That's a Wrap!

As my presidency of the BCO came to a close last week at the AGM on 26th June, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the BCO members who give their time and enthusiasm voluntarily to this fantastic membership organisation.? You are the heartbeat of the BCO and I thank you for your tremendous support over this past year!

These are very important times for the BCO and I am delighted that we have had an exceptionally successful and busy year. Our events programme?has addressed many of the changes and challenges we have been facing as an industry, and we have seen packed houses across the board, alongside ever increasing membership numbers, which demonstrates the relevant place the BCO holds in the industry.

Throughout this past year, I have often highlighted?that as the boundaries of work and?life have blurred, and the office is no longer the only place that we go to work, defining the potential purpose of the office has never been greater and it is now, imperative, to develop new metrics that demonstrate how the office can support economic and environmental resilience, while providing inspiring places for people, business and society to thrive.? ?

The theme of our very successful Dublin conference last June?was Resilience & Inspiration, and we had many thought provoking discussions on how commercial real estate can demonstrate its social relevance.

Research lies at the core of the BCO’s purpose, and our research papers on the Key Pillars of the?Economy, Business, Technology and ESG?addressed these challenges head on, and stimulated many discussions that contributed to the published findings?that can be used as a framework to guide our future research.

One of the most exciting initiatives of this year has been recognising the impact of building operations to the future success of the office, as a focus on people and customer experience, has now become a foremost priority for both occupiers and landlords.

Our research on customer experience (CX) will provide BCO members with up-to-date guidance on best practice in the delivery of customer experience and will also inform? the criteria of a new BCO Customer Experience Award, which will recognise operational best practice in buildings, delivered by property owners, managers, and corporate real estate professionals, to be launched in 2025.

In addition to all our successful events and research initiatives, our inaugural ESG conference was a tremendous success and reinforced the BCO’s commitment to guiding the industry on the most important and challenging issues we need to address. Also, the NextGen agenda is continuing on an upward trajectory, and is an important catalyst a new style of BCO events.

Another major focus over the last twelve months has been the introduction of a number of important changes flowing on from the BCO’s branding exercise. These include the BCO’s new website launched last week - which proved to be a more complex exercise than originally envisaged - and I want to thank all of those involved, particularly Mark Kowal and Kat Balassa, for what I hope you will all agree, is a tremendous achievement. ?

I would like to thank Richard Kauntze and the BCO secretariat who work tirelessly behind the scenes to maintain the BCO offer and the exceptional quality of all we deliver, and for their support over the past year.

Finally, I want to congratulate Peter Crowther on chairing a very successful conference in Birmingham, and wish him all the very best as he takes on the Presidency.? There is much to do and I look forward to supporting him and the team in my role as Immediate Past President.

Thank you for all that you contribute and for your support of the BCO.?

Wishing you all a fantastic summer.

Despina