Hi, and welcome to 2021 with The Serviced Accommodation Company. So we’ve got some predictions for the year ahead, and we’d like to tell you how we’re going to be contributing to making your life easier as a work traveller.
So I don’t know how many people think about it, but there’s a huge value added to the economy by people who suffer from mental health problems, and it’s in the region of about
225 billion pounds a year, which is about 12.1% of the GDP of the UK. That’s huge. So the likelihood is it’s approximately one in four people in the UK are working with some form of mental health problem.
That means that either you as an employee working away from home or as an employer. So if your employees are going to be working away from home under additional pressures and stress that work travel brings upon people.
So it’s things such as being separated from loved ones, not having easy access to their daily routine, their regular activities. People away from home tend to drink more alcohol, especially if they’re in a hotel environment, where there’s ready access to a bar on an evening. They don’t tend to eat the same kind of diet that they would eat at home potentially with their family or with their loved ones. They’re out of routines, so they’re not necessarily
doing things like their sports and their hobbies, or even just going for a walk in a place that’s familiar to them.
We think that this is going to make a huge impact on both the productivity of these people and their mental well-being as well.
So about 50% of work travellers say that they get very stressed when they’re working away from home, and another 20% said that it significantly affects their sleep. Sleep is another contributing factor to somebody’s positive mental health.
So what are the components of good mental health? They’re things that we’ve mentioned. It’s being able to talk to people, have that human interaction, and COVID-19 has made that
increasingly difficult. If you go off to a hotel room on an evening you’re there and you’re isolated in your room on your own, and before you’ve got to your room, you’ve been in contact with multiple people, far more than just your own bubble.
We think serviced accommodation is the choice for companies in 2021 who want to look
after both the mental health of and also protect their workforce from COVID-19 as much as possible. That way you can go back to your property, you can be staying with maybe three or four people, you’re in a bubble together, you’ve got somebody to talk to, you’ve got someone to relate to.
You’ve also got your own private bedroom and a bit of space if you need it, but you’re having that human interaction and you’re staying safe while having that human interaction, because it’s people that you’ve formed a bubble with for work. Being in a residential property rather than in a city centre or in an industrial estate or somewhere where these hotels can be if you’re in a residential area, the likelihood is that you’re going to be able to go for a walk. You’re going to be able to hit some green, hit a park, do something that’s really
good for your mental health, and there’s likely to be established runs, cycles, et cetera in that locality.
It also gives you a better chance of eating well. We have fully equipped kitchens in our serviced accommodations, so you’re not relying on takeaways, on junk food, on stuff that’s just easy to cook. We have full cooking equipment available, and if anything wasn’t there and you needed it, we’d happily get it delivered for you. It also offers you the
opportunity to drink sensibly.
It’s easier to stay in touch with people because we have free wifi in all our properties, and just generally, there’s an opportunity in a home environment to take a break.
So that’s why we believe that serviced accommodation is going to be the choice for companies in 2021, for both their mental health and to help support the companies get the most out of their employees by keeping them safe and happy.
Rachael Coates
The Serviced Accommodation Company
www.theservicedaccommodationcompany.com
