EDITOR’S COMMENT Fifty of the UK’s biggest employers have no plans to bring staff back to the office full time in the near future, according to a poll by the BBC this week.
Well, duh, of course not, BBC. The days of employers forcing staff to be in the office 9-5, five days a week were numbered well before the coronavirus pandemic came along.
These stories of major corporates deciding not to make everyone go back to the office full time are definitely headline-grabbers, but what they fail to tell us is what that really means for real estate.
In this week’s issue, our head of workplace and office research Graham Shone delivers the second in his three-part series looking at the impact of our shifting working patterns on the built environment.
While the growth in working from home may cause some employers to re-evaluate their space needs, which could have a long-term impact on office landlords across the country, the shift may also prove fruitful for other landlords and employers.
Could Covid-19 and our move to working more flexibly, to spending more time working from our homes, be just the tonic that our high streets need to survive?
Is a growth in homeworking forcing us to utilise our local high streets more? It’s a theory that we investigate this week.
With the right curation, could our local high streets become part of our working-from-home experience? If this is the new normal, will we find ourselves leaving our home offices to grab a “close to home” coffee or sandwich? Will the quick lunch-break shop we do cruising the aisles of M&S, or (in my case when at EG Towers) Brokedown Palace, be replaced with a quick shop on our local high street? (If anyone wants to bring Patagonia or similar to East Grinstead, I promise I’ll shop there.)
For every story that aims to make us think that the office is dead, there is another side that will bring a new element of real estate to life (or back to life).
Next week, part three of our Shifting Working Patterns series will look at the impact on residential real estate. Ask any suburban estate agent how business is and they will tell you it is booming. The commuter belt is getting wider as a result of the WFH phenomenon and that will bring with it benefits for housebuilders and home-owners alike.
Calling all the heroes
Talking of phenomena… today I am launching a full-scale hunt for the phenomenal among you.
The closing date for entries for the EG Superhero awards is fast approaching and I am holding out for a hero (sorry).
We at EG are keen to make sure that every person and business that has done something special – no matter how big or small – during the coronavirus pandemic gets (at the very least) a nod of appreciation.
This very strange moment in time we are all living through has highlighted some of the very best of this industry and at this year’s EG Awards we want to say a big collective thank you to everyone and every business that has shown the very best of themselves during this time. We will be handing out two awards – one for an individual and one for a business – to those that have displayed particularly superheroic traits.
If there is any business or individual – including your own business or yourself (please don’t be shy) – that you think should be rewarded please nominate them or enter the award yourself. Details and how to enter are all available here.
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
