Workplace benefits are changing with modern working life

Workplace benefits have evolved well beyond salary, annual leave and pensions. Over time, flexible working, wellbeing initiatives and other practical forms of support have become part of what employees expect from a good employer. Businesses have realised that people judge a workplace not only on pay, but on whether it feels current, useful and responsive to everyday life.

That same shift is now reaching workplace facilities.

As electric vehicles become more common, employees are starting to think differently about what makes a workplace convenient. For EV drivers, charging is not a novelty. It is part of planning the commute, managing weekly travel and making day-to-day life run smoothly. In that context, access to charging at work is beginning to emerge as a meaningful benefit rather than a niche extra.

For employers, the principle is straightforward. The most valued workplace perks are often the ones that remove friction. A charger in the car park may not be flashy, but for staff who drive electric, it can make a noticeable difference.

Why businesses are beginning to install workplace charging

The Full EV, a UK specialist in home, workplace and commercial charging solutions, works with organisations that are adapting to the rise of electric vehicles and the infrastructure demands that come with them.

From that perspective, businesses are not adding chargers simply to appear progressive. They are responding to a practical change in employee behaviour. As more people switch to EVs, companies are increasingly asking whether their sites are properly set up for how staff and visitors now travel.

As electric vehicles become more common, businesses are beginning to rethink how their workplaces support employees who drive EVs. Installing EV charging for businesses is increasingly being seen as a practical step for companies looking to support staff while preparing for the future of transport.

This marks an important change in mindset. Charging is no longer being treated purely as an environmental gesture or a project for later. It is becoming part of the broader conversation about what makes a workplace fit for purpose. Just as employers adapted to new expectations around flexibility and wellbeing, they are now starting to respond to changing transport habits too.

Why the rise of EVs is changing expectations around workplace facilities

The growth in EV ownership is gradually reshaping what employees notice about a workplace. Facilities have always mattered. Parking, accessibility and cycling support all affect how a business is experienced day to day. Charging points are increasingly becoming part of that same picture.

Expectations rarely shift overnight. They build steadily. What begins as a thoughtful extra can soon become a point of difference between employers. Over time, it starts to feel like a sensible feature that a modern business should at least have considered.

For employees who drive electric vehicles, workplace charging can reduce reliance on public chargers and make commuting easier to manage. Even for staff who mainly work from home, having the option at work offers added reassurance and flexibility. It can help a workplace feel more supportive of how people live now, rather than how they lived ten years ago.

There is also a wider message behind it. A company that provides charging infrastructure signals practical thinking, future readiness and a willingness to adapt. Those qualities matter, especially in competitive sectors where attracting and retaining good people depends on offering a workplace that feels relevant and well considered.

How EV charging can support employees, fleets and visitors

One reason workplace charging is gaining traction is that it supports more than one need at once.

For employees, the benefit is immediate. Charging during the working day can make EV ownership easier and reduce pressure around commuting routines. That convenience often matters more than novelty.

For businesses with company vehicles, charging also supports fleet planning. Whether an organisation already uses electric vehicles or is only beginning to consider them, having infrastructure on site makes future changes easier to manage. It allows businesses to prepare steadily rather than rush later.

Visitors matter too. Clients, suppliers and partners are also making the switch to EVs, and a workplace with charging provision can be more convenient for the people coming and going. That may seem like a small detail, but it helps shape the overall impression a business leaves behind.

Why forward-thinking companies see EV charging as part of the modern workplace

Forward-thinking companies know that a workplace is judged by how well it supports the people who use it every day. That is why EV charging is starting to join the wider conversation around meaningful workplace benefits.

As more employees drive electric vehicles, and as businesses plan for long-term operational change, charging is becoming an increasingly practical part of the workplace mix. It supports staff, helps prepare for fleet changes and signals that a company is keeping pace with modern expectations.

In that sense, EV charging is not simply about vehicles. It is about creating a workplace that feels useful, relevant and ready for what comes next.

Apple iPhone users will be able to add new emojis to their conversations when the latest iOS update rolls out.

The iOS 26.4 beta 4 was released to developers on Monday, according to 9to5Mac, and is expected to be available to the public later this month.

The new emojis were approved by the Unicode Consortium, a nonprofit body for the internationalization of software and services.

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The organization maintains a character encoding standard, Unicode, which it says is “embedded in every major operating system and used on more than 20 billion devices worldwide.”

The latest emojis are part of the Unicode 17 standard, and will also be added to Android, Windows, social media apps and more, though design and release dates are different.

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New emojis included in the iOS 26.4 update are:

– Landslide

– Trombone

– Distorted face

– Treasure chest

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– Ballet dancer

– Orca

– Fight cloud

– Hairy creature (Bigfoot/Sasquatch)

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The update also adds 150 new skin tones for certain existing icons.

