On exactly the same day that yet another key supplier of services to the government ran into financial problems, last week saw a speaker from the Cabinet Office tell the Workplace Futures conference that "we need significant cultural change on all sides".

The FM industry does a lot of things really well. What if we added one more to the list that could lift our perception, our value, our reputation?

And that is what's stopping our future talent from joining what one student called a 'hidden industry'. Sienna Emanuel asked a group of students what we need to do.

"May you live in interesting times" is a Chinese curse that we would do well to consider long and hard right now.

A new year is traditionally a cause for celebration, marked by optimism, determination and positive thinking. How long all that lasts, of course, is another matter. And this year there's a question mark over whether any of it even gets started.

Wednesday December 19th will see a debate in the Commons, pushing for the implementation of a mental health first aider in every workplace to help bridge the gap between mental health and physical health care legislation in business.

Last week Mace Macro launched a new report analysing our work environments and uncovering a series of problems, along with associated opportunities for improvement. That set me thinking.

Carl Webb reviews the importance of considering whether a hired climate control arrangement makes more sense than a traditional purchase.

It's a common view in FM these days: we're on the brink of fundamental, widespread change in what we do and how we do it. The driver is clear: rapidly developing technology. But is this really the case?

'Brand' is one of those ideas that can seem a bit too trendy for their own good. Of course this particular concept means something in the fast-paced and increasingly global commercial world; but what's it got to do with real life?

Today is World Values Day, an opportunity to think about the principles that are important to us and to act on them.

It's become a feature of every market survey, every industry conference, every insight report into the discipline: technology is the future of FM. That is certainly true; and it always has been.