Boris Johnson urges staff to get to the office as City’s biggest firms will only bring 40% back
Boris Johnson urges workers to get back to the office as it is revealed 30 of the City’s biggest firms will only bring back up to 40% of staff despite warning that keeping employees at home ‘risks bankruptcies’
- Despite Prime Minister’s plea many businesses refusing to bring staff back in
- Some firms say remote working from home has been successful and safer
- City of London firms say they will only bring back 40 per cent of staff
- Companies’ decision to ignore PM’s advice has prompted condemnation
- One MP said it risked bankruptcy for businesses that relied on office footfall
- But government website still gives official guidance to work from home if able
By Dan Sales and James Tapsfield, Mailonline Political Editor
Published: 04:55 EDT, 13 July 2020 | Updated: 08:14 EDT, 13 July 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today urged workers to return to the office from coronavirus lockdown – after some of the country’s biggest firms said only 40 per cent would return from home.
Some companies, including accountancy giant Deloitte and law firm Slaughter and May have allowed employees back, but others have been reluctant to act.
It could spell disaster for High Street shops – already on their knees from buyers staying away during the pandemic – and strangle the economy.
And other smaller businesses, including cafes and restaurants, could find themselves starved of customers from a lack of footfall from office blocks.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged again today ‘People should start to think about getting back to work’.
MP Andrew Bridgen also warned ‘The alternative to companies bringing people back in is bankruptcy and bankruptcy of others that rely on them.’
Among the major buildings currently under construction in the capital are 1 Undershaft (highlighted red, left) and the Diamond (highlighted red, right)
Easing of the lockdown led to the 30 biggest employers in the City of London telling police they only intend to bring a maximum of 40 per cent of their workforce back.
The reluctance to return was also backed by a new survey of 1,251 senior company managers that showed half of them would continue to let staff work from home.
Remote working – complete with its Zoom conference calls – has been judged a success by some businesses, who are now questioning the need for huge office buildings.
While Goldman Sachs has let staff return to its London headquarters only 600 of its 6,000 strong workforce took up the offer.
It is at odds with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s remarks on Friday and today telling people they should start getting back to work.
He told reporters during a visit to the London Ambulance Service: ‘What I want to see is people, who have been working from home for a long time, now talking to their employers, talking to their places of work, about the steps that have been taken and looking to come back to work in a safe way.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, pictured today with CEO London Ambulance Service Garrett Emmerson, said workers needed to get back to the office
Chains left in lurch without lunchtime rush
Business leaders called for more clarity from ministers yesterday over when millions of white-collar workers can return to their offices.
They claim working from home is damaging the economy, with High Street retailers such as Pret A Manger and Upper Crust slashing thousands of jobs after takings were hammered by the absence of employees buying food on their lunch breaks.
Boots also said footfall had ‘dramatically reduced’ as it announced plans to cut 4,000 jobs.
James Reed, of the recruitment firm Reed, said retailers had become ‘collateral damage’, adding: ‘Businesses need greater clarity over when workers could come back to offices.’
Shobi Khan, chief executive of the London offices landlord Canary Wharf Group, said: ‘There is no problem going to Spain, Italy or France, but heaven forbid you go to the office.’
Edwin Morgan, of the Institute of Directors, said: ‘Offices play a key role in the surrounding economy. City centre firms, particularly in food and hospitality, rely heavily on commuter custom.’
‘I think that’s got to be the key thing. Where businesses have made a huge effort to make the workplace safe I do think people should start to think about getting back to work but provided we all continue to follow the precautions.’
And MP Mr Bridgen, a businessman himself, told the MailOnline there was no plan B to bringing people back into work.
He agreed workers not coming back into offices would spell problems for others, like cafes and restaurants, who rely on their footfall.
Mr Bridgen added: ‘The alternative to companies bringing people back in is bankruptcy and bankruptcy of others that rely on them.
‘These are very strange decisions for company directors to take.
‘Quite apart from that, if companies don’t bring people back, they risk other people coming in filling gaps they have left.’
The High Street has been left in peril by the ravages of coronavirus and the pandemic’s lockdown.
It has seen British shoppers head online to shop, putting a feared 250,000 jobs at risks.
Already John Lewis and Boots have announced closures, respectively threatening 1,300 and 4,000 livelihoods.
The PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are said to be extremely concerned about the damage empty offices are having on town centre shops and restaurants.
Sources have said civil servants have now been told to return to their desks to set an example to the public on how to get back to work.
A conference call with Whitehall chiefs saw Mr Johnson say they should come back as long as it could be done in a Covid-secure way.
Staff at offices in the Wirral have already put social distancing measures into place
Boris calls for staff to go back to work – as long as they can safely
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday workers should start returning to work.
