Tags: Facilities Management, Happiness, Workplace wellness

World FM Day 2018: Enabling Positive Experiences

It’s #WorldFMDay – Hurrah! We’re joining in the celebrations and recognition of Facilities Management (FM) people and projects that enable positive experiences. Some of our biggest clients are FM companies and BIFM members, so we know a thing or two about helping get things right for you and your clients.

In today’s world our cities are so built up and our environments often claustrophobic and bland so it’s more important than ever that we work together to create welcoming, feel-good spaces to enable businesses (and people) to thrive.

What could be more suitable than floristry and green planting to bring positive changes to the built environment? Planteria Group has 40 years of experience working with FM companies providing planting and floristry services to suit your budget. Even if you’re already working with another planting provider, we’re confident we can go above and beyond to meet your requirements. If you’re considering us, why not request a no-obligation free quote?

5 Positive Benefits of Planting for the Built Environment:

1) Soften the interior and/or exterior of your business, providing psychological benefits such as positive effects on reducing stress and promoting health and well-being. As humans we have an innate desire to be connected to nature, also known as biophilia, and it seems we have lost much of this ability to be in the natural world as our cities and work environments have become absorbed by the concrete jungle. By adding a variety of plants and flowers for businesses we suddenly bring back a part of the nature that we crave.

2) Increase productivity, creativity and happiness. It is proven that a vibrant, welcoming environment has positive effects on the speed at which we work and improves mood. Studies show that employees who are exposed to plants within the workplace, actively engage with their surroundings, are more productive and have a more positive outlook at work.

3) Make spaces more welcoming and inviting for employees, visitors and clients. Having a space that is pleasant to be in and beckons to visitors has a positive effect on businesses and improves perception of their image. Plants and flowers bring life to a space and boosts eco-credentials too.

4) Improve air quality and reduce allergens by cleansing the air. As shown in NASA’s Clean Air Study, plants provide a natural way of removing toxins from the air and also reduces the presence of aggravating allergens. NASA researchers suggest efficient air cleaning is accomplished with at least one plant per 100 square feet of home or office space.

5) Reduce sickness and absence at work. Combining all of the points above results in reduced illness and time away from work, increasing the overall effectiveness of businesses and staff wellbeing. One of the most common illnesses in today’s workplace is Sick Building Syndrome which is often linked to poor air quality and indoor air circulation which can easily be combated with a variety of planting solutions.

A recent Norwegian research study tested what happened when plants were placed into and then removed from offices. When plants were present headaches, coughs, sore throats, fatigue and dry skin all reduced. Several similar studies around the world have found similar results:

Absenteeism reduced by 30%+
Minor illnesses reduced by up to 30%
Dry skin reduced by up to 20%
Coughing reduced by up 37% due to improved air quality

Interested in how we can offer similar improvements for you?

Have a look at some of our Creative Planting Innovations & our Nationwide Orchid Delivery Service.

Tags: Happiness, Nature & Environment, Workplace wellness

Celebrating National Parks Week

Xnewsthumbresizex481

There are many things associated with the UK: tea that solves a multitude of ills, rain that never ceases and queuing that is a national sport in itself. Yet this sceptered isle is also renowned for its green spaces and as such boasts an astonishing fifteen National Parks across the nation.

This month, a week-long calendar of events is taking place to celebrate our National Parks and encourage us to get out and explore them.

From Sunday 22nd to Sunday 29th July a range of activities that the whole family can get involved in will be taking place up and down the country and here at Planteria Group we take a look at what’s going on and why you should get involved.

A Walk on the Wildside

Amongst the many studies that support the theory of the benefits that nature has on our mental health as well as our physical well-being, there is increasing focus on how interaction with animals influences this too.

With that in mind, the wildlife-friendly events organised as part of this week-long festival provide the perfect opportunity to get involved.

If you’re local to Exmoor, why not join the Evening Deer Search for a two-hour walk over three miles looking for the Red Deer at the Exmoor National Park on Tuesday 24th July starting at 7pm? Naturally shy beasts, it might be worth taking binoculars to ensure you catch a glimpse, but no dogs please!

A herd of red deer in a field, there is a tree in the background and a stag is looking up towards the camera

Earlier on in the same day, the Yorkshire Dales National Park hosts a Secret Squirrel event in which a specialist guide will show you how to look for the squirrels and other wildlife that make the peaceful woods their home. Being a gentle afternoon stroll covering just a mile and a half, this is an ideal event for young and old alike.

Treasure Hunters

A fantastic family event takes place on the Thursday of National Parks Week on the Cleveland Way National Trail, part of the North York Moors National Park. Taking around two hours to complete and costing five pounds per family, this fun Geocaching activity involves using a GPS unit provided as part of the event to locate clues that have been hidden in boxes. What’s more, as long as your dogs are on a short lead, they are welcome to help sniff out the clues!

