Air, Light and Chairs Can Impact Productivity
Believe it or not, company productivity can get stimulated by an employee’s surroundings, right on down to the chairs. At least that’s the theory of one fast-growing British subprime lender.
Duncton Group’s Moneybarn says its new 20,000 sq. ft. building is especially designed to suit its flow of business and allow for optimum interaction between teams. The better flow, company leaders say, allows employees to further improve the service the lender is able to provide customers and business partners, according to Motor Finance.
Moneybarn says the building has been outfitted with the comfort of its staff in mind. “The three things I’ve focused on in terms of staff are air, light, and chairs,” manager Peter Minter said. “So we got people good chairs, they can breathe good air, and they can see what they are doing, and they are comfortable all day.”
Moneybarn was founded in 1992 in the back room of a car salesroom. It’s new space will allow it to grow to more than 150 employees in the next few years, from the 90 it has currently.
Moneybarn spent the past nine years in a converted 15th-century barn, and four years ago expanded into another converted building, a Victorian railway station. After a two-month refit, the new building has more than enough space to accommodate Moneybarn’s existing staff.
Following the old adage that a happy workforce is a productive workforce, the firm feels that the move will be a springboard to even greater success. The business has met all its objectives, exceeded targets across sales and new business, and has made profit before tax for 2013 of £5.9 million ($10.1 million). In 2012, profit was just more than £1 million ($1.7 million).
See what a few new chairs can do?
