Ahead of the Curve Magazine - Edition 7 - June 2020

Colleague

Friend

Estate Agent

Boss

Consultant

Mum & Dad

Photographer

Grandpa

Lawyer

Uncle

Nieces

Mentor

T H E

N E W

N O R M

The New Norm

5 YEARS O F INNOVATION IN 10 WEEKS PRAC T ICAL

F U TU R I S T

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GRIL L LOO K S AT T H E N EW N OR M A ND BE

H OW USED

T EC H N O LO GY TO

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CAN

L A S TIN G

CHAN GE A S W E R ETU R N TO WO R K .

When I presented at Royds Withy King’s Decade Ahead event back in January, I was asked to make predictions for the next decade. With my Practical Futurist hat on, I also offered some for the future further ahead.

Fast-forward to just a few weeks later: the whole world was in lockdown and we were all enrolled in the world’s largest work from home experiment whether we liked it or not.

D I S RU PT ION PROVID E S AN OPPORTU NI T Y F O R CHANGE As someone who speaks extensively about the positive impacts of digital disruption on companies and whole industries, I watched as everyone around

me took part in the accidental, but largely successful, ‘transformation in a compressed timeline’ experiment.

The challenge now is to put this into play as we go forward with business as usual.

T HE E VO LU T I O N O F T HE ‘3R D PL AC E’ Over the last three months, I’ve spoken to and interviewed many people who are settling into the ‘away from the office’ routine and are actually finding themselves to be far more productive than ever before for a multitude of reasons.

At the Decade Ahead event, I spoke about how “in the future” we may find ourselves working in a hybrid situation between the home and the office in a ‘3rd place’. As we move to a future normal, this may become standard operating practice.

I heard anecdotally about one large high street bank that went from 50,000 ‘in the office’ workers to work from home scenario in a matter of days. If this is an example of digital transformation, then the fact that it happened almost overnight, without the need to hold endless focus groups and run multiple technology trials, shows that we as humans can achieve almost anything if we remove the barriers to change.

C A S H IS NO LON GE R K IN G Australia has been a standout country in their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Their response will also provide a view on how industries may recover. The banking industry is one that has experienced rapid change, as consumers shun physical cash for obvious reasons and move to digital payments.

STAYING CONNECTED

The new UK-born CEO of National Australia Bank Ross McEwan says that the digital banking revolution has happened in “10 weeks not 5 years”. This is extraordinary and should be a bellwether for other markets.

C H AR LOT T E VA L EU R Chair of the Institute of Directors

Stats from Australia show ATM use down 40%, and contactless payments up 65%.

The tectonic shift to digital in services beyond banking is likely to be permanent, and this may be one of the many lessons from Covid-19.

ONLY 9% OF CO N S U M ER S WAN T TO RE T U R N TO ‘N O R M A L’ .

SHARPE AGENCY

CO LL ABORAT ION AND WORK ING OU T LO U D Another interesting outcome from the pandemic was the need for us all to develop ways of collaborating digitally. There’s a multitude of tools available, however to truly harness the benefits of remote collaboration I believe you need to develop a ‘working out loud’ mindset. The philosophy behind this is outlined in a book of the same name by John Stepper. He argues that by letting others know what you are working on transparently, collaboration can be far more effective.

TH E NEED FO R DIG ITAL CU RIOSIT Y As we move into an increasingly more digital world, it falls to all of us to become more digitally curious and better understand what these new technologies can (and cannot) do for us instead of blindly using them hoping they will solve the problems of distance and remote collaboration.

ANDREW GRILL Practical Futurist

If ever there was a wakeup call for greater global camaraderie and collective governance, the Covid-19 pandemic is it. Humanity requires a common voice and global leadership to defeat the coronavirus. This is recognised worldwide and seems to have brought with it a thirst for solidarity.

It has also made it very clear to many that we are all part of one ecosystem and that selfish ways of living affect our planet and ourselves negatively. I believe the ‘old normal’ is gone forever, but the ‘new normal’ has not yet emerged. There is a good chance that we will see positive changes to how we live professionally and personally to embrace more socially, environmentally and financially sustainable ways. It could be the emergence of increased use of peer governance with channels for much wider participation of different stakeholders. This could be true for both governments and businesses and would be a very positive change indeed.

