Majority of UK businesses to scrap working from home post-pandemic October 8, 2020 More than two-thirds of UK businesses plan to scrap working from home beyond the pandemic, the latest official figures showed, as the number of commuters continues to escalate despite government orders. Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that 67 per cent of more than 24,500 British businesses surveyed said they [...]
Microsoft boss warns against rapid transition to working from home October 6, 2020 Microsoft’s chief executive has warned against the total transition to working from home during the pandemic, saying it would be “replacing one dogma with another dogma”. Satya Nadella, who has served at the helm of Microsoft since 2014, said it was “best not to get overly dogmatic” about where employees can work, despite the world’s [...]
London may be empty but community spirit must stay strong October 5, 2020 Just over six months since lockdown restrictions were first imposed, life today is very different for all of us with workplaces in the Square Mile. My workplace – Mansion House – would normally be buzzing with activity, hosting delegations from around the world and major set-piece events. The government’s recently revised guidance on working from [...]
Why a second lockdown could turn the lights out on the UK economy October 5, 2020 We have reached a crucial flexion point in the fight against Covid-19, and with this comes new, tighter rules to curb a possible second wave. There is now rising concern that a second wave may result in a second national lockdown, and businesses are urgently seeking reassurance from the government that they will be able [...]
Don’t let London become a Donut: Crowded on the outside, empty in the middle October 2, 2020 As a Londoner born and bred, I am acutely sensitive to the ebb and flow of people travelling in and out of London on a daily basis — the human tide of our capital. Despite various pleas and edicts, right now the centre of London is pretty much empty. The tide went out abruptly at [...]
The hotel industry needs to reinvent itself – and fast October 2, 2020 In the 1800s, several new hotels emerged that reimagined the standards for luxury accommodation. Over the course of the next two centuries, grand hotels withstood the Great Depression, two world wars, and countless market disruptors — always finding a way to reset their role in society. The global hotel industry has been through hard times [...]
London can’t survive widespread home working, says Tory mayoral candidate October 1, 2020 Londoners must get back to their workplaces to save the economic future of the city, according to Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey. Bailey wrote for City A.M. today that the capital needs to ditch advice from the government and Sadiq Khan that people should work from home where possible, adding that he does not “believe [...]
DEBATE: Will workplace diversity suffer from a new flexible working culture? October 1, 2020 Will workplace diversity suffer from a new flexible working culture? Jo Preston, director & head of people at Teamspirit, says YES One of the silver linings of the coronavirus pandemic has been the corporate pivot towards flexible working. The swiftness with which thousands of employees transitioned from office desks to kitchen tables demonstrated a huge [...]
Working from home u-turn falls on deaf ears as more staff head back to offices September 30, 2020 Employees are heading back to their workplaces in greater numbers around the UK despite Boris Johnson’s working from home u-turn last week, new data has shown. According to data specialists Huq Industries, the rate at which workers are returning to their offices since the PM’s announcement has actually picked up in four of the six [...]
There’s no place like work: Office spaces still have a future September 28, 2020 There is talk that working from home has become so ingrained and that the old working arrangements are so untenable in this new socially distanced and digitally enhanced world, that it will force city centre offices to be entirely repurposed — and perhaps turned into vertical rabbit hutch towers of studio flats. This debate is [...]