The construction sector contributes hugely to global CO2 emissions and this is something the industry is currently doing its utmost to address. One solution is the refurbishment and retrofit of existing buildings.

Health is wealth. What does that actually mean? There are lots of interpretations of this phrase and it is the topic I’ll be addressing when I step onto the virtual global stage at Expo 2020 Dubai. Healthcare and science have never been more in front of the public mind as they have been in the past two years. Society has a greater understanding of the link between science and disease and the benefits to the patients, the NHS and the wider economy of diagnosing and treating diseases more effectively.

What’s the best business advice you’ve ever had? Mine was: “Work is a thing you do, not a place you go”. I heard this from Gordon Thomson, one of our technology clients, of Cisco in 2006, who opened my mind to the possibility of remote working in our first year of Perceptive. Little did I know then how instrumental it would be, both in growing our business and throughout the pandemic. While others had to shift their way of working, we were already well prepared and used to working from home so adapted very easily.

Over the last 35 years working in the technology sector, I have often been one of only a small number of women in the room. So, I was particularly pleased to Chair an all women panel at a TechEx event in Amsterdam recently. All held senior management positions from the banking, health and aerospace technology sectors. Each is responsible for changing customer experiences through digital innovation.

Whether we are returning to work with a spring in our step or a knot of dread dragging us down, there seems to be no end in sight to this pandemic. Working with leaders in both the private and public sectors, the organisational challenges since March 2020 have been relentless. Uncertainty looms large in so many aspects of our lives. As leaders, these individuals are vital to helping everyone cope with so much uncertainty and importantly for our organisations to emerge positively from the pandemic.

By the time the Quality Street tin is empty and the last of the empty bottles has been squeezed into the recycling bin, most people will have made some resolution about getting healthy. And under the current restrictions the easiest way to do that is to pull on your trainers and head out the door.

The festive season is a time when many of us will pause to reflect on our lives at work and at home. For most of us, our homes have been a haven like never before. Many of us have also spent most of our working hours at home. It’s been such a challenging time, but can you imagine how much more difficult life would be if you had no home?

Perceptive Communicators is celebrating three new contract wins with clients Discovery Park, Precision Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre and The Akela Group.

Glasgow has no shortage of public art and the people who live in Scotland’s largest city are certainly not shy in sharing their opinions of them.

The Running Clock sculpture created by the late George Wyllie, the cube shaped clock atop of giant legs at Buchanan Bus Station, is just one of many sculptures that have sparked lots of opinion and conversation over the years but holds George Wyllie’s ethos of ‘art being for everyone’ at its heart.

After the shut-downs, materials shortages and lack of skilled workers that have challenged the housebuilding industry over the last 18 months, Scotland is going to have to play catch-up in order to meet essential house building targets. But in the rush to build there has to be a recognition of what it takes to make a great development.

Having spent the better part of my childhood moving from country to country, I am well accustomed to transition - or so I thought.

To say the pandemic has shifted the way we work and live would be a colossal understatement. Organisations are now faced with the challenges of having to adapt to “the new normal” and striking a delicate balance between safeguarding employee physical and mental health, whilst maintaining productivity and team spirit. This is no mean feat in the current climate - the Royal Society for Public Health found 67% of people reported feeling less connected to colleagues after switching to remote working.

Astley Ainslie Community Trust (AACT) will be going out to public consultation with its plans for this historic site in Edinburgh in the new year. Since the money to develop the site was gifted to the city by David Ainslie more than a century ago, this hospital in The Grange and its landscape have been associated with an understanding that there is healing to be found in green spaces and access to nature.

At Simpsons, we are incredibly grateful for the support we receive from the business community throughout the year. One of the most important days in our charity calendar happens tomorrow [17 Nov], World Prematurity Day. This date shines a spotlight on the special issues facing babies born prematurely, while celebrating the increasing number of babies who survive and go on to live fulfilling and active lives despite their challenging start in life.

With COP26 into its second week, sustainability and net zero remain high on everyone’s agenda. However, long before the UN’s climate change conference, Brewster Bros took a more sustainable approach to construction waste. Since 2018, we have helped the construction industry save over 500,000 tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation waste from landfill. From waste we have created more than 400,000 tonnes of recycled products and prevented 12,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions from being leaked into the atmosphere. Importantly, this has also helped customers save over £1.3m on landfill tax and £800,000 on the aggregates levy.

Award-winning Glasgow-based communications consultancy Perceptive Communicators has strengthened its team with three new appointments, one promotion and the creation of a new PR & Communications Manager post which is now being advertised.

Choosing what to study at university was one of the biggest decisions I made in my youth. Faced with the dilemma of choosing subjects I loved or a degree that would get me a job, I decided not to compromise and chose to study Structural and Architectural Engineering at the University of Strathclyde - an institution that promised to be ‘a place of useful learning’.

A 10-year anniversary for an organisation provides an ideal opportunity to reflect on its achievements but also to think about what lies ahead and how to prepare for it. However, 10 years ago no-one could have predicted the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for resilience and the ability to think the unthinkable. That requires an organisation to step back from day-to-day issues, irrespective of how important they may seem, and take a strategic overview. No part of the organisation is better placed to do that than a board.

Six years on from Paris and the world is still getting warmer. We are now seeing first-hand the impact of climate change - the floods and fires alone are biblical. However, the number of innovative solutions and sense of urgency brings hope and optimism as Glasgow prepares to host COP26.

In less than three weeks’ time, the eyes of the world will be on Glasgow when Scotland’s largest city hosts the prestigious COP26 summit. World leaders, negotiators and journalists will be amongst the 25,000 people who arrive en masse for the most important climate change conference there has ever been.

The clamour to be associated with COP26, or even to make unrelated announcements during the event, brings risks which are worth considering carefully.