When we were children, we wanted heroes and heroines. Someone to look up to.  Someone to show us how to move through the world and save the day.  But, you know, time passed.  Life happens.  We found our own heroines in our everyday lives.  Our sisters.  Our friends. Our colleagues. 

In recent years, menopause in the workplace has become something of an – excuse the pun – hot topic. A report published last year by the cross-party Women and Equalities Committee revealed that the UK is “haemorrhaging talent” in the workplace as a result of menopausal symptoms – and of the stigma, lack of support and discrimination that can sometimes follow in their wake.

It was, as always, wonderful to see so many of the fantastic companies we work with or know at our "Flex: A Whole New World" event.  As well as listening to some truly inspirational speakers, we had the chance to talk to many of you about the future of your businesses and how you see the world of flex moving forwards. 

We all know that slightly bittersweet sense that the summer is drawing to a close.  We try desperately to cling on to the last few weeks, pretending against all odds that the long evenings will continue forever.  That the days are still full of promise.  But we know, deep down, that time is marching on.  September is upon us, and with it, a whisper of change is in the air. 

We're almost there.  It's so close we can almost touch it.  We just need to get everyone over the finish line....  If, like ours, your children are hanging on for dear life for the end of term, then you might be counting down the days until schools break up.  After all, the media would have us believe that the summer holidays are endless, sunlit days full of laughter and ice lollies.   Shouldn't we all be looking forward to them...? 

We've all been there.  A stiflingly hot room.   A colleague who loves the sound of their own voice.  The flashing red alert of a pressing deadline going off in your head.  Your stress levels are rising, and you know that when you walk out of here, your afternoon is going to involve an imitation of the metaphorical headless chicken, and alarming quantities of caffeine…

And finally, the sun is shining!  We're struck by that most British of urges - to throw caution and our cardigans to the wind, and turn our faces to the light.   We find ourselves smiling at strangers in the street.  Our hearts swell a little at the crescendo of birdsong, heralding the arrival of spring!  Oh wait.  No.  No, that's not birdsong, actually.  That's the repeated pinging of your work phone.  It heralds not the onset of a new season, but of a new project.  It signals not the turning of the earth, but rather the turning of your planned evening into several hours of answering emails...