R ESTAU RA N TS: ADAPT TO TH RIVE The definition of what a ‘restaurant’ is has never been less certain. Is it a place where you go out to eat? Is it where you get your takeaway from? Is it a shop? A deli?

A place that gives you the components and instructions to cook a meal at home?

“THERE WILL BE NO WAY THAT RESTAURANTS WILL BE ABLE TO GO BACK INTO

TH E N EX T PHAS E OF THE RE STAU RANT MO DE L The advent of digitalised food delivery by the likes of Deliveroo and Uber Eats changed how we ordered food but, until a few months ago, only accounted for a fraction of the food consumption market. Now restaurants have been forced to rethink not just how they trade but what their core function is as a business.

THE MARKET OPERATING IN THE WAY THAT THEY WERE BEFORE. WITH 50% TRADE, THE NUMBERS DO NOT STACK UP.”

Jyotin Sethi, Chief Executive of JKS Restaurants, recently said that we are about to see the “next phase of the restaurant model” and commented that delivery will become a permanent feature of any restaurant’s business plan. The statement might seem like an obvious one but, for operators at the higher end of the market, it would have been unthinkable a mere three months ago to be putting a Michelin-grade meal on the back of a moped.

David Grant, Viewpoint Partners

One stopgap to producing other revenue streams has been the increased rollout of ‘DIY’ home cooking kits. With more people forced to cook at home, these kits have allowed brands such as Island Poke to sell a product which would not travel well in completed meal form, but can be made and enjoyed with relatively little skill level. Even popular delivery items such as pizza can now be found in DIY form, with the likes of ‘Pizza in the Post’ from Pizza Pilgrims proving an enormous success.

David Grant, from Viewpoint Partners, envisages businesses embracing multichannel formats in order to survive through this difficult time. “There is an overwhelming desire from our independent restaurant MA KI NG I T S AFE • Most owners expect to operate at 50% of capacity

TH E S AFE EX PERIE N CE As consumers begin to eat out when restaurants eventually reopen, the question will be less about the food, and more about the steps the restaurant has taken to ensure the health and safety of guests. With the mass rollout of a vaccine still some way off, more organised (and better capitalised) operators will be looking to accelerate the incorporation of robotics and digitisation into their restaurants, making their guests’ experience as contactless as possible from beginning to end.

Many restaurateurs who have previously been hesitant to incorporate these technologies into their front-of-house experience will revisit the use of these systems to help them manage reduced capacities, avoid crowding and waiting in the entrance areas and bars, as well as improve turnaround times to maximize revenue on each table.

One thing is certain: the ‘restaurant’, as we know it,s will never be quite the same again.

• Pre-shift employee temperature checks • Simplified menus to support kitchen and food safety • Digital menus delivered to your phone • Virtual waiting lists so guests can be seated upon arrival • Third-party delivery companies and restaurant concepts with a stronger focus on a touchless customer experience clients to serve their customers, to make people happy and to provide a good time rather than making huge profits. Pared with their ability to pivot quickly, a loyal following and their need to succeed they will do anything they can to keep the doors open.”

Article by Richard Lake, Associate, Real Estate

TH E NEW ROL E OF TH E OFF I C E

The office of the future may look very different and how we think about our workplace will be the biggest change. In commercial property, one consequence of the home working phenomenon may be that firms need far less office space. So reshaping of office environments to build future confidence and reassurance will be key.

We will no longer want to be so densely packed together, working in open plan offices and cramming into lifts. Architects are already imagining the ways buildings could help to limit the spread of future epidemics, spanning everything from the layout of interiors and public spaces, to surface coatings.

With 80% of infectious diseases transmitted by touching contaminated surfaces, a hands-free future could well catch on, eliminating direct contact with communal services, right from the street

to the workstation. The office of the future open social interaction as well as shared may be designed around ‘contactless coffee and amenity facilities. On the pathways’, meaning employees will other hand, businesses may need more rarely have to touch a surface with their flexible space contracts and not want to hands to navigate through put their entire team the building. Lifts can be in one place.

