Life after lockdown for London's battered economypublished at 09:42 British Summer Time 17 May 2021
Marc Ashdown
Work and Money Correspondent, BBC London
So the days of huddling round heaters are over. Indoors is the new outdoors.
But for London's battered economy, the next stage of "life after lockdown" brings as many questions as answers.
Firstly, how confident will people be to get out shopping, socialising and returning to the office?
Even if there is demand, limits on capacity will be an issue for live venues. Masks, sanitising and social distancing will continue for some time, so how sustainable will it be for theatres, cinemas and concerts to operate with a fraction of the usual paying audience?
What will it mean for jobs too? Thousands of EU nationals have left the capital during the pandemic, replaced by 'hiring' signs in many high street windows.
Opportunities perhaps for the younger generation, who’ve tended to be hardest hit by redundancies over the past year.
But as government financial support starts to wind down, businesses of all sizes will be doing some serious calculations to work out how to balance their books.
Overseas visitors will also be few and far between for some time, a vital revenue stream reduced to a summer trickle.
Businesses will be hoping they can return soon, but in the meantime with no queues and no crowds, will there be a better time to see some of London’s sights?