Bridgehouse introduces term time working and hires overseas
February 2023

The school half term is over and for many parents Monday marked the return to work, but does that still mean heading for the office? Increasingly that is not the case.
Indeed, anyone in any doubt about the need for flexibility from employers only needs to check out recent research about attitudes towards hybrid working among staff.
Nearly three-quarters of London’s workers said they would rather quit their jobs than return to the office full-time, a Bloomberg Intelligence survey of 500 office workers revealed, with many demanding inflation-busting pay hikes in order to give up their right to flexible working.
Employees in the capital are confident in their bargaining power amid a tight labour market and the widespread adoption of working-from-home following the pandemic. In all, 73% said they would seek alternative employment if told to work five days a week on-site. Four in 10 would need a raise of at least 16% to reconsider.
Not surprisingly, London businesses are shrinking their office footprints as a result and giving up traditional long leases as the pandemic-induced shift to flexible working settles in. A quarter of companies are downsizing office holdings and a further 18% are opting for co-working and flexible office spaces, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Hybrid working and the best way to allow the Bridgehouse team to have a good work/life balance has been something we considered and implemented well before the pandemic made it more widely accepted.
The company has always had flexible working, with some colleagues choosing to work from home. However, it is important that as the company grows and includes colleagues from outside the UK we continue to adapt and find solutions that work for all, and never more so now that we have become a B Corp
Flexible Working For SMEs
As with most SMEs, we are looking for solutions that are best for the business and the people working within it.
That quest has seen Bridgehouse facilitate one of our staff working in Barbados for six months as part of the country’s overseas workers visa initiative and more recently we have added team members in Malaysia and Athens, as we bring in specialised skills from all corners of the world.
Our team members have the choice about whether to work in our City office, from home or with their clients and, from the start of the year, one of our team took that further by formalising an arrangement that had been something of a de facto situation last year.
“The Bridgehouse management came to me to ask if I would like to formally shift to term time working,” says Bridgehouse consultant Lizzie Purewal. “For me that offers the ideal balance. My children are only young once and it gives me the opportunity to spend the time I want with them, while at the same time managing my workload and ensuring that I have colleagues available to cover work and support clients.”
Lizzie adds that the ability to plan ahead and the team-focused working arrangements at Bridgehouse means that she no longer has to worry about “juggling family and work during such an important time in their lives” and says it “provides the perfect balance for me”.
Flexible working at Bridgehouse
Bridgehouse director Ibi Eso says that the company has always advocated for as much flexibility for its workers as possible and that with the Bridgehouse workforce expanding rapidly over the past 12 months, the business has made it a priority to find the best ways of retaining and attracting top quality company secretaries and governance professionals to the company.
“For me, given that we promote the idea of flexibility and workplace wellbeing with our customers, it has always been incredibly important that we also live by those same principles,” says Ibi. “Working through the process of becoming a B Corp also really focused our minds on what it means to be a good employer and our long-term objectives.”
She is also in no doubt that such approaches pay dividends for the company and clients.
“Right now, many companies are having challenges recruiting the top talent as in-house or consultant company secretaries. By establishing a reputation as a flexible company that works with our colleagues to find the best individual work solutions for them, we have been able to create a fantastic and experienced team,” she adds.

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