W HAT CO UL D called from a smartphone, W E EXPECT: avoiding the need to press Furniture may a button both outside and change too. Office • Walking and cycling distance in, while office doors will desks have shrunk from residential areas open automatically using over the years, • Wider corridors and doorways motion sensors and facial from 1.8m to 1.6m • More staircases and smart lifts recognition. to now 1.4m and • Antibacterial doorknobs and less, so there may more hand-washing facilities High-rise buildings would be a reversal of that become more expensive to as people won’t • More openable windows and ventilation systems controlled build and be less efficient want to sit so close by AI which may reduce the together. economic attractiveness to developers of building tall – and super tall Legislation might also be introduced to – towers both for offices and residential. mandate a minimum area per person in offices, as well as a reduction in There has been a big increase in co-working maximum occupancy for lifts and larger spaces. There are clear disadvantages of lobbies to minimise overcrowding.

The current crisis looks set to accelerate the evolving trend for businesses having smaller regional, sub-urban or even rural ‘touchdown’ offices as large corporations look to ‘de-densify’ their offices.

This migration away from the larger cities should result in a reduction in city centre congestion, reduced commuting times, improved productivity and an improved work-life balance for thousands of office workers. This improved work-life balance also feeds into the increasingly crucial role that wellness is playing in the workplace and will assist employers with attracting and retaining staff.

Whilst many people have discovered that they can work from home, that does not mean that they will want to do so forever.

Humans are intrinsically social creatures and many will still crave a sense of community. Therefore the ability to meet and collaborate in a safe office environment will still be required as teamwork is and will continue to be a huge element of a successful business.

Although the office of the future is likely to have a very different look and feel from the current ‘desk-dominated’ environments, it will still have a role to play in providing a space in which teams can meet, collaborate and, in time, socialise.

Commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield recently introduced the Six Feet Office concept to showcase some of the ideas it envisions companies will be adopting soon. These include desks spaced 6 ft. apart, along with bold colour and visuals such as circles embedded in the carpet to remind people to distance themselves.

Article by Paul Daniels, Head of Real Estate

WO RK FO R C E O F T H E F U T U RE

NEW STYLES, NEW SKILLS The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in plenty of lessons learned, and plenty of indications that the post-Covid world won’t be a carbon copy of the pre-Covid one. The way we work is one of the areas that stands to see a substantial transformation.

Has the pandemic ignited new trends? Or simply sped up those that were already emerging? When it comes to remote working, many would agree that the 9 to 5 has been feeling stale for some time, and the current pattern was being questioned – and disrupted – before lockdown sent us all to work from home.

And yet this does not mean we are all destined to work at home from now on. In the longterm, working solely from home will probably suit only the most determined of introverts; a blended, flexible working model is much more likely to become the new norm. This means both remote workers and their managers will need to learn new skills, and we are not IN D ELOIT TE ’S SURVE Y O F talking about using technology.

OVER 5 00 CIT Y WO RKE RS, OVER 75 % OF WORKE RS U P FROM 41% JUST A FE W MONTHS AGO - BE LIE VE T HAT THE Y W ILL WO RK R EMOTE LY AT LE AST

The new skills needed will start with a new mindset.

Companies will seek to provide solutions, employment benefits and programmes to help their workforce work in a new way – all while increasing productivity, creativity and commitment.

PwC, for instance, has introduced a dedicated Be well, work well ‘habit bank’ to promote healthy everyday behaviours and habits.

The attitudes towards remote ONE DAY A W E E K AFTE R working are shifting rapidly.

In Deloitte’s survey of over LOCKDOW N E NDS. 500 City workers, over 75% of workers - up from 41% just a few months ago - believe that they will work remotely at least one day a week When the pandemic started, the future of work was after lockdown ends. already being discussed in terms of worker wellbeing.

Now, looking at whether businesses return to office, Another study of workers found that 68% felt they remote or blended working, it’s clear that this ‘new were either more productive or equally productive normal’ will be simply ‘normal’ before too long. from home. The benefits, from the lack of a commute to more time with the family, are obvious.

B U IL D BAC K BE T T E R After coronavirus, no one can assume that, in the short term, business life will be the same as we remember it. With that in mind, we have put together a simple checklist of some of the issues we think we will all have to consider in this ‘New Norm’.

Fundamentally, for any organisation, the key is to minimise the impact arising out of the disruption. There will be an extremely limited window of opportunity to assess any potential impact on the business model and take positive steps to mitigate any damage in the short term, whilst continuing to plan for the longer term.

The natural ‘crisis’ reaction can be to jump to actions and plan to deliver these, but the most effective approach is often to stop, think about the new reality, and orientate within this before you get to the ‘how’ part.

