Point72 Asset Management London - 06

Workplace Consultancy

Every workplace tells a story about how a business actually operates. Workplace consultancy is the process of reading that story clearly, using real data rather than gut instinct, so you can make confident decisions about your office space before committing to a design, a fit out, or a relocation.

THE INTELLIGENCE BEHIND THE CONSULTANCY

Led by Someone Who Has Run Workplaces

Mike Walley
Workplace Intelligence

Most workplace consultancy is sold by people who have spent their careers inside design agencies. Ours is led by someone who spent 25 years on the other side of the table.

Mike spent a quarter of a century with global technology companies, creating and operating workplaces around the world – from lease strategy and office design through to the daily operational reality of running them.

He has made the decisions he advises on. That end-user perspective and deep experience changes what our consultancy offers. It’s not just advise, it’s imparting years of experience about what works and what doesn’t and the those behavioural economics tricks of the workplace that most people see but never quite capture and codify.

We do not start from what would be interesting to design.
We start from what you will have to live with, operate and justify for the length of the lease.

Mike Walley

CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN ASSUMPTION AND REALITY

Why Workplace Consultancy Matters

  • 1It Looks at Your Two Biggest Costs – People are typically the single largest cost in any organisation. The workspace they occupy is the second largest. Despite that, many businesses make significant property and design decisions based on assumptions that haven’t been tested. Workplace consultancy ensures those decisions are grounded in evidence, not habit.
  • 2It Challenges Outdated Assumptions – A team that was in the office five days a week three years ago might now operate on a hybrid pattern. The meeting rooms that seemed essential in 2019 might sit empty for half the week while informal breakout areas are oversubscribed. A consultancy exercise surfaces these shifts so your workspace reflects how people actually work today.
  • 3It Puts Evidence Over Guesswork – Workplace consultancy closes the gap between assumption and reality. It provides a structured, evidence-based understanding of how your office is actually being used, how your people feel about their environment, and where the most impactful improvements can be made. That means every recommendation is backed by real data, not just opinion.
  • 4It Gives You the Confidence to Act – Whether you are preparing for a relocation, rethinking an existing space, or simply trying to justify the case for change to the board, the data and insight from a workplace consultancy exercise gives you the confidence to act. You move forward knowing the business case is solid.

THE CASE FOR EVIDENCE-BASED DECISIONS

The Numbers Behind the Need

The problem is no longer empty offices. It is offices built for a different working week – and the mismatch between the two is measurable.

44.1%

Record UK Office Occupancy

The highest weekly occupancy Remit Consulting has recorded since the pandemic, set in late January 2026. Offices are refilling – the question is whether yours is the right shape for it. Source: Remit Consulting, January 2026

25%

Desks Completely Unused Daily

A quarter of all desks go completely unused on a given day, and 65% are occupied for under three hours. Without utilisation data you cannot see where the waste sits. Source: XY Sense Workplace Utilization Index, Q4 2025 + Q1 2026

55%

Occupiers Seeking More Space

Savills data shows 55% of Central London occupiers are actively seeking to increase their footprint. Getting the brief right before you commit has never been more important. Source: Savills Central London Office Market Watch, Q3 2025

94%

Meetings of Six or Fewer

94% of meetings involve six people or fewer, and 68% just one or two. Boardrooms built for twelve are being used for solo video calls. Consultancy finds these mismatches before you design around them. Source: XY Sense Workplace Utilization Index, Q4 2025 + Q1 2026

PRACTICAL RESEARCH, NOT GLOSSY REPORTS

What Our Workplace Consultancy Covers

Our approach is practical rather than theoretical. We are not interested in producing glossy reports that sit in a drawer. We want to give you information that directly shapes better decisions about your workspace. Here is how we do that.

  • 1
    Space Utilisation Analysis — We assess how your existing office space is performing. This includes occupancy studies across different zones, time-of-day analysis to identify peak demand patterns, and a detailed review of how specific areas—desks, meeting rooms, collaboration zones and quiet spaces—are actually being used versus how they were intended to be used. The output is a clear picture of where space is being wasted, where bottlenecks are forming and where you have capacity you didn’t know about.
  • 2
    Employee Engagement and Feedback — Numbers tell you what is happening. Your people tell you why. We conduct employee surveys and targeted workshops to understand how staff feel about their working environment, what supports their productivity and what gets in the way. This qualitative feedback is essential because it surfaces the issues that occupancy sensors alone cannot detect, from acoustic problems and temperature complaints to cultural friction around desk-sharing or a lack of suitable spaces for focused work.
  • 3
    Ways of Working Review — Hybrid working has changed the rhythm of the office for most organisations. We examine your current policies and the reality of how teams operate across the week, looking at which departments are in the office on which days, how collaboration patterns have shifted and whether your technology infrastructure supports the way people actually work. This review helps you move beyond blanket policies towards a workspace that flexes around genuine working patterns.
  • 4
    Workplace Strategy Development — All of this research feeds into a workplace strategy document that translates findings into clear, actionable recommendations. This might include guidance on optimal desk-to-person ratios, zoning recommendations for different work modes, adjacency planning for teams that need to collaborate closely and furniture specifications that support the activities identified in the research phase. The strategy becomes your brief, whether you are working with K2 Space on the design and build or taking the findings to another provider.

— CONSULTANCY IN PRACTICE

How Understanding the Workplace Shaped Our Projects

Every project below started with a question about how people actually work. The consultancy phase shaped the brief, and the brief shaped the outcome.

PJT Partners London Mayfair office fit out

Mayfair · 48,000 sq ft

FINANCIAL ADVISORY

PJT Partners

Mayfair, W1 · 48,000 sq ft · Design & Build + Furniture

Understanding PJT’s need to encourage post-pandemic return-to-office informed the entire design direction. Stakeholder workshops revealed that community spaces and premium finishes would do more to bring people back than mandates. The result was a headquarters built around social connection, state-of-the-art technology, and an environment people genuinely want to be in.

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Dentsu Edinburgh office fit out by K2 Space

Edinburgh · Listed Building

MEDIA & ADVERTISING

Dentsu

The Stamp Office, Edinburgh · 7,000 sq ft · Design & Build + FF&E

A ways of working review revealed that multiple Dentsu brands were operating in silos despite sharing the same floor. The “One Dentsu” concept emerged directly from that research, leading to open collaboration zones, modular meeting spaces, and a mezzanine client lounge designed to bring separate teams together under one culture.

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US investment firm London office fit out — Mayfair

Mayfair · Mix Awards Finalist

INVESTMENT

US Investment Firm

Mayfair, W1 · 2,450 sq ft · Design & Build

At just 2,450 sq ft, every square foot had to earn its place. Space analysis showed that the team needed a discreet “vault” meeting room for confidential client discussions alongside flexible working areas. The consultancy phase turned a compact footprint into a workspace that punches well above its size. Mix Interiors Awards 2025 finalist.

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Netflix London office workspace by K2 Space

Multi-city · 60,000 sq ft

TECHNOLOGY & ENTERTAINMENT

Netflix

London, Paris, Madrid · 60,000 sq ft · Furniture Consultancy & FF&E

A multi-city furniture programme that required understanding distinct working cultures across three European offices. Consultancy with local teams in each city identified different needs around privacy, collaboration, and teaming. The result was a consistent furniture framework that flexed to reflect how each office actually operates.

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