Beaches, boats and barns - UK offices get creative

A recent survey of 1,8171 Orange small and medium business customers has revealed more business owners working from locations better suited to their lifestyle. Almost nine out of ten (88%) businesses said that they now have the option to work away from the traditional office set up; with 74% of those choosing to work from home or a flexible workspace. This increasing workplace freedom has paved the way for new imaginative offices – with respondees citing the beach, a football ground, and even a barn at a diary farm as their alternative office.

Orange also found that 82% of business owners surveyed believe they are able to work as productively in a flexible workspace or at home compared to a traditional office. It seems this improved productivity - a result of flexible working, subsequently means that business owners can finish their work earlier with 55% of respondents working six hours or less a day.

In fact, over a third of respondents said they focus solely on work so they can finish earlier than they would working in an office and in order to do this the majority (46%) said they relied on a mobile or smartphone to work flexibly. This contrasted with the 26% who continue to work in an office and said their average day lasted at least eight to nine hours.

Martin Benson, owns MB Design and regularly works by email from a field says: “Working flexibly means I have more control over my time. While I spend half of my time working from home, the other half can be in all types of locations – usually a field in North Yorkshire. Working from home also means that I get to spend more time with my family. If my job was based in a city centre office, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to spend the quality of time I do with them. So rather than fitting family around work, I fit work around my family.”

The findings of the research mirror the outcome of Orange’s recent debate into the future of connectivity which found that ‘pub hubs’ could be the new home of flexible working. So enabling local venues (such as the village hall or local pub) to provide places for individuals to hot desk and in turn eliminating the work commute enabling people to use this time more productively.

Martin Lyne, SME Marketing Director, Everything Everywhere says, “When running a business, many dream of shorter more flexible working days with the hope of leading a better quality of life. Whilst there is no denying that setting up a company can involve a lot of blood, sweat, tears and time; what this research highlights is that small and medium business owners are able to work when it suits them and make the most of their free time. The Orange business customers that were surveyed felt that they were able to get a lot more done in the day, not only in terms of finishing their day earlier (or starting later), but by also having the option to mix work and daily chores throughout the day through working more flexibly.”