Indeed, for many, opportunities will come out of these forced changes, so this also offers scope to move ahead stronger in your marketplace. .

01.

02.

0 3.

Engaging customers and employees in the ‘New Norm’

Operational resilience: not just for your organisation but across the whole business ‘eco-system’

Innovation in adversity – what your new business model looks like

01 . ENGAG E ME N T I NTERN AL CO M M U N I C AT I O N

EX TER N AL CO M M UN ICATION

Your people will no doubt be affected by remote working, changing roles, responsibilities and lines of communication. It is essential to keep talking openly with your teams, more than you ever have before, to ensure they know what is changing, how it will affect them, and to reassure them that you are there collectively to support each other plus build on their ideas for change.

Keep your world engaged with clear communication, making sure it is current and that all your connections are aware of any changes to services and support, opening hours and orders.

Where you deal with people directly, make sure you provide ‘safe’ transactions respecting any social distancing and hygiene rules.

CUS TO M ER AT THE HEAR T SKILL S AN D TR A I N I N G There will be different requirements to support these new ways of working. It is important to review your training needs, particularly technology, to support effective remote working.

This includes implementing the right suite of tools and processes to collaborate and share documents and data. You might even already have them – you just need to look at them again. It’s also important to consider the softer skills such as remote team management and leadership, along with the skills for the ‘new’ customer services.

Your customers remain the lifeblood of your business. More than ever it is key to understand their needs. Whatever your plans are, ensure they align with customer needs and expectations. We recommend ‘client listening’ to understand what has changed in their behaviour, expectations and spending decisions, and looking at how you can adapt within your business model to support them. Dedicate some time to this, stop other work and get your team to call customers and listen. Use this to inform your forward plans and actions.

02. OPE RATI ONAL R E S I LI E N C E NE W WAY S O F WO R K I N G

DE-R IS K YO UR S UPPLY CHA IN

With social distancing likely to continue for an extended period of time, and people (both staff and customers) having to get more used to working remotely, how will you operate? What has to be done face to face and what can now be done remotely? This assists in defining clarity around technical support, staffing levels and rotas.

When orders start streaming in, you have to be able to fulfil these. Make a map of your supply chain and understand who your critical suppliers and partners are. Have discussions with them sooner rather than later to understand any challenges they may have and ensure your and their priorities are aligned. The new supply chains that will do well are ones with flexibility built in – how do you score against this requirement and what are the risks of not doing so?

SCEN A RI O PL A N N I N G Customers are still there and will return. When and how isn’t immediately clear to all businesses. A plan to ramp service back up requires working through multiple scenarios. Build in simple decision points and triggers along the way that enable you to plan each step to the next phase and associated scenarios. Remember, it’s going to be a journey!

AG IL E DECISIO N-M AK IN G Things are changing every day at a rapid pace. There is no doubt that the organisations which will come back stronger are the ones that can make the right decisions and make them quickly. What is required is strong, decisive, joined-up leadership with a simple forum for decision-making, using accurate and up-to-date market information and organisational reporting to inform and support these decisions.

0 3. INN OVATION I N ADV E R S I T Y NE W PRODU C T S A N D S ERV I CES

CUSTO M ER JO UR N EY

Turning things on their head, this changing landscape allows, within reason, a chance to explore new opportunities. These could be new services or just a simple tweak to deliver things in a new way. To support this, there is a need to understand the challenges in terms of customer demand, customer service and fulfilment.

This is an opportune time to re-map your customer journey and touchpoints, ensuring that you provide not only the right products but also wraparound services and communications to continue delivering the great customer experience they have always expected.

AG IL E WO R K IN G R E VIE W OF CO S TS Tighten up your operational footprint. Do you need this much office space in light of WFH and indeed WFA (working from anywhere)? Consider downsizing leases or look for flexible office space rather than long-term leases. Co-working spaces will probably not be the same for some time as they forgo hot desks and communal spaces to support social distancing. Also consider the opportunity to outsource to third parties who are set up to service those specific business processes.

Rather than planning for long extended pilots, trying to prove something is the right answer, switch to smaller experiments and ways of working where you try things and adopt the learnings quickly.

Nine Feet Tall are experts in shaping and delivering transformation. Getting this right now is more important than ever before. If you would like to discuss your key challenges and plans to transition to the ‘new norm’, visit ninefeettall.com

T HE N E X T I N DU S T RI A L R EVOLU TI O N I S O N OU R D O OR S TE P

We spoke to Nigel Toon, CEO of Graphcore – a Bristol business which brings Brunel spirit to a modern problem.

