STAFF CAN KEEP ON REMOTE WORKING

OUTSOURCING giant Capita has told 35,000 staff to carry on working from home for as long as they want.

The TV licence and London Congestion charge operator is the latest to adopt a “hybrid” working model as firms plan ahead to when Covid-19 restrictions are finally eased.

Surveys of Capita staff found that 72 per cent would prefer to work up to three days a week from home.

As a result, around 35,000 of its 55,000strong workforce can choose to remain away from the office if they wish. The move includes call centre workers.

Capita boss Jon Lewis said: “There may be some financial services activities where, for reasons of security, people have to be in a secure environment. But for many of the things we do, they don’t have to be in such a facility.”

Capita offloaded 11 per cent of its office space in the last year, and expects to cut another 25 per cent this year. Lewis also revealed an overhaul of debt-laden Capita’s business structure, with six divisions cut to two, and plans to raise £700million by selling 30 businesses.

The firm saw revenue fall 10 per cent to £3.3billion last year. But losses narrowed from £62.6million to £49.4million, and debts dropped from £1.3billion to £1billion.

Capita’s share price, which has crashed 90 per cent since 2016, was up yesterday.

Capita’s Runcorn site

BRITAIN’S accountancy regulator should be scrapped and replaced with a new body with better powers, the Government has said.

It proposed replacing the current Financial Reporting Council, and capping the amount of audit work the “Big Four” accountancy firms – KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and EY – get.

It follows concerns about the role of auditors after the collapse of Carillion, Thomas Cook and BHS.