As I write this, this week Boris Johnson advised on the 19th January that people should return to work and from the 27th January facemasks are no longer compulsory in shops and on public transport in England.
Obviously this is causing more division in society with some employers wanting people back immediately in places of work, some looking at ways of hybrid working, and employees having different views about returning to places of work rather than “WFH”. Personally I feel there is a need to return to “places of work” in a thought out manner as it is important for our economy. Covid has robbed many lives, but it’s effects have been far less damaging to life than the headlines suggested. In 2021 there were 582,422 deaths recorded in England and Wales. In 2019 the figure was 530,841 and in 2018 541,589. Average annual deaths were 532,077 in the five years up to 2019 and 595,212 in the two years following. There was a serious increase in April 2020 when over 88,000 deaths were recorded against typical April figures of around 43,000 and this difference alone accounts for nearly 45,000 deaths. Yes 63,135 deaths is too many, but it isn’t quite as headline grabbing as the 500 to 1,000 deaths a day we were being told about at the time. I’m not going to deny that Covid exists or that it isn’t serious (I contracted it in August last year and it was pretty nasty); but we do need to deal with it in a responsible manner.
We talk about the decline of our towns and cities and everyone is sad about this. I would draw an analogy to when local village pubs close, there’s always the people who bemoan it because they went there “EVERY Christmas and EVERY birthday.” People working from home may not come into the towns and cities very often but if they’re working from usual office bases they will be frequenting the shops and leisure facilities.
HMRC are moving more than 9000 people into Newcastle city centre in the Pilgrims Quarter scheme when the property is complete. Obviously most of these people are moving from other outlying offices but it will still be a good boost for Newcastle as our main city.
The new Britishvolt factory in Blyth will employ over 3,000 people itself and this with the associated jobs it will create will give a terrific boost to Southeast Northumberland. Will this, with the new railway line, restore prosperity to Blyth town centre?
Town centres and retail parks provide the lifeblood of any economy. It is trade in goods and services that feeds everything. If we can get towns to flourish, we will generate more jobs, better jobs and more money in the country. David Davis, in Prime Minister’s Questions, quoted Leo Amery to Neville Chamberlain “In the name of God, go” – and this is what I would say – “In the name of God, go – back to your offices, to the shops, to the pubs, restaurants and leisure facilities.”
I have spoken above about what I believe are the economic benefits of co-working “the way we used to.” Working from home by definition means working alone, and Zoom calls or Teams meetings are no substitute for face-to-face contact. I believe in offices, I believe in town centres, and I believe in people. I think working with others, face to face (but maybe a little further apart than before) is going to help people’s mental health. And let’s be honest – mental health, though rarely spoken about, is the real wealth we all want.