Office Interiors - Millennium Storage and Interiors Blog | Millennium Storage and Interiors

Tag: Office Interiors (page 9 of 13)

Pros and Cons of Buying In Bulk

It is now so easy to set up as a retailer with an online ecommerce store. There are online several platforms available to make the process of selling and marketing your products child’s play. To make a success of your venture, however, you will need to buy in bulk to generate a profit.

Buying in bulk means you should get a much better price per item than buying one-offs and this is the foundation of any business. The simple calculation is that the less you pay for the items and the more you sell them for, the more profit you make.

If this is the big pro of buying in bulk, then there are also some drawbacks depending on how well set up you are to handle demand. If you don’t happen to live in a large property or own a decent sized garage or storage space, then finding additional storage to cope with growing demand will be one of the biggest challenges you are likely to face.

Once you have found the space there will inevitable be ongoing costs as your business expands. You may need to invest in larger storage space or even rent storage which can work out quite expensive and eat into your profits.

One solution is to look to expand upwards rather than outwards. Warehouse shelving can make a big difference to the amount of stock you can handle and there are many different types of warehouse racking and shelving to choose from depending on the items you are storing.

If you need help with planning and choosing shelving or racking to get more from your storage space, our experts are available to help.

How Office Partitioning Can Improve Office Productivity?

December 18, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Most modern offices now adopt flexible working patterns which allow staff to better manage work life balance but there are still many offices that don’t keep staff happy and productive whilst they are in work.

The root cause of low productivity and staff unhappiness may not be the work itself but more to do with the environment they find themselves working in. Many people will quite enjoy the work they do but there may be things in their work environment that irritate them such as noise or a lack of quiet space to simply get on with work.

A simple change to this office environment may be all that’s needed to have boost productivity and the general mood in workplace.

Installing partitioning can create those quiet spaces some employees and bosses need, while glass partitioning can brighten up previously dark office spaces with natural light. Natural light also contributes to better health and studies have shown that it can also increase energy, all of which will contribute to less time off and better productivity levels.

Whether you own a small business looking for an office conversion or a complete change of your office design we can help you plan your partitioning and office layouts to create a better environment for you and your staff.

3 Good Reasons To Choose Glazed Office Partitions

December 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Glass partitions in offices are nothing new and the reason they have been used in offices for a long time are down to the obvious benefits they have over other types of partitioning. So if you have a large office space office that doesn’t have glass partitioning, let’s look at some of best reasons to opt for it over other alternatives.

Heightened privacy yet open
The modern office has collaboration at its heart. People like to feel that they are not isolated or segregated away from their co-workers and even bosses. Bosses meanwhile will still value the soundproofing glass partitioning can provide while at the same time letting their staff know that they are approachable and open to communication which is important for staff employer relations.

Letting in natural light
Another benefit of glass partitioning is that natural light can pass through brightening up a previously dark office space. There is nothing more off-putting for staff and clients than spending time in what look like a dark dingy office.

Savings on lighting bills
Dark offices mean high electricity bills if the lights need to be kept on all year round. Glass partitioning can help reduce those bills by making the best use of natural light.

Have You Considered Expansion In Your Workplace Design?

October 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

When designing an office space or warehouse it is easy to fall into the trap of catering for existing needs without considering the future. It’s essential then in any consultation process to consider how that future might look for the business and how the existing space will be used in the longer term.

There are several factors that need to be taken into account to prepare effectively for the future of the business from how functional the space is to how efficient and comfortable it is for staff who will ultimately be the lifeblood of the business as it grows and develops. As many business owners will tell you, the good people they hire are the ones that help take the business forward more than anything else so they need to be happy and productive.

When it comes to productivity space is important and there needs to be enough capacity to cope with an increase in productivity and a reduction in costs. In other words all your space should be optimised effectively for future growth.

Energy is another important factor to consider and even something as simple as fitting LED lighting will save a fortune on utility bills as will motion detectors that turn lighting on and off when they are not required.

How Furniture Can Solve Staff Productivity and Wellness Issues

July 20, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Furniture may be taken for granted in many offices but there is a quiet revolution going on in furniture design that aims to improve staff productivity and their sense of wellbeing.

At first glance, you might wonder how office furniture can have such an profound influence on office environments. Ignoring the importance of good furniture however can create the kind of environment that breeds hostility and discontentment.

Business owners can avoid this by investing in the latest innovations in office furniture that not only facilitate interaction amongst workers but also improve health and productivity. ‘Healthy furniture’ such as treadmill and sit stand desks could well become commonplace in the offices of the future.

Charging stations are also likely to become an important part of the contemporary office as more people work on portable IT equipment and need the freedom to move around different areas of offices to aid collaboration.

There are also signs that the traditional open plan office layout of recent decades is likely to be replaced by more separation. Rather than a return to compartmentalised offices, however, the emphasis is likely to be on separation within open spaces and good acoustics.

Important Things To Consider In A Modern Office Design

July 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

So you want to plan an office layout that will keep all your staff happy and productive? This might sound like a straightforward task but getting it right means balancing out a variety of factors including the following…

The size of your space
The size of your office will have the biggest impact on your decisions. If you have a large office space, then the challenge is whether to create a light open plan or build in cubicles. Most contemporary offices adopt the former approach creating collaborative spaces for staff, however open plan spaces can prove to be distracting. Smaller spaces meanwhile can be challenging and staff can become demotivated and unhappy if they feel closed off.

