We’re excited to announce that we’re joining the UK’s second reduced working hours pilot – and we’ll be trialling a 9-day fortnight.

The trial begins on 4 November and runs until 2 May 2025. Every other Friday will be a non-working day for our organisation.

The pilot, run by the 4-day week campaign group, is supported by flexible working experts Timewise, and researchers from the University of Sussex, Boston College, University of Cambridge and Autonomy Institute.

The delivery of quality work for our clients remains our absolute focus - and is a key reason for us joining the trial. Previous pilots demonstrate that shorter working weeks can boost productivity, efficiency, focus, and employee wellbeing.

At Bioregional, we’re proud of our rich history of progressive ideas, forward-thinking attitudes and our proven track record of innovation – and we see this pilot as another step in that journey.

Why are we trialling a 9-day fortnight?

It’s a topic that’s occasionally been raised at our staff forum over the last couple of years, but in early 2024 the question became more focussed: if we want to consider doing a trial of reduced working hours, shall we start discussions about how we could get there?

Our staff body formed a working group, which presented a case to our leadership team, and began engaging staff to see if the appetite was there (it was!).

We brainstormed initial ideas of how we could achieve changes in working practice that would mean maintaining the same level of project outputs within less time.

Why now?

The opportunity to be part of a wider collective of organisations trying the same (or very similar) thing was a key part of the timing – joining the next UK trial has given us a peer group to discuss our plans and brainstorm solutions, as well as benefitting from resources and training.

What’s the case for reduced hours?

The data from previous trials is compelling. In most trials, between 90-95% of organisations stick with their reduced hours. In a report published by the think tank Autonomy and leading academics at the University of Cambridge and Boston College, the results show that:

• 92% of organisations in the trial decided to continue with a four-day week after the pilot

• The vast majority of companies were satisfied that business performance and productivity were maintained

• Revenue stayed broadly the same – and rose by 1.4% on average

• 71% of employees reporting lower levels of stress and burnout

• Reported levels of anxiety, fatigue and sleep issues decreased, while mental and physical health both experienced improvements

• Work-life balance improved. Respondents found it easier to balance their work with both family and social commitments, and were more satisfied with their household finances, relationships and how their time was being managed

• There was a substantial decline (57%) in the likelihood that an employee would quit, dramatically improving job retention

• There was a 65% reduction in the number of sick days

What’s the wider impact?

There’s also the climate case: "A four-day working week with no loss of pay could reduce the UK’s carbon emissions by 127 million tonnes – the equivalent of removing the UK’s entire private car fleet from the road".

How exactly are we going to do it?

A key approach is building efficiencies into your week and concentrating on where you deliver value, while being really focussed on prioritising. Check out this tips and tricks section from the four-day week group for an overview – we'll be putting a lot of this into practice.

Reduced sick leave

There are other efficiencies ‘ built-in’. Take sick leave, for example – we’ve made projections based on the data from previous trials that there’s potential for a 9-day fortnight to reduce our sick leave and give us back around 20-30 days of staff time per year across the organisation.

Boosts for retention and recruitment

Another efficiency comes through both retention and recruitment of talent. We all know that recruiting is a huge time sink in itself – and that’s not even mentioning the impact of loss of organisational knowledge when someone leaves, as well as the interim periods when a team is running at reduced numbers.

The data from numerous organisations shows that it significantly boosts retention and recruitment, which greatly improves efficiencies across an organisation.

What will success look like?

We’ve designed our own set of KPIs relevant for us, and the trial will be underpinned by data through collaboration with the research partners.

Bring on the next six months!

Our team is very excited about the pilot, and we look forward to sharing our findings. We’re proud to be part of a select group of progressive UK organisations willing to push the boundaries and try something new.

(And if you want to get hold of our resource pack to kick-start similar discussions in your own organisation – drop us a message!)