The UK is gearing up for its next set of elections where, on 5 May, voters will head to polling stations. In England, the outcome of local and mayoral elections will be decided, and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will be elected to the Stormont. In Scotland and Wales, the makeup of councils will be determined in local elections.

Homeworking or a combination of work split between home and office is here to stay. All the evidence points to the hybrid work pattern remaining, and indeed growing for the foreseeable future. Home is indeed the new office.

In our lifetime, one in two of us will hear those three little words ‘You have cancer’. It’s a life changing, devastating moment in time, no matter if you are a wealthy CEO or barely started school.

I have been in and around building sites since I was a boy and have worked, and continue to work in all sectors of the architecture/construction industry (large and small). So, it might seem rather surprising that even after more than 30 years in the sector, as an architect and also as a developer, I am still thrilled and excited when I see our design, planning and building know-how crystallise in a new housing development.

As inflation rises beyond six per cent, the soaring cost of living is becoming a real crisis. Many of our tenants at Albyn Housing Society were last week looking for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to use his Spring Statement to announce measures to reduce living costs rather than installing a price cap that keeps energy prices at rates that some people already cannot pay.

The pandemic, a renewed focus on climate change following COP26, and the growing interest in ESG (environment, social and governance) credentials are all contributing to our changing world of work.

Scotland’s construction industry carries a huge responsibility. Not only is it being called upon to deliver up to 25,000 new homes annually to meet current demand, but it also has a significant part to play in lowering the country’s carbon footprint and helping it to meet ambitious environmental targets.

As we prepare to celebrate International Women’s Day this year, I am still glowing with pride having watched the Scottish women that came, curled and conquered at the recent Beijing Olympics. I also remember the 15,000 women who took to the streets of New York over a century ago demanding better working conditions, inaugurating this day to celebrate women.

On the back of the Pandemic, life sciences are riding high. The speed at which vaccines have been developed and supply chains built has shown the potential and agility of this sector. Last year the UK’s biotech industries attracted £4.5bn in funding – a rise of £1.7bn on the 2020 figure, with Venture Capital companies, who historically were nervous of the risks involved, now investing at record levels.

After two years of uncertainty, charities are hoping that 2022 will bring more stability to the sector. Like every business in the UK, fundraising organisations have had to adapt to the constantly-changing landscape as the country has shut down, re-opened and shut down again in successive waves.

The race to achieve net-zero emissions targets is on and decarbonising the transport sector - as Scotland’s largest source of emissions - heavily depends on the mass rollout of electric vehicles, and crucially, the availability and prowess of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

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.