So where next?

In late November 1989, 23 people came together to debate the, then very tentative, suggestion that a new body should be created to focus on the office. The following May the British Council for Offices was born, with 70 founding members, and the late Sir Nigel Mobbs, who chaired that meeting in 1989, as the BCO's first president.

What a distance the BCO has travelled since then. We are now rapidly approaching 1200 members, have a market-leading annual conference, an awards competition widely recognised as defining office excellence and an ever-expanding research programme, valued at home and abroad. As Paul Morrell, our immediate past president, remarked towards the end of his year in office, the BCO has settled into the rhythm that characterises lasting institutions: a series of regular events that embed themselves as tradition; a number of purposeful projects which keep the art and science of office development moving forward; and the steady momentum of a deep underlying purpose.

But no successful organisation can rest on its laurels, and the BCO is not inclined to do so. Yes, we feel we have been very successful in recent years, but what of the future? Where could the organisation go next?

Under the chairmanship of Simon Ward, our president, a group embracing a broad cross-section of our members is about to look at just this.

Many issues will be up for consideration, including the possible expansion of the BCO's work to a European, or even a global, platform, the development of the annual conference (in 2007 we travel, for the first time, outside Europe to New York) and the enhancement of the research programme.

A bad business in a bad building is unlikely to change. But put a good business in a better building and it will be a much, much better business

Simon's group will conclude its discussions in the summer. However, one change I feel sure the BCO will wish to pursue with added vigour is the desire to make our thinking relevant not just to the property and construction communities, but to the wider business world. This really does matter. Like it or not, UK plc now generates most of its wealth, and therefore earns its living, through people who work in offices, not factories. Outside the realm of high-value engineering (and even this is coming under ever greater pressure), we can simply no longer compete against the massively cheaper manufacturing costs on offer in other parts of the world.

We can, however, prosper by using our heads, and those who do so need to work in environments that will maximise their potential. Crucial for the BCO is to demonstrate to businesses that they need to think about the office environments in which their people work because those environments really do have an impact on the way their people perform. In financial terms it is also, to use the current phase, a no-brainer. The biggest cost faced by almost any business is its people (generally about 85%), with the remainder being the cost of property. How that 15% is spent can have nothing less than a massive impact on that much bigger cost, the 85%, in terms of employee recruitment, retention and, crucially, performance. A bad business in a bad building is unlikely to change. But put a good business in a better building and it will almost certainly be a much, much better business. Chief executives and financial directors listen up: a better building can make you more money.

Although the BCO has changed in so many ways over the years, it has remained true to the principles set out by those 23 people way back in November 1989. We are a genuinely broad church embracing all of those with an interest in the office, be they owners and investors, developers, contractors, occupiers or advisers, private sector or public. We have no hierarchy - all of our members have exactly equal status within the organisation - and we have a positive impact on performance: where would we be without the BCO specification?

The next few years look to be just as exciting.