There's a new trial going on in businesses big and small across the country- it's allowing people more time off work, but in return workers are expected to be more productive than ever before.
Interestingly, the four-day work week has received a lot of attention recently as Charlton Morris, amongst other Leeds-based employers, announced their employees would benefit from working across four days instead of the traditional five.
But this new scheme is giving an entire nation a chance to trial working just four-days a week.
It may sound a little too good to be true, but it’s not.
Image: Annie Spratt, Unsplash
This six-month pilot programme is being performed by 4 Day Week Global, along with think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK campaign, and researchers from Cambridge University, Oxford University, and Boston College, and as part of the trial, employees at each of the companies signed-up to take part will work for just 80% of their normal contracted work week at 100% of their pay for the sole purpose of monitoring the impact it has on productivity, as well as staff welfare.
It’s called the ‘100:80:100’ model – you will get paid for 100% of your work, but for it to be fair, the catch is that you must agree to work at 100% productivity.
Participating businesses and companies will receive support from those organising the trial, and that includes access to experts and pioneers within the field, mentoring, and research by top academics.
The plan is to get 30 businesses on board, and mirror some of the successful programmes that have already been carried out, and are planned elsewhere in the world this year.
Once the six-month trial is complete, the programme organisers will take a look at the project as a whole, crunch the numbers, and attempt to ascertain what effect the four-day working week had on productivity for the businesses involved, as well as the wellbeing of its workers, and the impact on the environment and gender equality.
Other studies in the past claim to have found that a four-day week is better for both productivity and worker wellbeing, but there is undoubtedly more research to be done, and that’s what this trail is aiming to do.
Speaking on the trial, Joe O’Connor – Pilot Programme Manager for 4 Day Week Global – said: “More and more businesses are moving to productivity focused strategies to enable them to reduce worker hours without reducing pay [and] we are excited by the growing momentum and interest in our pilot program and in the four-day week more broadly.
“The four-day week challenges the current model of work and helps companies move away from simply measuring how long people are ‘at work’, to a sharper focus on the output being produced.
Image: Sean Pollock, Unsplash
“2022 will be the year that heralds in this bold new future of work.”
“This scheme has tremendous potential to progress from conversations about the general advantages of a shorter working week to focussed discussions on how organisations can implement it in the best possible way,” added Brendan Burchill, from Autonomy.
Estimated to be worth around £45 million, the Grade II-listed structure renovations won't begin for a little while just yet, but it is set to increase the capacity of the space by more than 50%.
Announced on Tuesday, 24 March, the major refurb will be partly funded by public money and topped up by the private sector and "philanthropic partners".
The UK government and Sheffield City Council will be pumping in approximately £35m, with a further £10m being added through the investment mentioned above.
Soon to allow the theatre to scale up or down in size, the hope is that the new 'in the round' format will enable the Crucible to serve its arts and sporting audiences for decades to come, as well as opening the big Northern stage up to new opportunities.
Due to start in the summer of 2028, it's still unclear as to the exact completion date, but the plans are in support of confirmation that the annual snooker tournament will stay put.
A fresh agreement with the WSC will see them stay in Sheff until at least 2045, with the Crucible's number of seats set to jump from just under 1,000 to 1,480.
It's also said there is an option in the deal to extend the contract until 2050, and as one of the biggest competitive events that comes to the city year in and year out, you would expect them to push hard for the Council and partners to push hard for this, too.
Credit: Bread and Butter PR (supplied)
Dan Walker, Chair of Sheffield Theatres Trust, said in a statement: "The Crucible is a wonderful theatre with a brilliant reputation, and the positive impact of this investment will be seen for years to come.
"As a proud resident of Sheffield, I know the importance of snooker to our city, but this isn’t only good news for Sheffield: this is amazing news for the north of England and the whole of the UK."
If all goes to plan, the overhaul should take around 18 months, with productions being hosted in the Lyceium and the newest room, the Montgomery.
All the while, the Sheffield Theatres will continue to present new work both domestically and around the globe over this period, with more details coming this autumn 2026.
Leeds bakery crowned one of the best in the UK for second year running by The Good Food Guide
Clementine Hall
The Good Food Guide has released its annual list of the top bakeries across the UK – and one in Leeds has made the cut.
The prestigious guide has been travelling across the nation testing out the joy of British bakeries, from pastries to loaves to croissants to biscuits. What a tough job.
The Good Food Guide has said that the nation is going through something of a ‘modern baking boom’ and selected one spot locally that are doing it better than anyone else.
And that bakery is the fabulous Nova Bakehouse that is co-owned by sisters Sarah Lemanski and Hannah Mather.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Located on Leeds Dock, Nova Bakehouse is a beautiful sun drenched spot that serve up irresistible morning buns, chewy cookies and speciality loaves.
They focus on 'flavour forward baking' using seasonal ingredients to create monthly specials that'll have you going back time and time again.
It was the only Leeds spot to feature on the list, for the second year running might we add, but elsewhere in Yorkshire Haxby Bakehouse in York and Baker’s Yard Bakery in Sheffield are included.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Editor of The Good Food Guide, Chloë Hamilton, said: “Choosing just 50 winners was an almost impossible task given how diverse and highly skilled the British baking scene has become.
“From wood-fired sourdough in Perthshire to a central London café peddling pains au chocolat that take you straight to the streets of Paris, one thing uniting them all is sheer unadulterated deliciousness."
All of a sudden we're feeling pretty peckish for a croissant...what's your favourite bakery in Leeds?
Sophie Smith -
18th January 2022 
