For several years, the charity Arthritis Research UK leased space in two Victorian terraced buildings in Portland Place, near London’s Oxford Circus. The two premises were owned by separate landlords, and one was on the fourth floor while the other was on a ground floor and in a basement. Although the postcode was prestigious, neither office was ideal for the charity’s needs and the arrangement did not lend itself to a collaborative working approach.

As the leases were approaching renewal, in January 2016 the charity decided to consult staff about what they wanted from their workspace, including using external support to facilitate staff surveys and focus groups. The upshot was that employees wanted an environment that had four key attributes: it needed to be flexible, collaborative, inclusive and it must support employee health and wellbeing, particularly musculoskeletal (MSK) health. The existing offices could not tick these boxes, so new premises had to be found. This decision heralded the start of the Flex programme, which went beyond the property development function to design new ways of working that would promote employee health and wellbeing.