The United Kingdom stands at a seismic shift in its cyber landscape. As the digital backbone of a global financial hub, the UK’s reliance on secure communication has never been higher.

However, a critical deadline looms: the NCSC is officially retiring its Mail Check and Web Check services by March 31, 2026. This transition shifts the full responsibility for DMARC enforcement directly onto individual organizations, removing a long-standing national safety net.

According to PowerDMARC’s new United Kingdom DMARC & MTA-STS Adoption Report 2026, the nation is in a state of “partial readiness.” While British organizations have been diligent in checking the “authentication” box, they have largely ignored the encryption and integrity layers required to thwart modern, AI-driven phishing attacks. The data reveals that the gap between simply having a record and actually enforcing it has become a national security emergency.

Key Insights at a Glance

• SPF Correctness: A strong foundation with 93.7% correct implementation, showing high technical literacy across the 875 domains analyzed. While it is great to see that most UK organizations have set up SPF correctly, it’s worth noting that “correct” doesn’t always mean safe or secure; it can be correct but still be too broad or easily bypassed. These organizations can use a free SPF record checker to ensure their SPF records are not only correct but also secure.
• DMARC Enforcement: Only 44.1% of domains have reached the gold standard of p=reject, meaning more than half the country remains vulnerable to active spoofing. It’s an open invitation for scammers to send emails that look like they’re coming from your official domain, which makes it hard for customers and partners to understand which messages are really from you and which ones are from scammers.
• MTA-STS Adoption: A standout 20.6% adoption rate, significantly higher than the global average, driven by NCSC mandates, yet leaving nearly 80% of mail traffic exposed to interception.
• DNSSEC: A critical weak point, enabled on just 3.8% of domains, leaving the vast majority of UK organizations at risk of DNS hijacking and cache poisoning.
• The Sector Gap: While Banking & Finance leads in enforcement (61.3% p=reject), the Transport & Logistics sector is the most exposed, with over 26% of domains lacking any DMARC record entirely. This can create a “soft target” for attackers who exploit these less-defended supply chains to intercept high-value shipment data.

Key takeaway: 18.9% of UK domains use a p=none policy. This provides visibility but offers zero protection, creating a false sense of security while attackers continue to spoof official identities to initiate fraudulent transfers or steal sensitive PII.

How PowerDMARC Supports UK Organizations

PowerDMARC provides a streamlined, automated path to securing the nation’s email channels ahead of the NCSC Mail Check retirement:

• Automated DMARC Enforcement: Safely migrating organizations from p=none to p=reject without blocking critical business communications or departmental mail flow.
• SPF Macros Optimization: Overcoming the “10-lookup limit” that frequently breaks deliverability for large organizations with complex digital stacks. In simple terms, once your list of third-party senders gets too long, your SPF record breaks, and emails start bouncing. PowerDMARC uses macros to “flatten” these records, so that your email gets through no matter how many cloud tools your team adds to the pile.
• Hosted MTA-STS: Closing the encryption gap with a single click to force all email transit into encrypted TLS 1.2+ channels, preventing “Downgrade Attacks.” By hosting the policy for you, PowerDMARC handles the complex web server and certificate maintenance, so that your communications stay private without your IT team having to do all the job by itself.
• Regulatory Readiness: Simplifying compliance with GDPR, UK Cyber Essentials, and PCI-DSS 4.0 by automating anti-phishing protocols.

UK organizations can contact PowerDMARC to turn their visibility into a shield, ensuring their digital reputation is protected in an era of sophisticated, AI-generated fraud.

About PowerDMARC

PowerDMARC is a leading email authentication and domain protection platform, offering comprehensive solutions including DMARC, SPF, DKIM, BIMI, MTA-STS, TLS-RPT, and hosted reporting with AI-powered threat intelligence. The platform secures email ecosystems for over 10,000 organizations across more than 100 countries. PowerDMARC is MSP/MSSP-ready and holds SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR compliance certifications.

The firm’s brick factory in Doncaster is working 24/7 to meet demand

Developer Persimmon is hoping for an uplift in new homes completed this year, providing the conflict in Iran and its impacts are “short”.

The York-based housebuilder issued full year results to the London Stock Exchange showing a 12% rise in completions in 2025, to 11,905. Underlying operating profit was up 17% to £472.1m, although this was before an exceptional charge of nearly £45m and a goodwill impairment of £3.4m.

Staff at the firm’s South Yorkshire brick factory are working around the clock to meet demand, with plans in place to expand the site’s capacity with an additional production line, opening in 2027. Along with its timber frames and tiles, Persimmon said it now preferred to use materials manufactured in house.

Bosses said current market conditions are “supportive”, including better mortgage availability and real wage growth, coupled with beneficial changes to planning rules. However it said the impacts of the conflict in the Middle East were so far unknown.

