{"id":95615,"date":"2026-09-21T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/?p=95615"},"modified":"2026-09-21T16:18:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T15:18:54","slug":"what-flex-taught-us-about-operational-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/what-flex-taught-us-about-operational-excellence","title":{"rendered":"What flex taught us about operational excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"95615\" class=\"elementor elementor-95615\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3631dad2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3631dad2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6967df5c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6967df5c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-95620\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1589\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-1024x636.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-768x477.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-1536x953.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-2048x1271.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bco.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/BCO_Edinburgh_2026_0369-600x372.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>BCO Conference 2026 insights<\/strong>: &#8220;I can\u2019t believe we are still talking about the Covid effect all these years on,\u201d said Ashleigh Corbett, head of flex for Scotland at CBRE, as the almost-opening gambit in a session about operational excellence.<\/p>\n<p>She cast minds and memories back to the spring and summer of 2020 when flex enquiries \u201cwent up 150% overnight\u201d as corporate occupiers started to realise it would be much easier to thrive in the post-pandemic office market with some sort of flexible workspace offer.<\/p>\n<p>They were right. A prolonged period of near-universal working from home, followed by a somewhat messy navigation of hybrid working, saw demands change and employee preferences shift. A market once dominated by small businesses and start-ups became an integral part of the office landscape at breakneck speed.<\/p>\n<p><b>Workspaces that work<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Nearly seven years on, the question is less about why flex went mainstream and more about what landlords, occupiers and end users now expect from it and what that teaches us about delivering workspaces that work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to remember that the customer and the consumer aren\u2019t always the same,\u201d said Chris Moriarty, co-founder and director of workplace analytics software company Audiem. \u201cA customer might care deeply about how flexible a workspace is, while the consumer might care more about getting a desk, having access to something decent to eat, clean toilets and whether the building actually works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The key to success, then, is making sure everyone gets what they want out of the deal. That means delivering excellence at every stage \u2013 in design, in development and in operation.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Operational excellence: Customer experience best practice\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c-hQBJrHR-M\" width=\"1133\" height=\"637\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Flexibility needs to be at the heart of these spaces by default. The amenities and overarching functionality of the building can\u2019t fall by the wayside because while it might be the elastic contract terms that draw in the customer, it is the amenities and design that are more likely to resonate with the people using it day to day.<\/p>\n<p><b>Design-driven amenities<\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese need to be customer-focused, hospitality-led, amenity-rich workplaces,\u201d said CBRE\u2019s Corbett. \u201cIt needs to feel more like home. Is it a gimmick to have GHD hair straighteners? Well, we are all heading out later and I\u2019ll be going to freshen up at a serviced office because I know they have the good mirrors, the good showers and, yes, the good straighteners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDesign drives good amenity,\u201d countered Ruairi Dempsey, electrical area business class lead at HDR. \u201cAs for the overarching success of these spaces, that\u2019s simple: they must serve a purpose and, to be effective, we have to know how they are used.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople have to enjoy a space the first time they walk in,\u201d said Stefano Faiella, director at Threesixty Architecture. \u201cThat\u2019s how you get them to come back. Challenge number one is creating an emotional connection. That\u2019s doesn\u2019t need to be anything particularly complicated.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cIf someone can visit on a really bad day in the pouring rain and battering wind and still want to come back, that\u2019s usually because there is something magical about the space; anything from the design to the location.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And it is that, said our experts, that will determine whether a space succeeds. Everything else, from the hair straighteners to the location,&nbsp;feeds into that deciding factor.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, they will come if design, development and operation deliver not just what the consumer wants, but what they need \u2013 with flexibility.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Words by <a href=\"https:\/\/emilywrights.substack.com\/about\">Emily Wright<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BCO Conference 2026 insights: Making sure everyone gets what they want out of a flex deal means delivering excellence at every stage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":95620,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,97],"tags":[213,238,258,270,271],"class_list":["post-95615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-hub","category-news","tag-bco","tag-edinburgh","tag-bco-conference","tag-flexible-offices","tag-hybrid-working"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - 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