Canary Wharf launches flexible office service as work patterns shift | Financial Times

“Citi is moving thousands of staff into 40 Bank Street while it undertakes a £100mn refurbishment of its neighbouring skyscraper, a project partly aimed at improving the building’s green credentials. Moving to a flexible office gives the bank a chance to try out technology and ways of working that it might use in the refurbished offices, and provides opportunities to experiment while the future of work remains so uncertain, said Kathryn Harrison-Thomas, head of Citi’s property services in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. “We’re seeing how people work prior to making some very significant commitments in the main building. If people want to work a couple of days at home and three in the office, that means we don’t need 9,000 desks any more,” she said.”

“Swansea University is the only Welsh University on strike; but we have a strong statement from the Welsh Government today on how UUK need to start acting in the interest of University staff:

Statement of Opinion – OPIN-2022-0260 – Welsh Parliament (assembly.wales)

OPIN-2022-0260 Swansea University and Open University Action (e)Tabled on 16/02/2022

This Senedd:

1. Recognises that, throughout the pandemic, academic staff have worked hard to keep education open and stabilise the sector and that, now the emergency has passed, university lecturers face a 35 per cent cut in pension entitlement.

2. Recognises lecturers’ deep commitment towards their students and that the decision to strike is never easy.

3. Calls upon Universities UK to:

a) return to the negotiating table immediately to avert damaging strikes and allow a post-pandemic evaluation of the pension fund.

b) work with staff to devise a UK-wide plan to re-build the sector by eliminating precarious contracts, managing workloads and addressing inequality.”

I am delighted to announce that Dr Aziz Alrashidi was awarded his PhD in Human Geography from Swansea University on the 31st of January. His PhD thesis was in the field of Urban Geography:

An Investigation of Quality of Urban Life (QoUL), A Case Study of Quba Municipality, Medina City, Saudi Arabia

He can be contacted at:

Dr Aziz Alrashidi

Branch of Taibah University in Al Ula

Al Ula Governorate, Saudi Arabia

Taibah University 

Email: arrashidi@taibahu.edu.sa