Block Podcast Edition 4 now available - Working from home vs the office - The work/life balance and much more...

It's early December and we are now at Block Podcast No.4, we've been very encouraged with the response and feedback from the initial podcasts.  We are continuing to look for people to take part in future podcasts and, for your suggestions of topics you would like us to discuss on future episodes.  If you would like to take part or suggest a topic please contact Kenneth Martin who will be happy to chat through your ideas.

Episode 4 of the Block Podcast was recorded on the Thursday 1st December 2011and we were delighted to welcome back some guests along with one new one - here are the participants:

• William Hume, Director, Terrenus CDH
• John Stobbs, Director of Operations, Sap Service UK

Also on the podcast we have Kenneth Martin, Managing Director, Block Architects and Gordon White, Managing Director, fatBuzz Ltd

As usual, we covered lots of topics during our open and lively conversation and we hope that there's something in the podcast for you.  To help you decide, we've listed some of the topics/questions that were asked and answered during the recording.  We began by looking at the issue of home working as opposed to working from an office, here are some of the key topics:

• Flexible working
• The benefits of collaborative working
• The ease with which you can open branch offices
• Serviced offices and meeting room facilities
• Is there any stigma in working from home?
• Trust issues - will your employees give 100% if working remotely
• Work/life balance
• Is there too much negativity around?  
• Has the current climate been a wake up call for many businesses?
• Loyalty in business - Is there still loyalty in business?
• Investment - Is it being affected by uncertainty because of the independence issue?
• Is investment too heavily weighted in favour of energy projects?
• Solar energy and the tariff changes
• Lack of investment in the communications infrastructure
• Is the planning process affecting investment?
• The costs associated with the planning process
• Does the planning process lack a certain amount of judgement or are the planners bound by too many regulations?
• Grand Design - Has it become a bit of a circus?
• The passive house
• The increasing demands on the built environment

We hope you enjoy the discussion on this podcast and remember if you would like to take part in a future episode please email Gordon White or Kenneth Martin for a chat.

We would also like to get some feedback from you about the podcast and suggestions for topics you would like us to cover; you can either leave them as a comment here on the blog or, on our Facebook Page.

Play the podcast here:

Download and subscribe to Block Podcast on iTunes HERE

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