News

MORNING NEWS: Office workers return as pandemic draws to an end

News

Samantha McClary

18 February 2022

Good morning and happy Friday.

As high winds batter the UK, this morning some good news to hold on to. The number of workers returning to the UK’s offices has reached its highest level since the start of the pandemic. A whopping 27% of us were in our corporate workplaces rather than our residential ones on 10 February. While the number may be the highest since March 2020, it is still well below the pre-pandemic average of 60%.

The increase in office working may well be because there is just no space to work at home. That is certainly the case for what could be the smallest-ever flat to come to market in London. The team at online auctioneer MyAuction are selling a 7 sq m flat in east London that just about has a bed and a toilet in it. No room for a stand-up desk and a swivel chair. Impressively, the flat provides an annual income of more than £9,000. A reserve of £50,000 has been set for the property.

That asset is probably not included on the list of some £1.5bn of property that Transparency International has identified as being bought by Russians with links to the Kremlin or accused of corruption. Some £430m of the property is in Westminster, and more than half is held by companies in Britain’s overseas territories and crown dependencies.

EG’s favourite story from elsewhere today, however, has to be that the team at DisneyLand are following in Lego’s footsteps and developing their own towns. The firm has acquired a 618-acre site in the Coachella Valley where it plans to build 1,900 homes with the hope of creating the happiest place on earth.

And in other news, if you’re after a literal hideaway and don’t mind a little notoriety, Ghislaine Maxwell’s estranged husband has put the house he once lived in with the now convicted sex-trafficker up for sale.

The secluded five-bedroom waterfront mansion in Manchester by the Sea in Massachusetts is being put up for sale with a $7.3m (£5.4m) price tag. The property is owned by Tidewood LLC, a company tied to tech entrepreneur Scott Borgerson.

The couple lived together at the home only for a brief time before Maxwell’s July 2020 arrest in New Hampshire.

Good morning and happy Friday. As high winds batter the UK, this morning some good news to hold on to. The number of workers returning to the UK’s offices has reached its highest level since the start of the pandemic. A whopping 27% of us were in our corporate workplaces rather than our residential ones on 10 February. While the number may be the highest since March 2020, it is still well below the pre-pandemic average of 60%. The increase in office working may well be because there is just no space to work at home. That is certainly the case for what could be the smallest-ever flat to come to market in London. The team at online auctioneer MyAuction are selling a 7 sq m flat in east London that just about has a bed and a toilet in it. No room for a stand-up desk and a swivel chair. Impressively, the flat provides an annual income of more than £9,000. A reserve of £50,000 has been set for the property. That asset is probably not included on the list of some £1.5bn of property that Transparency International has identified as being bought by Russians with links to the Kremlin or accused of corruption. Some £430m of the property is in Westminster, and more than half is held by companies in Britain’s overseas territories and crown dependencies. EG’s favourite story from elsewhere today, however, has to be that the team at DisneyLand are following in Lego’s footsteps and developing their own towns. The firm has acquired a 618-acre site in the Coachella Valley where it plans to build 1,900 homes with the hope of creating the happiest place on earth. And in other news, if you’re after a literal hideaway and don’t mind a little notoriety, Ghislaine Maxwell’s estranged husband has put the house he once lived in with the now convicted sex-trafficker up for sale. The secluded five-bedroom waterfront mansion in Manchester by the Sea in Massachusetts is being put up for sale with a $7.3m (£5.4m) price tag. The property is owned by Tidewood LLC, a company tied to tech entrepreneur Scott Borgerson. The couple lived together at the home only for a brief time before Maxwell’s July 2020 arrest in New Hampshire.