In a series of interviews with Spectrum Workplace, companies consider the changing requirements of both the business and the employee.
The interviews have been brought together as a report and published by DECISION magazine and then as a digital book.

Interview with STEPHEN TUCKER
MANAGING DIRECTOR THE FRY GROUP

The MD of tax-led financial advisers for UK residents and expatriates The Fry Group is pondering how the workplace might evolve. He recalls talking to the owner of a web agency about how in the media world companies were really relaxed about employees bringing their dogs into the office.

I think the financial services industry might slowly move in that direction, but am I brave enough to try it? Emphatically no! Someone else in ten years’ time might be, but for now, we want to hold onto our solid, traditional feel.”

Tucker is not blind to a generational shift in attitudes. “It’s a struggle for businesses which are perceived as dull because universities are increasingly turning out people who have expectations of a much more
relaxed working environment and an output-based approach.

The new breed are saying if I come to work in jeans but bring a lot of my mates as clients, what’s the problem?”

But I’m a crusty middle-aged man,” he goes on, with a wry smile. “I believe that if you look smart you’ll feel smart and you’ll work smart. Less formal dress can lead to less efficiency. I don’t get the modern office where it’s OK to wear a T shirt. There are companies in related sectors like financial technology where it is; the IT firm I’m involved with thinks
that anyone who wears a suit is weird. I can see that the next generation of accountants will be more relaxed in their outlook and will ask why they need to wear suits to work.