LEADING ORGANISATIONS UNITE TO CREATE A SMARTER WORKING SOUTH EAST

Senior executives from across the south east attended the launch of Work Wise South East at Farnham Caste, Farnham on Wednesday 16th April. Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, was joined by senior representatives from the partners of Work Wise South East including South East of England Regional Development Agency (SEEDA), the South East England Regional Assembly, NHS South East, BT, British Gas parent, Centrica, and First Great Western, to launch the new regional initiative.

Work Wise South East will adapt the national Work Wise UK initiative to the specific needs and issues of the South East. It will promote the wider adoption of smarter working practices, such as flexible working (including condensed hours and nine-day fortnights), home working, remote and mobile working, across the region.

Phil Flaxton opened the event by explaining the current threats that exist for the region, unless it changes its ways: "The south east needs to work together and adopt smarter working if it is to remain competitive, retain skills and so sustain the growth it has enjoyed in recent years. The current road network, public transport systems and other infrastructures are all groaning under the strain of existing demand, but with the massive growth in population predicted over the next 20 years - 850,000 in London alone - they just plainly will not cope without massive investment, which is unlikely to happen, or a change in the way we work."

This and other threats to the region were identified in a report, published last September by the vanguard group for Work Wise South East, called Creating a smarter working South East region. It called upon organisations throughout the region to adopt smarter working practices saying that "the sustainability of the South East region is at risk from pressures on travel, congestion, skills availability and stress related health problems."Oona Muirhead, executive director, sustainable prosperity, SEEDA, said: "Smart working will help us achieve all three headline goals of the South East's Regional Economic Strategy of competitiveness, growth, and sustainability. Smart working means reducing the need for travel, which helps the region's carbon footprint as well as transport congestion.  It's shown to increase productivity and give cost benefits for business; and to improve work-life balance meaning a better quality, less stressed life for individuals. Other gains are improved job opportunities for people with disabilities and boosting local communities and shops from people working from home.  I am delighted to support the formation of Work Wise South East, part of the national Work Wise organisation that raises awareness of smart working."Mike Galvin, South East regional director for BT, one of the South East's largest private sector employers, said: "Smarter, more flexible working is a vital part of remaining competitive in this rapidly-changing internet age. "The benefits of adopting flexible working practices are clear in terms of increased productivity and employee satisfaction. It can be a major factor in recruiting and retaining key staff and dovetails very well with the South East's aim to be a sustainable world class region."As a leader of flexible working in the UK, BT is seeing huge benefits both for the company and its people. We estimate that BT home workers are able to cut their commuting mileage by more than 20 million miles per year - and that reducing our need for office space has in the past five years resulted in annual savings of £88 million on overheads such as rates, rent and repair."We would certainly encourage employers in the South East and across the UK as a whole to take full advantage of the great opportunities offered by smarter working. With the cost of transport continuing to rise there couldn't be a better time for people and organisations to ask themselves whether they could work more flexibly."Nationally, BT has supported the Work Wise UK initiative for the past two years and has seen the campaign go from strength to strength."

Professor Yvonne Doyle - regional director of public health for NHS South East Coast, said: "All our NHS experience shows that, for people who work, a healthy workplace is a key part of a healthy life.  Work Wise South East is an exciting partnership between business and the public and voluntary sectors which will bring about real health improvements through smarter working practises.  These improvements will benefit working people and business alike and will help to deliver the ambitious aims of the South East Regional Health Strategy."

With the South East having the highest proportion of commuters, and the average person spending the equivalent of an additional working day each week commuting, the region presents the greatest opportunity for the largest number of people to benefit from the introduction of new smarter working practices. According to the Labour Force Survey, undertaken quarterly by the Office for National Statistics, nearly 600,000 people work from home in the South East (excluding London), which is over 15 per cent of the working population, the highest in the UK. Nationally, over 3.4 million people, 12 per cent of the working population, regularly or permanently work from home, a figure that has increased by a fifth in the last ten years. The lowest proportion of home workers is in Scotland with 8.5 per cent. "Centrica fully support Work Wise South East," said Greg Skyrme, director of property and facilities management, Centrica plc. "We aim to think creatively about new ways of working to help improve staff retention, productivity, motivation and morale, broaden our recruitment pool and increase diversity and talent across the business." Richard Rowland, regional manager, London & Thames Valley First Great Western, said: "First Great Western is pleased to be involved in Work Wise South East helping create smarter working in the region." Work Wise UK (www.workwiseuk.org) is a not-for-profit initiative which aims to make the UK one of the most progressive economies in the world by encouraging the adoption of smarter working practices. Its supporting partners include the CBI, TUC, British Chambers of Commerce, RAC Foundation, Transport for London, Scope, Association for Commuter Transport and BT.