London’s flexible office workers shift to four days a week
Workers in London’s flexible office space have increased the number of days at their desk, despite sentiment that Londoners were unlikely to return to pre-covid working patterns.
Three quarters of workers in flexible offices now use the working space at least four days a week, according to fresh data from Knight Frank.
This comes amid the growing levels of demand from companies, leading to nine in 10 operators of flexible office space expanding their portfolios this year.
Firms have been increasingly pressuring employees to return to the office, with home-working blamed for a drop in productivity.
Only a third of workers think they are more productive at home day-to-day, and two-thirds feel more productive at home for at least some of their tasks, a Centre for Cities report found.
In the last few months, PwC, Santander and Amazon have all pushed staff to return to the office – PwC told its employees and partners in late November that its new hybrid working policy would require them to spend at least three days a week with clients or in the office.
Flexible offices are becoming increasingly scarce
With the demand for high-quality flexible office space on the rise, scarcity has risen and prices have gone up.
Knight Frank found that companies of all sizes are taking on flexible office space, with three quarters of operators and landlords witnessing larger firms leasing more space compared to the year before.
“It is becoming the norm for companies requiring less than 10,000 sq ft to select a flexible workspace, given they can set up swiftly in a modern building with a mix of amenities and pay just one monthly bill,” Amanda Lim, head of flexible offices at Knight Frank said.
“The opportunity to also bypass various legal, IT, furnishing and fit-out costs, means that larger corporates are increasingly incorporating flexible offices when outgrowing existing workspaces… [but] scarce availability within new prime buildings across the City and West End have complicated matters for companies looking to secure traditional long-term leases,” Lim added.
However, this scarcity might be short-lived, with landlords looking to cash in on demand by building more offices.
Helical has proclaimed that “now is the time to build” and earlier this year, one of London’s biggest landlord’s GPE said it would raise up to £350m to invest in new properties across London.
Grosvenor similarly announced plans this year to convert a fifth of its UK office stock, approximately 300,000 sq ft, into flexible workspace.
Additionally, X+Why announced this month that it agreed terms with Bedford Estates to let 21,500 sq ft at Bloomsbury House on Great Russell Street, where it will roll out its flexible workspace offering next year.