In the first nine weeks of this year, Persimmon’s net private sales rate per outlet was up 9% compared to the same period last year. The average selling price in 2025 rose 4% to more than £278,000.

Dean Finch, group chief executive, said: “Persimmon delivered a strong performance for 2025, with completions growing 12% and underlying profit before tax increasing 13%. This reflects our sustained investment in the business and our commitment to self-help, enabling us to grow in a challenging market. I want to thank all my colleagues for their dedication and expertise in delivering this result; I am proud to work alongside them.

“Sales in the opening weeks of the year have been strong and the build to rent market is recovering from the slowdown around November’s Budget. Whilst we have good visibility of both our costs for 2026 and our demand from registered providers and build-to-rent, the impact of the Iran conflict on customer sentiment remains to be seen. Assuming the conflict with Iran and its impact is short, Persimmon is set to grow again in 2026.

“Our three distinctive brands all grew last year, diversifying our market reach. Our strengthened brands, strategic land bank, on-going investment and operational improvements, supported by our balance sheet and unique vertically integrated model, position Persimmon well to grow into the medium term.”

The business between Middleton-in-Teesdale and Barnard Castle is run by twin sisters Stella Laird and Jodi McSherry

A wedding venue and holiday homes business in the North Pennines is looking to grow thanks to five figure loan funding.

Blackton Grange Estates hosts weddings at its Balderhead site, which includes 11 acres of countryside, a converted barn, and a farmhouse property sleeping up to 18 people. The property is also let for holidaymakers.

The business is run by twins Stella Laird and Jodi McSherry who are said to share a passion for property, interiors and creating a place to entertain. The sisters turned a formerly tired outdoor activity centre and hostel into a luxury venue, and started taking bookings for the property in 2023, later opening up for weddings.

Now, a five-figure sum from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, NPIF II – NEL Smaller Loans, which is managed by NEL Fund Managers, is hoped to prompt growth. The money will be used to bring in marketing agency Venue Spark, who will help the entrepreneurs promote their newly restored wedding barn and growth the Blackton Grange brand.

Ms Laird said: “Partnering with NEL has been a brilliant experience for us at Blackton Grange Estates and a very smooth process working with all levels of the management team, we are excited for the future working with NEL and how they can help accelerate our growth plans, not just with this project, but over the coming years as we continue to build and grow our brand and business.”

Susan Snowdon, investment executive at NEL Fund Managers led this investment. She said: “Stella and the team were fantastic to work with and it’s so impressive to see what they have done with the space at Blackton Grange. I look forward to continuing to work with them and wish them both the best of luck for their next stage of business growth.”

Sarah Newbould, senior investment manager at the British Business Bank, said: “Backing ambitious businesses across the North is central to driving sustainable regional growth. Through NPIF II, we’re committed to improving access to finance so that companies with strong potential can scale and create local opportunity.

“Blackton Grange reflects this ambition, building a distinctive luxury venue in the North Pennines and investing in its brand to support the next phase of growth.”

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

Attention is the most valuable currency in this era of digital channels saturated with ads, notifications, and content vying for consumers’ focus.

Yet, exhibitions and trade shows continue to command influence, reminding marketers that human attention cannot be fully replaced by algorithms or automation.

This article explores what exhibitions teach us about attention, engagement, and the psychology of buying, offering lessons for marketers across industries.

Face-to-face engagement still wins

In-person marketing has a unique advantage: it provides uninterrupted, multi-sensory engagement. Attendees are immersed in a space designed to capture their focus, giving brands a rare opportunity to make a memorable impression.

• Duration matters: Research from VisitBritain shows that UK trade show visitors spend an average of 5.5 hours at an event, engaging with multiple brands. This level of concentrated attention is nearly impossible to achieve in a digital scroll environment.
• Decision-making impact: Around 80% of trade show attendees influence or make purchasing decisions within their organisations, highlighting the quality and seriousness of the audience.
• Trust and credibility: Face-to-face interactions help build confidence in a brand. Physical presence reassures prospects that a company is tangible, capable, and reliable.

Consider exhibitions as attention marketplaces. Every aspect of a stand, from design to lighting to staff interaction, is calibrated to capture focus and extend dwell time. You have more control here to create a level of engagement that digital channels struggle to replicate.

Visual memory and first impressions

Humans are wired to process visual information quickly. Neuroscience studies suggest the brain can interpret images up to 60,000 times faster than text, and people form a first impression of a visual environment in less than a second. Exhibitions leverage these cognitive traits.

• Clarity over complexity: Visually clean stands, with simple, bold messaging, outperform cluttered designs in terms of recall.
• Consistency matters: Repeated exposure to brand colours, logos, and messages increases retention, making attendees more likely to remember and engage post-event.
• Physical cues enhance memory: Multi-sensory elements, such as interactive demos or tactile product experiences, anchor information more effectively than screen-based content alone.