It all started at the Marlborough Tavern in Bath when Graphcore co-founders Nigel Toon and Simon Knowles met and discussed the future of AI eight years ago. From such humble beginnings, the business has grown into one which is laying the foundations for where AI, and the human race as a whole, is going to go.

Nigel Toon and Simon Knowles, co-founders of Graphcore

The world now relies on computers, through AI, to solve complex problems that would be impossible for humans to even approach. Once the world has returned to the ‘new normal’, it is this technology that will play a major role in the recovery and return to long-term growth. But machine learning, the basis of any current AI system, requires the processing of huge amounts of data; in turn necessitating computing power which, when Nigel and Simon first came up with the idea for Graphcore eight years ago, simply wasn’t available.

So Graphcore stepped in. Beginning the Graphcore ‘project’ in stealth mode back in 2013, Nigel and Simon built the best team capable of rethinking processors and have now created the first chip specifically designed for AI and the workloads required to make machine learning work.

What Nigel and the team at Graphcore call their Intelligence Processing Unit, or IPU for short, is completely different from any CPU or GPU you might find in even a high-end PC and will allow innovators to make the next big breakthroughs in machine intelligence.

For those of you who understand the technology involved, Nigel explains that machine learning “requires chips to excel in a number of areas, including low latency, and the ability to handle sparsity, meaning you might have large amounts of data points but not all of them need to be computed. Our IPU processor is designed to do all of those things really well – and as a result users are seeing great gains in performance and efficiency”.

This breakthrough in processing technology has drawn the attention of some serious players, too.

Graphcore has gained investment from household names such as Dell, Bosch, and Samsung, as well as having seen their chips implemented in the Microsoft Azure cloud for innovators to use in their AI projects (Microsoft being another investor in the technology).

Graphcore’s technology wasn’t always this wellknown, but that made finding the right people all the more important. “In the very early days, many investors were sceptical about the value of an AI hardware business”, Nigel says, “but as awareness of the sector grew, so did their interest… In the meantime, we were able to build a team of around 40 of the best silicon and software engineers in the world”.

“ THE BUS IN ESS HAS G ROWN IN TO O N E WHICH IS L AYING THE FO UN DATIO N S FO R WHE RE AI, AN D THE HUM AN R ACE AS A WHO L E, IS G O IN G TO G O.” “We hire exceptional people with different skills, backgrounds and experiences, many at the very top of their field, and try to find a balance of freedom and responsibility for our team”, Nigel says when asked about his business’s culture, which has helped them weather the current crisis well. “We think that exceptional people deserve the best we can provide.

So Graphcore employees have the freedom to make choices that work for them in terms of flexible working arrangements, which has made the shift to remote working much easier”.

The current coronavirus crisis aside, Nigel still has big plans for 2020. “We are continuing to nurture our relationships with customers, partners and academia in order to build a wider ecosystem of AI innovators with IPU access. There will be many more partnership announcements from Graphcore this year, as global expansion and market growth will really be a key focus for us”.

In a new world of remote working where data and computing are more important than ever before, Nigel’s drive to help innovators who are held back by hardware will surely place Graphcore’s technology at the heart of a revolution in how the world works.

And as the world seems to change with each passing week, could their ambitions to be a key component in technology which vanquishes human disease, improves mobility, reduces harmful emissions and generally makes the world a better place – as detailed in an interview on their website – be fulfilled sooner than they thought?

DIS RUPT I O N – F IN DI N G T H E RI GHT HOM E High-quality 3D virtual tours for buying a property may become mainstream even after coronavirus has passed.

for agents. For sellers, the need for viewings in person is considerably reduced, so they don’t have to allow 20 people into their home!

Estate agents are fighting back, using technology such as 3D tours to strengthen their traditional appeal and giving a navigable ‘doll’s house’ view of homes, which shows the property with external walls removed.

At the same time, the technology behind virtual tours is becoming more sophisticated and accessible. Up until now the technology has been regarded as useful for super-prime properties likely to attract overseas and foreign buyers, but now many in the property industry are investing in it.

Buyers view the home from various vantage points, marked by circles on the floor, from which they can pivot through 360-degree angles and click on points of interest for more information.

