Firms in the financial services sector need to show smart-thinking beyond the knee-jerk reaction of making cuts to survive the recession and instead look to strategically focus on their property to plan for the future.

Space Solutions, one of the UK’s leading workplace design specialists, says firms need to understand the importance of a good working environment to ensure they continue to get the best of their employees – regardless of the economic conditions.

And those who react the quickest are benefitting by enjoying major cost savings - which can run into substantial sums - a more motivated workforce and are best placed to gain when the economic upturn happens.

Director Derek Binnie said the change of philosophy in the commercial sector from the early days of the recession has been significant.

He said: “When the initial wave of the recession hit, the first reaction from many businesses was: ‘what can we can and where can we cut?’

“From this quick-fix, companies cut fat and looked to navigate their way through the recession. But as they have got fitter, they have started to dig deeper to look to see where else they can consolidate and rationalise to reduce overheads.

“Many companies are choosing not to move. Many are also renegotiating lease renewals, delaying any planned relocation.

“It’s meant Boards and Chief Executives are asking more difficult questions of their FMs and FDs about where and how costs can be saved. But at the same time, these firms know that the economy will start to turn, so they need to play a balancing act of both planning for the future and ensuring they keep existing staff motivated in a positive workplace.”

But Derek highlighted how many firms still need convincing – particularly in spelling out the cost-savings benefits – before making workplace changes.

He said: “Perhaps the most significant development in the business world is the realisation that to change the workplace you can’t just solely concentrate on physical surroundings – companies should also consider the workplace culture.

“By looking at workplace performance at the same time as workplace design, we look to understand where the business is going and where it wants to go, its challenges and the physical environments. That allows us to provide a practical solution that can demonstrate actual savings and benefits.

“There is no one-size fits all solution – it’s about gathering the information and the data to support the advice we provide for workplace change.

“But crucially, it’s about creating a great space to work in – it’s not about reducing the quality of space that people work in.

“It’s about giving people the best facilities to be able to deliver in the workplace. That’s the big difference that we want to highlight.”

Derek said he has many examples of companies who have approached them, or been approached, who are convinced there is nothing that can be done to change their workplace. In other cases, firms have wrongly believed their expansion or merger plans need to be put on hold because they think they don’t have the space or it would be too costly.

He said: “Very often, the first reaction we get to the question how efficient is your space, is: “We don’t know because we are stacked to the gunnels.”

“It is only when you start to do the information gathering about how their space is optimised that you are able to quickly establish that they could actually work considerably smarter – often with little major upheaval.

“For many MDs, the light comes on when they are able to see on paper that if they do x, y and z, the benefits to their business will be enormous. That can involve all aspects of workplace change, such as providing the confidence to go ahead with an expansion, to create a team within a space previously considered to be fully occupied, or to allow an under-used floor to be freed up and released.

“We also want to help companies to understand the importance of good communication with staff. Change can have an unsettling effect on staff and with good communication, staff can quickly realise and understand that the company is making changes for the good of the company.

“Good communication solves problems; bad communication creates problems.

“We recognise that there is always some risk attached to innovation and change, so it’s about making sure any advice we give – even if it is creative – has been supported with hard facts.

“Good space planning is not about new ways of working hypothetically, it’s about delivering actual practical solutions – in any economic climate - that suit businesses and that will add value to the bottom line.”