Even in a digital-first world, attention has to be earned. Exhibitions remind marketers that clarity, visual hierarchy, and sensory engagement directly affect brand recall and conversion.

Strategic use of physical space

One of the most underappreciated lessons exhibitions offer is the strategic role of space in shaping perception and behaviour. Every square metre of a stand can be designed to guide, influence, and focus attention.

• Flow and layout: Open designs with intuitive traffic flow increase dwell time and allow staff to interact naturally with attendees.
• Zoning for impact: Specific areas can be dedicated to demos, consultations, or quiet conversations, giving prospects control over how they engage.
• Environmental cues: Lighting, flooring, and material choices all communicate professionalism and value, subtly influencing buying confidence.

For marketers, this demonstrates that context matters as much as content. A well-planned space fosters a mindset that makes people more receptive, attentive, and engaged. This can be translated to digital experiences through UX design, gamification, or immersive media.

Multi-channel integration amplifies ROI

Exhibitions are rarely standalone investments. The most successful marketers integrate trade shows with email campaigns, social media, and content marketing to create a cohesive, omnichannel experience.

• Pre-show campaigns drive attendance to the stand.
• On-site content, such as demos and social media shares, extends reach beyond the floor.
• Post-show follow-up nurtures leads while the experience is still fresh in memory.

Capturing attention in a concentrated environment allows marketers to extend value across multiple channels, increasing ROI and driving measurable outcomes.

Lessons for SaaS and tech brands

High-growth tech companies, particularly in SaaS, can apply exhibition lessons to digital marketing strategies:

• Account-Based Marketing (ABM) translation: Trade shows allow enterprise teams to engage multiple stakeholders simultaneously. Online, this principle translates to coordinated, multi-touch campaigns that combine personalised content with timely outreach.
• Showcasing complex products: Interactive demos at exhibitions help communicate value in ways static pages cannot. Digitally, this equates to video walkthroughs, live webinars, and interactive product tours.
• Lead quality over quantity: Decision-makers’ attention is more valuable than broad reach, underscoring the importance of targeting and personalisation across both physical and digital channels.

These insights show that physical engagement teaches digital marketers to earn attention rather than demand it, creating stronger relationships and greater conversion potential.

Attention as a KPI

Marketing metrics often focus on clicks, impressions, or downloads. Exhibitions offer a different perspective: attention itself is a KPI.

• Dwell time and engagement quality: Tracking how long attendees interact with a stand or demo reflects genuine interest and intent.
• Visual memory and recall: Post-event surveys can quantify how much a brand was remembered and which messages stuck.
• Conversion velocity: Face-to-face interactions often reduce the number of touchpoints required to close a deal, effectively lowering CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost).

This reframing encourages marketers to prioritise the depth and quality of engagement, not just the breadth of exposure, which is increasingly relevant as digital channels saturate.

Sustainability and experience economy considerations

Exhibitions also teach lessons about ethical marketing and brand perception. Modern attendees value sustainability and tangible experiences:

• Modular, reusable stands reduce waste and align with sustainability initiatives.
• Physical interaction creates memories and emotional connections that digital-only experiences rarely achieve.
• Attention is reinforced by authenticity and trustworthiness, not gimmicks or invasive ads.

Brands that integrate sustainability, physical presence, and engagement design benefit from both practical and perceptual advantages: reduced costs, higher ROI, and improved brand affinity.

Attention remains scarce and strategic

Exhibitions demonstrate that attention cannot be automated. In a digital-first world, marketers must actively earn focus through interaction and thoughtfully designed experiences.

Key takeaways include:

• Multi-sensory engagement increases recall and trust.
• Strategic physical space guides behaviour and prioritises high-value interactions.
• Integration with other channels maximises the lifespan and value of attention.
• High-quality, memorable experiences reduce CAC and accelerate decision-making.

While digital channels will continue to dominate budgets, trade shows and exhibitions remain valuable opportunities for understanding how attention works. Use them as lessons in how physical engagement applies across the funnel, informing design, messaging, and strategy in every medium.

This article was written by

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Mumbai: Holding the seizure operations by the DGGI as “perverse, arbitrary and without authority of law”, the Bombay High Court quashed two seizure orders issued by the department and directed the return of ₹1 crore in cash seized from a Mumbai trader.

A division bench of Justices G. S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe ruled that officers of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) failed to comply with the statutory requirements under the GST law before seizing the money.

The bench also expressed surprise when the government counsel informed the court that the seized cash had been handed over to the Income Tax Department for further proceedings.
Smruti Waghdhare, proprietor of M/s Platinum International, had challenged seizure orders dated June 27 and June 28, 2023 issued in Form GST INS-02.