One of the advantages of 3D tours is that they allow prospective viewers to look through properties virtually with the agent and then decide which ones to see in person, increasing transparency and efficiency

Knight Frank are using a highly advanced system called Matterport that gives you a 3D virtual walkthrough from room to room, including a 3D plan of your property. This proved to be perfect for lockdown and resulted in a number of sales across the firm both locally and from the international market as well.

“THIS WILL HELP THE MARKET GOING FORWARD AND HOPEFULLY ALLOW BUYERS TO DO AS MUCH DUE DILIGENCE AS POSSIBLE BEFORE ACTUALLY VIEWING. THIS WILL SAVE US A HUGE AMOUNT OF TIME AND CUT DOWN ON WASTED JOURNEYS, WHICH WILL IN TURN POSITIVELY IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT.” Charlie Taylor, Knight Frank

Research from Foxtons shows that when viewing a property online, buyers decide within just eight minutes if they wish arrange a viewing:

• Over 75% of house hunters also said they were irritated with properties that did not match up to their online listing.

• Virtual tours can help properties to sell five times faster than traditional imagery.

• Properties listed with 3D walk-throughs can also achieve as many as four times the number of enquiries and generate 49% more leads.

• Prospective buyers are more likely to trust a 3D tour that they can navigate themselves, which has true-to-life representation, rather than a series of traditional images or a video created by the agent.

However, not all virtual viewings require 3D technology. During lockdown Knight Frank clients conducted live viewings through platforms like WhatsApp and FaceTime. These worked particularly well and buyers benefitted from having a live commentary by the owners themselves.

IN RE VI E W: TH E NE W LONG LI FE Smart new technologies. Longer, healthier lives. Human progress has risen to great heights, but at the same time it has prompted anxiety about where we're heading. Are our jobs under threat? If we live to a hundred, will we ever really stop working? And how will this change the way we love, manage and learn from others?

In their new book, The New Long Life, global economist, professor and government advisor Andrew J. Scott and London Business School Management Practice professor Lynda Gratton draw on economics and psychology to create a framework to help us, as organisations and individuals, to navigate the challenges ahead.

Human history is an impressive tale of collective became richer and healthier, achievement. Over thousands of years we have but the transition to the new substantially increased our numbers, our lifespan and technologies of farming created the resources available to us. We are today far richer a drop in living standards that and far healthier as a consequence. Human ingenuity persisted for centuries. During is at the heart of this progress, bringing improvements the UK’s Industrial Revolution in knowledge that, embedded in new technologies a similar lag occurred, when and education, create living standards failed new possibilities and to improve for many in EACH OF US MUST BE new opportunities. Fire, the first few decades INGENIOUS: BE PREPARED agriculture, writing, of technological mathematics, the disruption. The human TO QUESTION NORMS, printing press, the steam burden wasn’t just CREATE NEW WAYS OF engine, electricity, economic, it was penicillin and computers also psychological.

LIVING, BUILD DEEPER are just some of the As a consequence innovations that have of industrialisation, INSIGHTS, EXPERIMENT propelled our standard people relocated away AND EXPLORE. of living upward. While from their families and human ingenuity traditional communities has driven these improvements, progress has not into fast-growing cities, often always been smooth or swift. Sometimes it is painful, lacking support and security. protracted and tumultuous – both for individuals and They also had to learn new skills, for society. adopt novel roles and identities, including oft-alienating ways of Take for example the switch around 10,000 years working. ago from foraging to farming. In the long run people

For many experiencing this transition, a sense of progress would have felt very distant.

Both these transitions share a common pattern: human ingenuity created technological advances which undermined existing economic and social structures which, in response, required a different form of human ingenuity – social ingenuity.

If technological ingenuity creates new possibilities based on new knowledge, then social ingenuity devises ways of living that enable these inventions to improve collectively, and individually, the human lot. But, importantly, social ingenuity does not automatically flow from technological ingenuity. And without social ingenuity, technological ingenuity does not bring unalloyed benefits.

That is why the historical pattern of progress and improvement is more evident viewed in retrospect than through the perspective of those experiencing the shift. It is also why periods – when a gap appears

THE NEW LONG LIFE: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World Andrew J. Scott and Lynda Gratton Bloomsbury Publishing, 28 May 2020

between these two types of ingenuity – are characterised by anxiety, transition and social experimentation.

