Dr Matthew Davis is an Associate Professor in Organisational Psychology at Leeds University Business School. Matthew has worked on a range of applied research projects with corporate partners including Rolls-Royce, Marks and Spencer, Next, Atkins, Arup and British Gas. Matthew is currently leading a ESRC funded multi-disciplinary project examining office adaptations in response to COVID-19 and how office design and ways of working (eg hybrid) impact employee social networks, workflow and performance.

Penelope Tiffney is an experienced interior architectural designer with over 20 plus years specialising in workplace design, higher education learning environments and healthcare. Having joined the Lloyds Banking Group design team in 2022, she has been instrumental in driving the future workplace design language for the group’s portfolio. Using her past experience in designing for university campuses, she has been drawn on the insights in which graduates use different environments for focus study, collaboration and learning to apply to the future workplace landscape.

Ruth Hynes is an Associate Design Researcher in Atkins’ Building Practice, and is a qualified WELL Accredited Professional. Ruth works with clients and design teams to better understand and advise on how the built environment and workplaces in particular can be designed to support occupant wellbeing and performance. Ruth works with clients and design teams to apply design research approaches and digital tools to support the design of workplaces and offices across a range of sectors including commercial workplace, higher education high-value manufacturing, and energy sectors. Ruth leads on Atkins’ Human-Centred Design projects and digital engagement tools which brings data driven insights into the analysis of building occupant workstyles, processes and wellbeing, and also sits on the New London Architecture Building Technology Expert Panel.

Current Role: Avnet Senior Director – Global Procurement & Real Estate
25 years in complex blue chip environments, focusing on procurement, supply chain management & corporate real estate
Worked for large blue chip organisations (Kodak, WS Atkins, UK Central Government, Balfour Beatty, Farnell & Avnet)
Qualifications: Degree - BA(Hons) in Economics, Masters (MSc) in Corporate Real Estate, MCIPS Graduate Diploma, FCIPS (admitted as Fellow of Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply in 2016)

Dr Emma Gritt, Lecturer in Information Management and Information Systems at Leeds University Business School. Emma’s wider research focuses on digital transformation and the role of digital technologies in organisational contexts. Her recent work has explored the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on work practices both within a policing context, and also as part of an ESRC project exploring office adaption and hybrid work. She is also interested organisational readiness for the adoption of emergent technologies e.g. AR/VR and Metaverse.