This blog has been developed in collaboration with Nick Hilton, Partner, Retail and Leisure, Property Management at Workman LLP. With Nick’s expertise, it explores how retail bricks and mortar can raise standards to build trust and loyalty with consumers, and why now is the perfect time to do it.

It has long been the reputation of the marketing, communications and PR industries that they help (property) clients tell fanciful stories, giving them ‘Spin’ so others view their businesses and their projects in a favourable light.

This blind-advocacy may have accurately described the work of the past but PR and communications have changed and storytelling is underpinned by truthful engagement – or at least it should be.

Using text messaging as a way to conduct business seems inappropriate. Yet personal relationships combined with the breaking down of barriers between professional and personal communication are increasing its use in the workplace.

Employees are messaging internally and externally more than ever. Employers need to make these channels part of their communication strategy to take advantage of the benefits and manage the risks.

Flexible working has become a catch-all phrase to communicate changes in the workplace but employers and employees need to be aligned in what this flexible looks like.

The shared internal experiences and daily exposure to company values and behaviours reinforce corporate culture and identity. Over the past 12 months, companies have been dismantled and their most valuable asset distributed across the UK. As one insights respondent described it, “it’s as if the arms, legs and head of an organism have been all over the place.”

Download the report to find a full overview of insights from the businesses leaders across the built environment who contributed to the report.

Are you a business leader without an online presence? During this time of great challenge, your employees, clients and peers are using digital and social to build a bigger and more engaged community; it has never been a more important time to be part of the conversation. Communication trends already show that those leaders with strong profiles are good for business, a nation working from home will only quicken the pace of change in the way we engage all with each other.

With the majority of non-key worker employees now working remotely for what looks to be weeks at the very least, it is more important than ever to strengthen company engagement to avoid them feeling disconnected. Corporate identity or company culture; whatever term an organisation uses to describe its values and character it takes years to develop and time and effort to maintain.

Today, the design, function and safety of our buildings are under scrutiny. With society’s continued scepticism towards developers, the brands that have purpose and want to make a difference need to talk to those beyond their own industry. Biting at their heels are household brands Amazon and Google who are building relationships with society and busy exploring how to build prefabricated homes.

Alongside reports, companies will need to provide a narrative; to create statements and offer clarification that articulates disparities and sets their data within a truthful context; they need to know how to communicate the final report to their employees and their clients. Most business care what people think about them, it’s called reputation, and many fear the repercussions of their imminent Pay Gap Reporting.