Summary
A new report on working from home (WFH) published in The Times newspaper claims that middle England “appears to be growing fed up” with the practice – but amid a stark change in what defines an office, the challenges for getting us back into shared space here in Gloucestershire remain distinct.
Details
Today’s newspaper report cites data from the USA office space provider International Workspace Group (IWG) that draws from logins of its UK clients which point to a “surge in attendance” in locations which are largely satellite spots on the map around London.
As Britain’s largest supplier of office space, IWG provides desk space from 400 locations for HSBC, BlackRock, Airbnb and Uber, as well as flexible work spaces, and it cites how St Albans saw a rise of 49% in office visits in the six months to May this year compared with the previous six-month period. Windsor was not far behind, witnessing a 47% rise, while St Neots registered a 40% climb.
IWG, through its various group entities, offers office space for coworking and flexible use in Gloucestershire through Regus at Conway House and Gloucester Docks, The Manor House and Manchester Park in Cheltenham and Quedgeley, as well as Lydney’s King’s Buildings.
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While occupancy was rising in city-centre locations, the US giant also recorded how a trend away from WHF was even higher in England’s market towns, noting that growing numbers of large companies were choosing to rent flexible office space closer to employees’ homes.
Christian Schmitz, chief executive of IWG, said: “For businesses, this provides greater flexibility and reduces the need for unnecessary fixed real estate while employees can cut long and expensive commutes.” But according to Kurt Wyman , the director of Maisemore-based Kurt Wyman Surveyors , the degree to which any trend back to the office ripples as far west as Gloucestershire hinges upon several contextual factors.
Kurt told Punchline-Gloucester.com: “Covid shifted the landscape, of course, with people on both the public and private sector working remotely and once the pandemic slowly phased out, any movement coincided with a labour shortage, with many companies struggling to find staff.
So for firms to reach their goals, they sought to be attractive by offering options to stay at home, which reinforced a new work-life balance.” Beauty contest?
Report source: Punchline Gloucester
