Blue Door Podcast

In Episode 31 of the Blue Door Podcast, we continue our conversation about office space - focusing on the consideration of employees and their needs. We also follow up the group discussion with some thoughts around virtual environments with Chris Early from Virgin Media O2.

This week’s guests:

Nick Giraudeau, a partner at Cushman & Wakefield before becoming HSBC’s global head of corporate real estate, now at Flexible office provider WeWork - their first head of sales for the financial services industry

• Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nick-giraudeau-8a43992

Dave Cairns, Senior Vice President - Office Leasing at CBRE. He’s also an ex-professional poker player, and the founder of the CBRE Forward program – that helps CBRE and corporate real estate strategize and plan for the future of work in Canada.

• Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/dave-cairns-5644a233

Chris Early, from Virgin Media O2, who looks after building acquisition through to disposal, office design and fit-out, as well as estates, space management and some FM in between. He has a particular interest in new ways of working, as a tool to improve the world of work more widely.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chearly

In Episode 30 of the Blue Door Podcast, we bring together a panel of speakers from CBRE, WeWork and VirginMediaO2 as we look at the future of workspaces, and how organisations are considering the way they've traditionally operated and what they need for the future.

This week’s guests:

Nick Giraudeau, a partner at Cushman & Wakefield before becoming HSBC’s global head of corporate real estate, now at Flexible office provider WeWork - their first head of sales for the financial services industry

• Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nick-giraudeau-8a43992

Dave Cairns, Senior Vice President - Office Leasing at CBRE. He’s also an ex-professional poker player, and the founder of the CBRE Forward program – that helps CBRE and corporate real estate strategize and plan for the future of work in Canada.

• Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/dave-cairns-5644a233

Chris Early, from Virgin Media O2, who looks after building acquisition through to disposal, office design and fit-out, as well as estates, space management and some FM in between. He has a particular interest in new ways of working, as a tool to improve the world of work more widely.

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chearly

In Episode 29 of the Blue Door Podcast, we are joined by Steven Moore, Head of Climate Action at GSMA, the industry association representing the worldwide mobile communications sector. We talk about the impact of technology on sustainability goals, from supply chain, through to product lifecycle.

View all our Blue Door Expo 2020 content on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2elvLolPKfz1cgGuasaGjA

In Episode 28 of the Blue Door Podcast, we focus on innovation. We are joined by Karl Turner, Solutions Architect designer from Virgin Media O2’s The Lab, to discuss how to foster a culture of innovation, and the questions businesses need to ask. 

View all our Blue Door Expo 2020 content on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2elvLolPKfz1cgGuasaGjA

In Episode 28 of the Blue Door Podcast, we focus on innovation. We are joined by Karl Turner, Solutions Architect designer from Virgin Media O2’s The Lab, to discuss how to foster a culture of innovation, and the questions businesses need to ask. 

View all our Blue Door Expo 2020 content on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2elvLolPKfz1cgGuasaGjA

In Episode 27 of the Blue Door Podcast, we focus on transportation. As COP26 continues this week, we are joined by David Owens from Virgin Media O2's "The Lab" to look at how technology can provide a positive force for helping meet some of the sustainability objectives individuals and organisations are eager to achieve. 

View all our Blue Door Expo 2020 content on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2elvLolPKfz1cgGuasaGjA

In Episode 26 of the Blue Door Podcast, as part of our future of work series, we look beyond the discussions already happening around desk based working, and focus instead on what's being done to adopt the same mindset and thinking to help accelerate field based workers using technologies that will support efficiencies, productivity and improvements in health and safety.

We are joined by Ant Morse, Head of Digital Solutions at O2 Business, who discusses the emerging technologies that allow businesses to rethink what their field based workers do and how they do it – as well as the operational efficiencies that will result.

Download our report:
Is your field force evolving to meet current needs?

http://images.connect.o2.co.uk/Web/TELEFONICAUKLIMITEDO2/%7B8a73ed64-3911-490a-aa04-c9c80bc3773e%7D_O2_Future_of_Work_Field_Service.pdf

View all our Blue Door Expo 2020 content on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2elvLolPKfz1cgGuasaGjA

In Episode 25 of the Blue Door Podcast we continue our Lessons for Leaders series, and talk to Paul Asare-Archer, Director of Compliance at Virgin Media O2, who some long time listeners might remember from back in episode 7. As Black History Month comes to one end, we talk directly to Paul about his own story, and the lessons to share about diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.

