Office workers were among the first to move to homeworking at the start of lockdown and sparked a change in working practices that is expected to remain for the foreseeable future. A recent survey of our business members showed that 88% expect to continue with a blended approach to home/office working in the future.
Knowing the city’s office population is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels, NE1 is working collaboratively with businesses, the City Council and other partners to devise ways of encouraging people back to the city. Our collaborative approach has already delivered positive results with Grey Street and other streets transformed with new pavement cafes and outdoor dining areas which were fast-tracked and ready for when lockdown eased. Significant upgrades to public spaces are also planned for the coming months and businesses, particularly in hospitality, leisure and retail are all working hard to adapt their offer to suit changing appetites. Together these changes will help Newcastle provide an attractive and warm welcome for shoppers, tourists and office workers for many years to come and will ensure that the city continues to adapt to compete with the lure of homeworking, giving people compelling reasons to return. Talking to several business leaders in the city, they echo our views that the changes to office life are likely to be semipermanent and that many workers will need encouragement to return to the city. Nigel Emmerson, Head of the Newcastle office at transatlantic firm Womble Bond Dickinson said: “Now that normality is settling back in, we know the office is going to be a very different place from the one we left and we can expect there to be a blend of home and office working well into the future. We are currently planning an office relocation and Covid has given us the opportunity to review the type of office we need and how we can shape the new space to create the optimum conditions for our business, our people and our clients. Our plans will reflect the fact that a large proportion of our people want to work from home at least some of the week. We know that face-to-face, in-person interaction is needed at times and that some people want to be in the office regularly so a hybrid work model is here to stay and flexibility will be key.” During lockdown we witnessed what has been called the ‘great workplace experiment’ when almost overnight, virtually every industry sector was forced to close and take their work home. Commercial property specialist, Paddy Matheson, Partner at Knight Frank explained; “The pandemic accelerated transformational change in office life that would otherwise have taken several more years to happen organically. “Now, as we look to return to the office, people are talking about what the post-pandemic office will look like. What is clear is that it won’t be one size fits all, instead it will be a hybrid of home/office working with companies investing more in their office space and applying new criteria in their search. With less space needed, we are already finding greater emphasis being placed on environmental and well-being considerations and how in the long run these will enhance staff retention. Digital companies were perhaps better placed than most to contend with the enforced remote working that Covid created, a fact that was not lost on Arwen Duddington, Chief Operating Officer at ZeroLight. Arwen said: “As a digital company we were perhaps more prepared than most for lockdown. We have staff all over the world and none of our clients, or partners are in the UK, let alone the region so our digital framework and working patterns for remote team working were already well established. “Staff have worked at home throughout lockdown and our productivity has remained the same as pre-pandemic. As we plan our return, we are looking at a new hybrid working model which will give staff individual choice whether to work at home or go to the studio for certain desk-based activities. We trust our employees and are happy to let them decide where best suits them to do their work. It is modern, innovative and a new approach which matches our company values. “We know this approach and the ability to work remotely will have other benefits including widening our recruitment pool and improving staff retention. By trusting our employees and not restricting them to work under particular conditions we will get the best results.” So as we emerge from lockdown, businesses will be returning to offices across the city, many embracing more flexible ways of working. Meanwhile, we will continue our efforts to enhance the city centre offer and have set our sights on not only supporting existing businesses to return and to grow but encouraging new ones to relocate here. That way, even allowing for the effects of WFH, the overall population of office workers in the city day to day will hopefully increase.”