Exposed Offices
If you have an office that is visible to members of the public, clients and guests, then it is important to maintain a professional appearance. Perhaps the more playful office designs adopted by trendy business are not best suited to exposed glass fronted offices if it appears staff are busy playing table tennis rather than working.

Acoustics
Spaces large and small can benefit from careful consideration of acoustics. Excessive noise can be stressful for staff and reduce productivity. A few simple measures to dampen noise levels can work wonders.

Time and Space
How long are people going to linger in different areas of your office. Will you provide hot desks for staff who regularly work from home? In these cases space can be saved and equipment can be kept to a minimum freeing up space for other purposes in smaller offices

Should You Go Google With Your Office Design

June 20, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Google’s influence on our lives cannot be understated and its office layouts have become an inspiration for many companies hoping to copy its office design styles. But is a Google style office right for your business?

When people were first introduced to the inside of a group of offices known as the Googleplex they were puzzled by the all the toys it contained. At first people viewed the whole thing as a gimmick and many will have laughed at staff working near sand volleyball courts or taking time out on adventure playgrounds.

It wasn’t long before people stopped laughing and started to imitate what they saw until Google style offices with dedicated leisure and play areas for staff became almost commonplace particularly among tech companies keen to attract staff to their playful work environments.

Like all fashions, however, there are signs that the playful office design layout might be coming to an end or at least it will be toned down. Design magazines are already suggesting that staff are fed up with the noise of co-workers having fun which could be detrimental to business.

While Google has no plans to ditch its playful office spaces, the many smaller businesses around the world adopting their approach might well be considering a change of direction to something that appeals to all staff rather than just the few who like to play while at work.

3 Ways To Impress Millennials With Your Office Design

June 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

As time moves on so does the age of your employees and most office chairs will now be filled by a generation of people collectively known as millennials or those born between the early 1980s and just after the year 2000. As millennials are now so essential to businesses, how do you go about attracting them and keeping them in your office rather than those of the competition?

Most millennials don’t like conventional offices
If you want to retain your younger staff members it’s time to ditch the traditional office layout and go for something less conventional. Millennials despite their reputation are hard working on the whole as well as being career focused. They can be trusted to work in collaborative spaces with flexible furniture.

Millennials Want To See Up-To-Date Technology
Some business owners are hopelessly out of touch with technology and these are the ones that tend to have a high staff turnover. No self-respecting millennial is going to want to work in an office and make do with poor outdated equipment when they have superior technology at home.

Flexibility
The days of travelling to work every day and going through the motions from 9 am until 5pm are coming to an end for many private firms. Flexible working is now demanded by many people as is a flexible approach working remotely. IT infrastructure should be set up to allow this and enable millennials to enjoy a better work life balance.

Guide To Small Office Must Haves

May 24, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

Improvements in IT and a revolution in the way we work in the past 50 years has led to many businesses opting for smaller offices and many even finding space at home to carry out daily tasks.

As with larger offices however there are still some essentials required to ensure the work environment is comfortable and work can be done efficiently. Here are a few essentials anyone moving into a small office should consider.

Office furniture
The standard and provision of office furniture is important not only for staff but also to create the right impression of your business. Old furniture and broken chairs will demoralise staff and could even be a potential hazard. In business presentation is important and if you want to recruit the best staff and ensure that they are loyal, then early investment in your office space is important.

Ensure utilities are reliable
The last thing you need is a faulty boiler, heating that stops working and disruptions to your energy supplies or phone lines. Having these breakdowns not only harms productivity but it can also disrupt workplace morale. Also ensure that you are on the best deal available to reduce energy costs for your business.

IT Systems
Many small businesses pay little attention to their IT systems until they breakdown. Some high profile cases of hacking should alert business owners to the importance of security and updating software and equipment regularly.

3 Office Design Myths

May 10, 2017 / admin / 0 Comments

As the way we work continues to change rapidly driven by great technological advances and increased efficiency in workflows there has been a lot of debate on what makes the ideal office layout.

Certainly your office layout is likely to be influenced by the age of the building you find yourself operating in and in some cities it might not even be possible to stray too far from the traditional compartmental spaces.

So let’s look at three common myths about office layouts to help you decide on what’s right for your business.

Open plan is best
If being shut away isolated in a room isn’t for you then you might prefer the collaborative environment of the open space office but for some people this can actually impact on productivity. Open plan offices can get noisy and it may not always be the case they are collaborative. Design can play a major role in making a space work but if owners make it up as they go along then open plan isn’t going to make any difference.

Offices with lots of compartments stifle productivity
Staff might be able to communicate more if they can see each other, but these days even if they can, emails are rapidly becoming preferable to simply walking over to someone’s desk. Often being able to work in peace and quiet can actually boost productivity and you can create collaborative spaces for when they are needed.

Open plan layouts save you money
This may be true in some cases but not always. A large open plan office may end up costing more to heat and it will be difficult to please everyone when it comes to the temperature settings. You may also end up buying more office furniture to fill the space.