Matisse Smarter-Working
The MATISSE One in Five Smarter-Working Challenge |
Smarter working at a time and place of convenience for business, clients and staff benefit.There are 33 million cars in the UK, a rise of 7 million in ten years. For everyone of us driving the average 230 miles a week, 12,000 miles a year, we will each produce 4.2 tonnes of C02 a year. With the pro-active support of all businesses, MATISSE Smarter-Working can reduce these numbers with the corresponding positive effects on productivity, stress levels, quality of life, lower travel costs, air quality and business competitiveness. Our projections suggest that across the South East region as a whole, 1 billion peak-time commute miles per annum can be saved by achieving the programme aim of trebling the number of people who work from home at least one day per week and/or who stagger their working hours. The reduction in peak time traffic volumes this would achieve will be similar to the non school or college-term reductions in congestion we all look forward to today. So, with congestion currently estimated by the RAC Foundation to be costing the UK economy £20 billion per annum, there are major savings and benefits for even the very smallest of Hampshire or SE businesses.
Indeed, the UK suffers Europe’s worst congestion, and traffic accounts for 20% of CO2 emissions. These staggering statistics and their impact on the economy, the environment and our quality of life spell out why there has to be a step change in thinking by individuals and employers alike when it comes to how, when and where we work. The MATiSSE One in Five Challenge! Time to join the growing number of 'smarter working' businesses, who one or more days per week, allow their employees to work from home, work flexible hours or from a loca e-touchdown centre to increase their productivity, improve their well-being and off-set their carbon footprint.
The MATiSSE programme, initiated by SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) stands for Mobile and Teleworking Initiative for a Smarter South East.It is a partnership programme led by the eHampshire Partnership and managed by Hampshire County Council's Economic Development Office. Other MATISSE partners include BT and Business Link (Please see the partners page to learn about the related activities of other members of the partnership and our growing list of specialist service MATiSSE Knowledge-Exchange Partners). The project commenced with a six month pilot study in 2006 that tested and quantified these benefits as well as the anticipated productivity benefits of increased home or mobile teleworking. 100 volunteers from Hampshire County Council and fourteen Hampshire SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises took part in the trial. Click here to download the Pilot study report and the PDF version of the implementation toolkit
|