The challenge is that for these benefits to be really felt, social ingenuity must be as widespread and as profound and innovative as technological ingenuity. That means each of us must be ingenious: be prepared to question norms, create new ways of living, build deeper insights, experiment and explore. And that also means that our institutions – be they governments, education or corporations – must also rise to the challenge of social ingenuity.

T R ANS PA REN T PA R T I T I O N

MA XI MUM O F FI V E V I S I TS PE R DAY

T WO V I S I TO RS FRO M T H E SA M E HO U S E H O L D

T WO S E PA RATE E NT R AN C ES

P I ON EE RI N G SU MME RHOUSE SCH EME F OR C ARE HO ME VISITS For care providers and people living in care homes, one of the most emotionally difficult aspects of the pandemic has been the need to lock down and prevent any non-essential visitors from entering the premises. Care Provider Oakland Care have come up with an ingenious idea which permits safe face-to-face visiting in their homes.

They have created a specially adapted Summerhouse for the garden of each of their care homes.

Each Summerhouse will have a transparent partition inside which creates two separate sections, each accessed through its own doorway. One half will be for a resident to sit in and the other can accommodate up to two visitors from the same household.

The cabin will be accessed by visitors via the garden gate to prevent them from having to enter the care home. Physical contact between the two sections will not be possible, so the risk of cross contamination of air or droplets is prevented.

Robust cleaning processes will take place between sessions, allowing time for permitting up to five visits per day.

Once the pandemic is over, the divider can be removed and the Summerhouse can be repurposed for other leisure activities.

Oakland Care’s Chief Executive Officer, Joanne Balmer said: “We are, so far, free of coronavirus.

However, we recognise that residents and families would dearly love to be able to see each other. We have been keeping people in touch via video calls but it’s not the same as being in the same space together. This is why we came up with the idea of the Summerhouses.”

CAN E VE RYON E D I AL I N ?

How video conferencing might not work for those who have experienced brain injury, and what can be done to help Video conferencing has been essential over the past couple of months to help life and work retain some element of normality. It’s even more vital for people who are isolated, so they feel they can connect and participate in the world around them. However, when you have a brain injury, is it that simple?

People who live with a brain injury may experience a myriad of challenges and issues even before it comes to contacting people through something that – for many of us – is totally new. Cognitive, behavioural and fatigue issues can plague the daily life of someone with a brain injury and video conferencing can unfortunately exacerbate these problems.

But the outlook for the future – should lockdown life become more of the ‘new normal’ – isn’t all bad. There are ways in which those with experience working with brain injured individuals can make video calling

manageable, fun, and even use it to help people do things they might not otherwise have done.

To find this out, our team spoke with specialist brain injury counsellor Diane Aronson about the challenges she has faced during lockdown and how she has overcome them, and Nicola Cale, a case manager at CCMS, about how she manages video calls with large groups.

“Being able to connect ‘socially’ is very important for many, as part of acceptance and commitment therapy”, Diane said.

“When threatened, mammals connect with each other and become tribal and yet we are being told to isolate ourselves. During this time video conferencing can provide a sense of soothing and connection”.

To read the full article, visit our website: roydswithyking.com/abi-vc

BUILD B AC K G RE E N, BUILD BAC K C L E A N DU R I NG LO C K D OWN, WE HAVE ALL SE E N THE B E N E FI TS O F R ED U C ED EMIS S IO NS, FRO M B I R D S O N G TO R EL IEF FROM T HE SYMPTOMS OF A S T HM A. B UT WIT H LOC KD OWN E NDING, H OW D O W E ‘LOC K IN’ T HES E BEN E FITS?

C L E A N E NE RGY PRO J EC TS Lockdown has led to lower energy consumption in the UK, which, coupled with the sunniest spring on record, saw enough solar power to reduce carbon power to the lowest level ever recorded.

No coal was burned in April or May. However, this cannot last, but the Government can implement measures that will. A robust policy to encourage investment in more clean energy – solar, wind and hydro projects – will help us keep coal and gas in the ground.

T R AV E L I NFR AS T RU C T URE How much have you used your car during lockdown? And has this changed your driving habits? For many, the answers will be “a little”, and “a lot”, and the impact on traffic levels has been clear.

We can help to continue this trend, and reduce future traffic jams, fumes and accidents by:

• investing in park and rides to lower city centre emissions • increasing the number of bus routes and reopening smaller train stations • providing a scrappage scheme for petrol and diesel vehicles to drive sales of electric vehicles • passing legislation for all new public transport vehicles to be electric.

