CIOB: ‘We’re moving into the digital age’

Institute aims to shed "fuddy duddy Victorian image" to embrace online collaboration

Next month the CIOB waves goodbye to Englemere, its country house HQ in Ascot, to set up home in more modern offices in a business park in Bracknell. Though there are bound to be regrets as the Institute breaks with the past, the fact is that the CIOB had outgrown its offices of 40 years. The move is more than a new address, it’s emblematic of the modernisation of the Institute itself.

Apart from furnishing the CIOB with what deputy chief executive Michael Brown describes as a “fuddy duddy Victorian image”, the Trustees recognised that the Ascot building had also started to hold back the development of the Institute, which has ambitious plans to create online communities across its increasingly global membership.

The web is central to its activities and plans to increase its adoption of digital and online-based technologies.

The building in Ascot presented problems with IT so the tools that global businesses would expect to call on, such as video conferencing, were not possible. “We have members in 100 countries and staff around the world and yet it’s a wi-fi black hole in some rooms,” says Brown.

“Disabled access is awful and the station is too far away,” he continues. “Englemere is made up of a warren of rooms, which can make it difficult for staff to interact with each other,” he adds. “It’s simply impractical as an office building.”

The new HQ in Bracknell will help the CIOB meet its goal of engaging with members more online

The CIOB begins its move to 1 Arlington Square, a newly refurbished office building on a business park 10 minutes from the centre of Bracknell, in December. It is renting half the second floor of the four-storey building, which is currently being fitted out by Morgan Lovell. Meanwhile, the Berkshire town is itself undergoing a regeneration programme, with new landscaping, shops and housing.

As well as the benefits of up-to-date IT, the move also reduces the CIOB’s property liability. “[Englemere] was far too big and necessitated running other businesses, like wedding events, to make it stack up. It means we can concentrate on the core business, and the move will result in clear cost savings,” says Brown.

Englemere has been sold to Millgate Developments, which is expected to demolish the manor house and build luxury housing on the site. The CIOB selected Millgate after shortlisting a number of developers and then inviting those to bid. The price the CIOB will end up receiving for the site is dependent on the terms of the planning permission.

The CIOB is making the switch from “owner occupation” to renting. “We did think of buying a building, but it’s extremely difficult in this market, there’s nothing around,” says Brown. The switch does mean, however, that the CIOB has more cash to invest in its development.

As part of the move the CIOB will also set up a representative office in London, bringing itself alongside its sister institutes in the construction sector and other industry influencers. The office will open in January at the Broadway, near St James’s Park tube station. The intention is to hold most meetings in London but only have one or two staff based there.

Some members have expressed disappointment that the move will deprive the Institute of an attractive and prestigious venue for events and ceremonies. Brown says the plan will be to hold qualification ceremonies and other formal occasions at an appropriate venue near the London office. But he adds: “The reality was that there were only handful of the events out of the 500 the CIOB holds each year actually held at Ascot.”

Brown concedes that the Ascot HQ does project the Institute as robust, and that it now has to demonstrate that quality in new ways. “The move really provides us with the chance to do things differently, but if we don’t then it will have been a complete waste of time.”

CIOB member coordinates a fit-out that’s fit for the 21st century

“It’s a straightforward fit out, but it’s an incredibly important one,” says Colin Allan MCIOB, the Morgan Lovell project director in charge of the nine-week programme. The CIOB turned to Morgan Lovell for the project as it was already working in the building for client Threadneedle.

The new office will be open plan with a mixture of formal and informal meeting spaces, and a second floor external terrace.

One of the hallmarks of the project is its strong environmental credentials, with the CIOB aiming for a Gold Ska rating, an environmental performance scheme specifically tailored to fit-outs. To achieve the Gold rating, the project must meet 11 key good practice measures from a menu of 106. Timber will all be FSC certified, materials used will have a high recycled content and wastage is minimised.

Allan, a member for over 25 years, says: “It’s a really exciting time for the CIOB, tainted with a bit of sadness – my sister got married at Englemere.”