He said: ‘I think everybody has sort of taken the ”stay at home if you can” – I think we should now say, well, ”go back to work if you can”.
‘Because I think it’s very important that people should try to lead their lives more normally.
‘I want to see more people feeling confident to use the shops, use the restaurants, and get back into work – but only if we all follow the guidance.’
Mr Johnson also hinted face coverings will be made compulsory in shops in a bid to reassure nervous customers.
He admitted that ‘the balance of scientific opinion seemed to have shifted’ over how effective makeshift masks can be.
The PM added: ‘I do think we need to be stricter in insisting people wear face coverings in confined spaces where they are meeting people they don’t normally meet.
‘We are looking at ways of making sure that people really do have face coverings in shops, for instance, where there is a risk of transmission.’
He has also asked business and City chiefs, including Goldman Sachs boss Richard Gnodde, to order more staff back to base.
But the largest banks and firms are said to be concerned about issues with public transport for its staff, especially in London.
Financial lobby group TheCityUK warned: ‘The main focus for businesses is the ability to provide a safe office environment for staff, as well as staff concerns around using public transport.
‘While localised outbreaks remain a possibility, many firms will either take a slow and phased approach to returning to the office or continue to take a wait-and-see approach.’
Barclays chief executive Jes Staley said in April: ‘The notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past.’
Last month JPMorgan said it was preparing to move employees back into its Canary Wharf headquarters by the end of this month.
But it said staff into the office would be put into three groups, with up to three quarters of total employees working from home for the next few months.
Management in other business hubs in cities including Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow have also taken the same view.
Firms with a presence in Asia have also had their opinions formed by being hit by the pandemic earlier than Britain.
The big businesses’ fears is something smaller companies are also weighing over.
Lowri Tan, managing director of baby food brand Little Tummy, which pre-pandemic operated from an office in Soho, said her fledgling company would not be returning immediately.
She said: ‘The driving factor is definitely the money. As a small company, without having the fixed overheads and expenditure, it’s not a wise use of company resources when we know we can operate efficiently at home.’
How many jobs are at risk across the UK?
- Accenture – 900
- Airbus – 1,700
- Arcadia – 500
- BA – 12,000
- Beales – 1,052
- Bentley – 1,000
- Burger King – 1,600
- Casual Dining Group (Bella Italia, Cafe Rouge and Las Iguanas) – 1,900
- DHL at Jaguar Land Rover – 2,200
- EasyJet – 4,500
- Go Outdoors – 2,400
- Harrods – 700
- Harveys – 240
- Links – 350
- Mothercare – 2,500
- Oasis Warehouse – 1,800
- P&O Ferries – 1,100
- Pret a Manger – 1,330
- Ryanair – 3,000
- SSP Group (Upper Crust, Caffe Ritazza) – 5,000
- Ted Baker – 160
- TM Lewin – 600
- Tui – 8,000
- Victoria’s Secret – 800 at risk
Last week Ian Girling, chief executive of the Dorset Chamber of Commerce, said Ms Tan’s mindset was in lockstep with firms across the country.
He said: ‘As a result of the pandemic businesses will have to think about all of their future working arrangements, and this could be a challenge for businesses juggling the need to have people in the office or working remotely from home.
‘Undoubtedly, remote working has worked extremely well for some businesses and there are opportunities for some firms to save money going forward.’
If workers do go back in they will be greeted with the ‘new normal’ in big offices of temperature tests on arrival and strict rules on wearing masks in common areas.
Banks of hand sanitiser dispensers will also be a familiar site on most walls, as employers look to stamp out any chance of infection.
Accountancy firm PwC has reopened all its UK offices and chairman Kevin Ellis believes it will have more than just an impact on work rate.
He told the Guardian: ‘Bringing people together safely is important for teams, good for communities and good for the economy.
‘There is also a mental health benefit for many.
‘I see value in people being back in the office.’
The government’s website still has guidance saying employees should still work from home if they can and it suits the needs of the business.
But on Friday Mr Johnson said in a Q&A with the public, dubbed People’s PMQs, indicated a possible shift from the advice.
He said: ‘I want people to be back to work as carefully as possible.
Boris Johnson said on Friday he wanted people to start going back into work
‘It’s very important that people should be going back to work if they can now.
‘I think everybody has sort of taken the ‘stay at home if you can’ advice – I think we should now say, well, ‘go back to work if you can’.
‘Because I think it’s very important that people should try to lead their lives more normally.’
‘I wanted to see more people feeling confident to use the shops, use the restaurants, and get back into work – but only if we all follow the guidance.’
The urge to return to work came on the same day a survey of 1,251 senior company managers showed half of them would continue to let staff work from home.
The research from Opus Energy and Haven Power showed 48 per cent of the bosses questioned did not think workers had to go back into the office again
