I had thought that by this time I would be writing about a post coronavirus world' but as I actually write this (on 20th October) we are threatened with the possibility of another lockdown which will in my view have a profound effect on people's mental health as well as the state of business.
I know it is a very difficult balancing act and I know that some people are very fearful’ and I know having had coronavirus back in August how rough it can be’ but I am still dubious about too many restrictions. Anyway’ I thought I would try and spread some more upbeat news about the world of property. Obviously there have been changes in the way we operate in each part of society since coronavirus has struck and some of these will be permanent. Not just because of any infection but just because people have discovered some “better ways of doing things”. So I would like to look at three sectors in particular where I have a professional interest.
Retail
Regular readers of Northern Insight and also my weekly spoutings on LinkedIn will know that I have been a champion of the High Street since restrictions from 2020 started to be lifted this year. I’ve been told by various people that the High Street is dead and that people don’t want shops anymore and everything is moving online’ but actually this isn’t as true as people might make out. You may recall if you look at my column from August 2020 (“Where do we go from here?”) that I commented that online sales grew between January and May 2020 from 19.1% of total sales to 33.4% of total sales. By January 2021 that had risen to 35.2% but by August 2021 it dropped back somewhat to 27.7%. It is clear that people do still like to buy from people and shopping is an experience for many.
Offices
Another thing that people have said is that “people won’t return to offices.” Whereas in the public sector this does seem to be quite apparent – trying to get hold of a council officer from a local authority seems akin to finding Wally in a children’s Where’s Wally cartoon’ but the private sector still seem to have an appetite for working back in offices’ albeit in a different manner. Some people are working hybrid (see my June 2021 column) and some are working in offices but more spaced out. However I can report that there is a good take-up of quality offices nationally. What has become apparent is that like in the leisure sector (see below) people are increasingly falling into one of two camps of “cheap and cheerful “or “quality and high ticket.” On that basis September 2021 was the strongest month for national office take up in nearly three years and it seems that the trend is going to continue to the end of this year. What has been noted that the demand for offices has been high quality space that is well ventilated rather than the somewhat older stock where ventilation of them by air-conditioning may be limited (is air-conditioning a contributing factor to the spread of coronavirus as well as other illnesses and diseases?)
Leisure
I spoke with a couple of my leisure clients and their views were interesting. One of my restauranteur clients has been complaining for some time about the inability to attract good quality staff. It seems that it isn’t just the money’ there is still an idea that hospitality is a stopgap job for people rather than a career choice. As I said in a recent LinkedIn post’ we may have to accept we will have to pay more for meals to pay hospitality staff more money so the career becomes a more attractive proposition?
I also spoke to a chain pub operator and their view was that one of the big issues has been knee jerk reactions by government’ making forward planning difficult. Residential neighbours of pubs have been used to the quiet’ and in some cases are now complaining about the resurgence of pubs. I have to say in contra to this that Jesmond does seem a lot busier now than pre Covid’ and I know that for residents this is proving to be an issue.
So… There you have it. Almost in the words of Mr. Spock to Captain James T Kirk’ (although apparently never in the series) – “It’s life Jim’ but not as we knew it.”
