Hotting up after the heatwave

It’s remarkable that civil servants are just like shopkeepers in that they become incredibly irritable over the summer, even when they’ve got less work to do and can sit in air-conditioned offices. Such people can be divided into three groups. Those who seem to be saying “I’m on holiday tomorrow, so go away,” those whose attitude seems to be “I’m just back from holiday, so go away,” and those who seem to say “I didn’t get a holiday this year, so go away.” Interestingly enough, they don’t spend any of their free moments chatting with those who come in or catching up on their backlog. Instead, they just stand by the coffee machine and complain about how much work they have. Do you know a company like that? Or maybe someone you work with who’s the same? Tell us in the comments.

However, at ‘Eurobuild’ we’ve been working hard over July and August, just so you can be informed by the experts about a good number of interesting topics. I would especially recommend the opening interview with Vastint on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of establishing their Polish operations. However, their management team hasn’t had much time to celebrate because ambitious plans for the future don’t fulfil themselves – but they did spill the beans about some of them to us. If you’re wondering if solar farms in Poland have a sunny future and whether acres of panels should be considered a serious asset, then you’ve got to read our report on renewable energy. Something of a stir was caused at the start of our office conference, as – contrary to the opinions of many developers – the effectiveness and popularity of hybrid offices was taken apart by a professor in this field: Andrzej Falkowski (remember the name!). And I can promise that our interview with him, which also appears on these pages, is every bit as controversial. We also take a look at flexible offices, to find out how much truth there is in the commonly-held view that the Ukrainians are taking all this space up. In this magazine, you can also read Bonard’s latest report on rents in the purpose-built student accommodation sector. Why are they rising so quickly and is this the case across Europe? Green leases are also put under the microscope in this issue, as we take a look at how they should be structured and who they really benefit.

Oh, and the last question I want to put to you is this: have you got your hands on a ticket for the Eurobuild Awards Gala yet? If so, please take a look at the list of people who are up for the Popular Choice Awards, so that on September 27th you will know which button to press on your voting device. In September our conference season really gets into gear, so it is our pleasure to invite you to register for these events – the warehousing conference, our annual conference, our Łódź meeting and the culmination of our Bicycle Employer of the Year awards. You can find out all the details of these events in this issue.