The little ones can take charge with the Young Explorers Smugglers’ Treasure Hunt – with one nearly every day of the event – and use their smugglers’ map to search for hidden treasure, meeting at the Danby centre.

Two young girls cuddling and looking happy infront of rock wall and fallen leaves in a national park

Getting Active

If you fancy something more physical, the Run ‘n’ Park event at Balloch on Saturday 28th July might just be for you; with a 2k and a 5k course marked out taking in the stunning, iconic views of Loch Lomond and with no official recording of times, you can take this event at your own pace and enjoy the great outdoors.

The kids can get involved at the New Forest National Park on each day of the festival on the Holiday Adventure Days. With activities throughout the whole day that they can enjoy, you can guarantee they’ll have a good night’s sleep after all that fun.

Getting Crafty

If you’re more of a hands-on type of person, there are plenty of great events for you to take advantage of. From dry-stone walling, letter-carving and archery to machine embroidery, there’s plenty of opportunity to learn a new skill in beautiful outdoor settings. Take a look at the diary of events to find an activity near you.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for an official week of events to enjoy our National Parks – nor are you only restricted to visiting a National Park to reap the benefits of spending time outdoors amongst nature.

Dr Andrea Mechelli of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at Kings College London, acknowledges that whilst it has long been understood that there is a positive link between contact with nature and health – in particular mental health – the lack of ability to gather qualitative data has led to little compelling evidence to support this.

With this in mind, he collaborated with the developers of an app called Urban Mind which tracked users’ movements through mobile devices and randomly asked them questions about their feelings and their immediate environment.

Hands holidng ipad showing graphs

The findings were quite staggering, including not only demonstrating this positive link between the outdoors and health but also providing surprising but measurable results in terms of the length of time these positive effects lasted. He found, for example, that a single exposure to nature such as a walk or even time spent in a garden can have beneficial effects lasting up to seven hours.

Woman happily posing for camera holding fallen autumn leaves in what looks like a national park

Additional studies have shown how incorporating a green outdoor space in other settings, such as hospitals and care homes, has had a positive influence on successful outcomes for patients in relation to aiding their ultimate recovery in the case of the former and their improved well-being whilst being cared for in both circumstances.

So, the recent trend for providing an outdoor space in unexpected locations such as offices has been shown to be more than just improving the aesthetics; it can actually have a beneficial emotional impact on employees that can last a whole working day in addition to creating a pleasant environment to take a break and enjoy the visual stimulation, access to vitamin D and peace quiet from the humdrum of an office.

A group of people around meeting table looking happy, there are 3 women and two men, the women and one of the men are looking at the second man who has his side to the camera

Additionally, these spaces provide an easy talking point that enables colleagues to engage with each other naturally thus improving relationships, whilst also providing handy sustenance and shelter for local wildlife.

The good news is that you don’t have to find the room to recreate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in order to do this; any amount of space can accommodate an element of nature, from a small collection of pots planted up with flowers, a green ‘living wall’ to a roof garden hosting low-maintenance plants such as lavenders and other scented butterfly attracting plants.

Here at Planteria Group, we specialise in Corporate Floristry to help organisations to provide green spaces for the benefit both of their employees and their customers so to see how we could help you bring nature closer to home – or rather the workplace – get in touch with us.

Tags: Christmas Trees, Happiness, Workplace

Christmas Infographic! Corporate Party Planning

Xnewsthumbresizex481

Planning the perfect corporate Christmas party can be extremely gratifying, but we also recognise that any business get-together comes with its trials and tribulations. Fortunately, we understand the importance of a professional party and are here to offer our assistance with a beautiful new infographic:

Corporate christmas party infographic

As can be expected, British offices vary in how they celebrate the festive period, so we’ve gathered some facts for you to enjoy here:

86% of organisations will host a Christmas Party!
70% of organisations offer flexible hours during the festive period
55% of employers give their staff gifts
60% of employers don’t ask their teams how they want to celebrate!
51% of organisations share end-of-year results
Above facts sourced from Perkbox.

Of the offices that do host Christmas parties…

25% are expecting an all-expenses paid for occasion
14% will have their event subsidised
15% will receive a Christmas bonus
10% will receive a gift
28% thought their employer could do more for the company at Christmas
Above facts sourced from Onrec.

Also, did you know that Birmingham has the highest Christmas party expenditures per employee on average? A total of £37.06 per employee, compared to Exeter’s £8.76 at the bottom of the table, although other studies place London at the height of Christmas spending, so it all depends who you ask.

