Covid pandemic: Four in 10 Londoners switch to hybrid work - data

Jennifer Panxhi took her business online when the pandemic hit

It has been three years since then Prime Minister Boris Johnson said we had to stay at home because of Covid-19 and only go out for exercise or shopping.

In that time, the way many of us work and shop has completely changed.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that before the pandemic, about 12% of adults reported working from home but - during the lockdown - almost of half of us were doing it.

Lockdown may seem like a memory, but some of our habits have stuck.

• Hybrid working is here to stay, say managers

• 'Hybrid working will become the norm'

Londoners have the highest levels of hybrid working than anywhere else in Great Britain, with four in 10 balancing working from home with commuting into work, the ONS data says.

And 19% of Londoners solely work home.

And this is having an effect on businesses based near offices.

'Footfall has shrunk'

Jennifer Panxhi owns Jen's Plants and Florist, just off Brick Lane, near the City.

She said she had to adapt and take her business online because of the lockdown: "I thought, 'I'm not going to let the pandemic stop me'.

"The footfall has shrunk, however, we have a good presence on Google," she added.

Abia Vizeoli runs Smoko Loko near Liverpool Street station. She said demand had fallen since the pandemic and she was now employing fewer staff.

"Before it was six people, now it's only three," she said.

Abia Vizeoli's staff numbers have halved since the pandemic

Ms Vizeoli said she used to have people queue at her stall and hoped demand would return.

Both business owners said the City was quiet on a Friday; figures show Londoners come into the office more during the middle of the week.

Data from Freespace, which tracks office usage, shows offices are half as busy as they were in 2020 on a Monday in February.

Richard Burge, of the London Chamber of Commerce, said: "It's becoming a very three-day-a-week city.

"It has a knock-on effect. That means the pubs and the restaurants don't open, or they're very under occupied."

Mr Burge said it was going to be "very hard" for business owners to adapt to the change in work pattern.

Businesses still want to maintain an office presence in London

Despite the move to remote working, some business owners still want to have a presence in the capital.

'Earn the commute'

Lewis Beck, of CBRE, a global firm that advises businesses on real estate, said: "Central London office take-up is now only 6% lower than pre-pandemic levels."

He added businesses had to "earn the commute", with offices being designed to provide something staff could not get at home.

The pandemic took many lives and many lost livelihoods. London seems to be recovering but the ONS figures reveal a different way of working in the capital has emerged.

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