Anywhere Working Consortium launches online portal

LONDON, UK – 16th January, 2012 – The Anywhere Working Consortium today unveiled an online portal (www.anywhereworking.org) that will help UK organisations adopt more flexible working practices. The portal will serve as a resource for employers and employees alike, offering training, guidance, case studies and product offers from the consortium, whose members include Business in the Community (BITC), Microsoft, Nokia, Nuffield, Regus and Vodafone UK. The initiative is supported by the Department for Transport (DfT), Transport for London (TfL) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

The online portal is the first step by the consortium in delivering tools and advice that will help British organisations understand the benefits of flexible working. Through its efforts, the consortium will drive awareness in the build up to Anywhere Working Week, commencing 27th February, 2012. During this week, the consortium will provide additional guidance to organisations seeking to learn more about flexible working, as well as celebrate those that have actively supported the initiative.

The Anywhere Working Consortium was unveiled in November 2011 by Transport Minister, Norman Baker MP. Its purpose is to help organisations drive greater productivity and efficiency, reduce employee stress and absenteeism, lower carbon emissions from travelling and compete in an economically challenging environment. The initiative aims to secure 30,000 supporters of this new way of working, with a total audience reach of 300,000.

The Anywhere Working portal has been created to provide employers and employees with guidance on how to work smarter, including the promotion of alternatives to travel. Organisations can also measure how time, money and carbon energy they can save by working more flexibly by entering information into the portal’s Savings Calculator.

Transport Minister Norman Baker said: "It’s simply not necessary for us to always trudge to and from meetings when modern technology allows you to circumnavigate the globe virtually from the comfort of your front room, local coffee shop or when you’re on the move. Working flexibly by using video conferences, webinars or cloud computing can help increase productivity as well as employee wellbeing, not to mention dramatically reducing our carbon footprint. This interactive portal can help businesses reap these rewards."

"It’s no longer viable for businesses to stick to rigid, inefficient ways of working if they want to compete successfully in the market," said Gordon Frazer, Managing Director at Microsoft UK. "We’ve already received fantastic feedback from people who want to learn how to work in a more dynamic and collaborative environment, anytime, anywhere. We encourage businesses to get involved as we continue to build up to the Anywhere Working Week starting on 27th February."

Business in the Community Chief Executive Stephen Howard commented: "Business in the Community encourages its members as responsible businesses to reduce the amount of carbon generated by business travel as well as offering flexible working practices. Commuting accounts for around a fifth of all miles travelled to say nothing of the time lost to business and the impact on employees’ quality of life and work life balance. Supporting Anywhere Working is a way that responsible employers can save money and carbon and support their workforce."

Peter Kelly, Director of Enterprise from Vodafone UK, commented: "Finding better ways of working can support businesses to be more agile, flexible and responsive and find a real competitive edge. Where work is done isn’t nearly as important as how efficiently and effectively it’s done. Empowering people to work from anywhere, anytime, rather than tying them to a fixed location is win-win for both employers and employees. In fact, our research shows that seven out of ten managers think the idea of the 9 to 5 work day is disappearing in favour of more flexible working practices. We encourage businesses and employees to use the Anywhere Working online portal to discover the opportunities that exist through changing the way they work."

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Notes to Editors

About the Anywhere Working consortium

The aim of the Anywhere Working Consortium is to educate, promote and encourage participation in flexible working practices. The guidance and activities from the Anywhere Working Consortium and its members will illustrate the efficiency and productivity benefits of a more flexible approach, as well as help to reduce the burden on transport infrastructure and the impact travelling has on the environment.

PR contacts

For BITC: Ochuko Adekoya, ochuko.adekoya@bitc.org.uk, 020 7566 8758

For DfT: Lauren Psyk, lauren.psyk@dft.gsi.gov.uk, 020 7944 4342

For Microsoft: Simon Johns, simon.johns@bitecommunications.com, 020 8735 9740

For Regus: Henry Collinge, henry.collinge@regus.com, 01784 898125

For Vodafone UK: Jo Smith, jo.smith@vodafone.com, 01635 666777