The Business Case for Investing in Better Outdoor Spaces

Meanwhile the budget goes into the interior for better chairs, a smarter reception desk, a coffee machine that finally works. That balance is starting to look outdated. Here’s why it’s worth revisiting.

1. People spend far less time outside than you’d expect

Most UK office workers get remarkably little fresh air during the working day. Research covered by Workplace Insight found that almost 40% of UK office workers spend a maximum of 15 minutes outside on a typical day, excluding the commute, putting a large chunk of the workforce below the outdoor time UN guidelines recommend for prisoners.

That’s an odd place for a country to have ended up, and it points to an opportunity. Businesses that give staff somewhere genuinely pleasant to step outside tend to see that space used.

2. A decent space gets used, a token one doesn’t

A separate 2025 report from Loughborough University, cited by workplace design specialists BSFG, found the average UK adult spends just 7% of their time, around 86 minutes, outdoors across the working week.

Give people a proper terrace, some shade, somewhere to sit that isn’t a fire exit, and you’ll usually find they use it for lunch, for phone calls, for the ten minutes that stops the afternoon slump turning into an afternoon of scrolling.

3. For hospitality and leisure businesses, it’s a revenue line

If you run a pub, holiday park, farm shop or visitor attraction, the calculation gets more direct. Families often choose a venue partly on whether there’s somewhere for children to burn off energy while the adults finish a meal. A decent play area extends the average visit, and a longer visit usually means more spent at the venue or in the shop.

Chester-based Creative Play, for example, designs, manufactures and installs playground equipment specifically for pubs, holiday parks and visitor attractions, which is a useful reminder that outdoor investment doesn’t have to mean generic landscaping. It can mean a specific feature that gives a particular type of customer a concrete reason to pick your venue over the one down the road.

4. It rarely needs to be a full rebuild

None of this requires ripping up the car park. A few well-placed benches, proper shade, planting that doesn’t demand constant upkeep, and lighting that makes an area usable after 4pm in winter will shift how a space gets used almost immediately.

 Small, cheap changes often move the needle more than one expensive redesign does.

5. Staff notice it too

Recruitment and retention decisions increasingly weigh up the environment alongside salary, particularly among younger staff and anyone who’s worked hybrid for a while and has a comparison point.

A well-kept outdoor break area costs a fraction of an indoor breakout room refurbishment and tends to get heavier use, especially from people who’d rather eat lunch away from a screen than in front of one.

Have you invested in the outdoor space of your commercial premises? Share your tips in the comments below!