An electric car revolution needs to be underpinned by electric vehicle infrastructure. The UK’s first fast-charging electric forecourt already exists near Braintree in Essex, but we need more.

U S E E NE RGY R I GHT B UILDINGS It is well known that the UK’s property stock is old and not energy efficient.

In order to bring our homes and offices into the 21st century, retrospective action is required. The Government could offer: • incentives to property owners to upgrade inefficient or fossil fuel boilers to efficient and clean boilers • similarly to the ‘cycle to work’ scheme, employees could draw an interest-free loan via their employer to invest in home energy improvements and repay via gross salary contributions • stamp duty land tax could be lower when you purchase a highly efficient property • a green Help to Buy scheme to encourage first time buyers to opt for energy efficient properties • decarbonisation funds to stimulate the retrofit sector for both residential and commercial property. If lockdown continues, it is a prime opportunity for retrofitting works.

With 8% of global carbon emissions coming from concrete production, the re-purposing of existing building stock instead of building from scratch can save energy. This also prevents further land being designated for development, protecting the green belt. Government policies and incentives, such as lower business rates for repurposed, energy efficient buildings, are also likely to make a difference.

We can no longer afford to be careless about how we use energy in properties. Research shows that many commercial buildings are both heated and air conditioned at the same time, a clear waste of money and energy.

Similarly, when fitting out properties, recycled materials and equipment should be given priority, saving energy to produce new goods.

GR E E N S T R I NGS AT TAC H ED When the Government bails out businesses such as airlines, the finance packages offered must have green strings attached to ensure the bailout case is well managed and in line with climate goals. And when businesses fail to comply, penalties or additional taxes will serve as a further deterrent.

This list is by no means exhaustive. We need to ask a lot of our Government – but where it must lead with policy, we as individuals and businesses must lead by example.

Want to keep hearing that birdsong?

Be bold, be courageous, and build back green.

Article by Richard Gorham, Associate, Real Estate

H OW A P O D CA ST C A N H E LP W I T H T HOSE E XP ER I E N CI N G C H RONIC PA I N FO LLOW ING A S P I N A L I N J U RY Claire Thornber, Founder of CESA, a charity helping those with cauda equina syndrome, explains how and why she is hoping to expand her support through the use of podcasting.

Cauda equina syndrome is a rare but potentially life-changing condition that occurs following compression of and damage to the nerves in the lower spine, and is one which affects people in many different ways.

Pain management is a huge issue for cauda equina patients, many not being referred to pain management clinics after discharge. Often GPs are left to prescribe high doses of strong pain medicine. Drugs like Pregabalin, Fentanyl and Oramorph offer varying and, usually, inadequate degrees of relief for neuropathic pain. None of them is an ideal option.

Every cauda equina syndrome patient is However we hope that, through different. Some find sexual dysfunction hard our new podcast, we can deliver to live with, others bladder and bowel issues. a bespoke guided meditation Some would give up everything just to be able programme to help with pain to walk unaided again. management. Patients “WE HOPE THAT, THROUGH OUR can use the podcast to A common theme for learn the skills needed NEW PODCAST, WE CAN DELIVER most people though is to control their own relentless neuropathic A BESPOKE GUIDED MEDITATION pain levels through pain. This gnawing, meditation, empowering PROGRAMME TO HELP WITH PAIN constant pain often them to adjust and increases at night, and MANAGEMENT.” find ways to cope with many are subjected to their condition.

We countless nights of poor sleep interrupted by have devised mediation specific to intense burning and cramps. neuropathic pain, to alleviate the constant pain whilst at the same time Sleep interrupted by pain in turn causes chronic promoting responsibility for personal fatigue during the day, making everyday tasks wellbeing. almost impossible for some.

We are really excited to start work During one of the Cauda Equina Syndrome on this new project and will be Association (CESA)’s support group meetings launching this in time for our first we were discussing this issue. A new member National Awareness Day for cauda highlighted a way they had discovered to cope equina syndrome on 1 October. with these lonely, long nights: listening to podcasts.

We had already started to deliver guided meditation for pain management at our residential workshops and this comment inspired me to combine podcasts with meditation. What better way to deliver pain management courses to those who are stuck at home – especially now!