View the full diversity panel discussion from Blue Door Expo here: https://youtu.be/AxP4Qd6yZZQ

View all our Blue Door Expo 2020 content on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2elvLolPKfz1cgGuasaGjA

As season one of the podcast draws to a close, we’ve been looking back at some of the highlights from the interviews and discussions we have had over the past six months.

In a super-sized episode we have timecodes and topics listed below for those that want to jump around the episode:

1. Strategic partnerships [00:02:03]
2. The return to the office [00:12:43]
3. The Goal of Net Zero [00:22:00]
4. Smart City Reality [00:31:22]
5. Cyber Security [00:42:29]
6. Women in Tech [00:52:23]

And that's a wrap on this first Season of the Blue Door Podcast brought to you by O2 Business. We'll be back everywhere you find good podcasts from September - so subscribe and be notified as soon as new episodes become available.

More detail about this episode:

00:02:03: Back in Episode 4, we considered the value of strategic partnerships - when our CEO Mark Evans met up with Paul Pomroy, CEO of McDonald’s UK and Ireland. Mark asked Paul what these past months have been like for McDonalds.

00:12:43: In Episode 6, we discussed the workplace of the future with my colleague Chris Early, Estates and Development Manager at Telefónica. I asked Chris what he thought were the key areas that every business should be considering as many of us start to return to the office.

00:22:00: In Episode 10 I discussed Climate Change, and the goal of Net Zero. I started by asking Tracey Herald, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at O2, what Nert Zero actually means.

00:31:22: In Episode 12 we turned our attention to Smart Cities - and eavesdropped onto a panel discussion from Blue Door Expo in October 2020. The panel included:

• Robert Franks, Managing Director of West Midlands 5G
• Steve Rose, Executive Partner at Bell Labs Consulting
• Alastair McMahon, Commercial Director – Smart Cities, Health and Mobility at O2
• Laila Takeh, Digital Strategy and Innovation Senior Manager at 5prinG.

00:42:29: For Episode 14, we turned our attention to Cyber Security - and joined another panel discussion from Blue Door Expo.

This time our panel included:

• Phil Donnelly, Detective Chief Inspector, Derbyshire Police
• Nick Dawson, Global Head of B2B Solutions, Samsung
• Marcel Van Der Heijden, Lead Partner Deep Tech, Speed Invest
• Patricia Nicola, Head of Venture Development and Partnerships, Wayra

00:52:23: In Episode 22, we focused on Women in Tech. I was delighted to meet up with Jo Wimble-Groves a couple of weeks ago. As well as being the co-founder of Active Digital, she’s also a Mum, blogger, supporter of women in leadership and technology, and focused on helping young girls get involved in a STEM syllabus.

I asked Jo about how Active Digital was planning to adapt their working culture now that many are starting to return to the office.

Want even more?

Access our Future of Work series whitepapers here:

• People: Freedom, flexibility and fulfilment: Re-imaging work in the age of the dynamic workforce
• Places: Talent, tools and space: New workplace strategies for a dynamic working world
• Technology: AI, automation and collaboration: Why tomorrow’s talent is human + digital

Our market research on The Future of Work:

• Dynamic working: the research

View all our Blue Door Insight content on YouTube here

Blue Door Awards - register your interest

This week, we focus on highlights from the conversations we've had around desk-based work force strategies.

As doors to office buildings start to be opened, employees and employers have to make choices about what's going to be best for productivity, efficiency and staff well-being.  

This episode provides a rapid fire approach to looking at the 3 key areas needing your attention today: people, places and technology.

This week's guests:

Chris Early - Estates and Development Manager at Telefonica. 

Twitter: @chriscearly
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chearly

Lucy Clayton, Head of Business Thought Leadership Marketing at O2

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyclaytonmarketingspecialist/

Ant Morse - Head of Digital Solutions at O2. 

Twitter: @AntMorseUK
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antmorse

David Cornwell - Head of Solutions at O2 Business. 

Twitter: @dcornwell81

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpcornwell

Want more?

Access our Future of Work series whitepapers here:

• People: Freedom, flexibility and fulfilment: Re-imaging work in the age of the dynamic workforce
• Places: Talent, tools and space: New workplace strategies for a dynamic working world
• Technology: AI, automation and collaboration: Why tomorrow’s talent is human + digital

Our market research on The Future of Work:

• Dynamic working: the research

View all our Blue Door Insight content on YouTube here

Blue Door Awards - register your interest