The war for talent has secured wellbeing, staff attraction and retention at the forefront of occupiers’ minds. Savills latest What Workers Want survey aims to discover what exactly today’s office workers want and need from their workspace.

Zoning in specifically on Bristol, the findings show that office workers in the city are particularly concerned with the environmental factors of their workspace. This should therefore be considered by landlords and developers operating within Bristol.

Bristol is known for being a vibrant and environmentally conscious city: in 2008 it was named the UK’s first cycling city, in 2015 it was the first city to be recognised as the European Green capital, and in 2017 it was named the UK’s most environmentally friendly city.

Bristol is also a Fairtrade city which practises fair trading with 58 developing countries and earlier this year it was even listed as the world’s vegan capital, clearly demonstrating that the lifestyle of the population is one that favours environmentally friendly and sustainable behaviours.

Bristol’s environmental awareness was apparent within the What Workers Want data with office workers being less satisfied than the rest of the UK with their building’s air quality, bike storage and proximity to green space and parks, likely driven by the high environmental standards of Bristol workers.

Office workers also placed a higher importance on plants/greenery inside office, bicycle storage, ability to recycle and the environmental performance of the building than the UK average.

Landlords and developers operating within Bristol should therefore take all of these factors on board when designing and delivering new spaces, as potential occupiers are likely to be putting them high on their wish lists when it comes to meeting the desires of their staff.

Also according to What Workers Want, the majority of Bristolian office workers prefer to work in a city or town centre, with over 70 per cent of those surveyed stating a preference for this type of location. Interestingly this is above the UK average where just under 60 per cent of UK workers prefer to work in an urban centre.

The Bristol office market benefits from strong demand but is restricted by a lack of available office space in the city centre. This suggests that occupiers moving into and around Bristol will have to consider pre-let opportunities on new developments and pay high rents to meet the preferences of their staff.

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