2010

According to the Society of British Interior Design, offices have increased their refurbishment work in 2009 by a whopping 43%. It’s a staggering figure when you consider 2009 was the year businesses staggered under the weight of the recession. But the reason for a whole swathe of office refurbs has been put down to changing working habits. As flexible working is in and more employees are opting for home working options over office based work, employees are beginning to feel demoralised by ugly office furniture or strip lighting. As a result, more offices are upgrading their office space with office furniture that looks more like our living room furniture; making offices more welcoming is one way of alluring employees back from the comfort of their homes.

As well as a move to homelier offices, there’s a trend for offices to become increasingly open plan, with office furniture that stimulates team work rather than creates divisions for a less hierarchical approach. Trends include kidney shaped computer desks that are softer and more approachable and cushion covered pedestals for people to perch and chat to colleagues on.

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