In the end, though, it all totals to around £1bn spent nationally by businesses celebrating the festive season.

We hope our infographic has helped you to plan an amazing Christmas this year, but don’t forget to order your Office Christmas Tree with us soon!

Tags: Flowers, Flowers in the Office, Happiness

The Science Behind How Flowers Make Us Feel

Do you feel joy when you are surrounded by flowers and plants? That’s normal! There have been plenty of studies exploring how and why flowers make us feel happy, so we’ve collated some of these studies into this article for your benefit. These findings may also be important for your workplace, especially if you work in hospitality.

10 Months of Research

A ten-month study, titled An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers (2005), considered participants’ behavioural and emotional responses to receiving flowers. Unsurprisingly, the results confirmed that flowers are great for moderating moods. In all age groups, participants were happy to receive the flowers, and this didn’t only occur for the initial gift-giving; the study also recorded that the participants were less depressed or anxious for three days afterwards, too. Let’s think about the effects that this could have on the hospitality industry; keeping flowers present in lobby areas will help to reduce visitor’s stresses if the above research is to be believed. This can be useful in hospitals and hotels alike.

Hospitals

Health care sector providers that allow flowers help to bring peace and calm to their visitors, many of whom will be struggling with high levels of stress. Whilst we don’t expect that the presence of flowers can completely negate the worries that accompany an illness, flowers may make long periods in waiting rooms a little more bearable and accommodating on a subconscious level. Flowers are considered a luxury when given as gifts, but their inherent therapeutic qualities suggest that they should be a necessity for comfort in stressful environments.

Hotels

Hotel lobbies also benefit from the natural reassurance provided by flowers. A visitor’s arrival at a hotel should be stress-free and happy, and the presence of flowers enhances both of these feelings, and also improves the perception of value and luxury. Keeping flowers on the main desk may help with handling any difficulties the guest is experiencing by creating a calming atmosphere. As Dr Haviland-Jones lead researcher of this study, stated: “Flowers bring about positive emotional feelings in those who enter a room. They make the space more welcoming and create a sharing atmosphere.’ At Planteria we offer posy flower arrangements and flowers for restaurants to help make your hotel, bar, or restaurant the best it can be.

Offices

Another place where managers should consider hospitality is in their offices; your staff need some care and attention too! An office decorated with natural elements (also known as biophilic design) is more likely to be a healthier and happier office. Understandably, this also correlates with higher levels of productivity which you can read about in our blog: plants in the office make you 15% more productive. If you’re interested in flowers for offices, please get in touch with us.

More Research…

Dr Haviland-Jones’ study with Rutgers University also found that 88% of people reported that the act of giving the flowers themselves also made them feel happier. This means that flowers have positive effects for all those involved. By this notion, flowers make the perfect gift solutions with benefits for the giver and the receiver, what’s more you can’t get the wrong size, or offend anyone by getting an inappropriate gift (wine for someone you did not know was tee-total for example). We supply gift bouquets , to make it simple and straightforward to say thank you, happy birthday, seasons greetings or for any other occasion you can think of. In the Rutgers University study, it was found that participants who received flowers were more likely to answer positively to social support questions (contacting people, talking intimately).

Flowers and Human Evolution

One of the ideas explored by Dr Haviland-Jones is the idea that flowers have evolved to be seen as rewarding by humans to help with their own survival:

“Just as other plants have evolved to induce varying behavioural responses in a wide variety of species leading to the dispersal or propagation of the plants.”

This may be a side-effect, however. Birds and bees are animals which are both very important for the survival of many plants and flowers in the wild, and both species see in colour vision. This means that flowers with bright colours are more likely to stand out to birds and bees, thus ensuring their propagation. Humans can also see in colour which makes flowers very attractive to us, too. This may mean that our enjoyment of flowers is a result of our shared colour-vision with birds and bees. On the other hand, it is also speculated that the bright colours of blooms signal bountiful harvests, which humans are also likely to take enjoyment from. The two factors could have become historically linked, and now trigger an evolutionary response of happiness in humans worldwide upon receiving flowers.

Give A Bouquet this Christmas

Flowers and natural bright colours can be hard to find during the winter, which is why giving the gift of flowers will be especially effective during the Christmas period. You may even want to gift some to yourself to reward your own efforts over the past year. We can supply you with beautiful gift bouquets, colleagues, family, or for your yourself, as well as regular weekly flowers for your office space. We know that flowers have so much to offer businesses, offices, hotels and clinics, and we can help deliver their benefits to your location. Our professionally trained florists work magic with fresh flowers to ensure you are delighted. Get in touch so we can help you too. CLICK HERE TO CONTACT US