WFH Monday and Friday is new blow to our city centres

If you’re sitting in an office, surrounded by empty desks and dusty computer screens, this may come as little surprise to you.

Working in the office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday has become the new normal, a report revealed yesterday.

Bosses are still struggling after the pandemic to get staff back in five days a week, with many employees working from home on Mondays and fridays.

Analysts looked at mobile phone data on more than 500 high streets between 2019 to 2022.

They found increased activity in suburban areas and small towns, which was linked to the trend for working from home.

The data confirms what inner city retailers, restaurant and bar owners have been feeling, having hoped things would return to normal once the pandemic was over. Mark Allan, chief executive of property firm LandSec, backed up the data, saying that Tuesday to Thursday was busy again in the City of London.

However activity on Mondays dropped to just 50 per cent of that level and fridays were almost as quiet as weekends.

‘We’re not going back to how things were pre- Covid,’ said Mr Allan.

‘We certainly believe there are going to be fewer people in offices for the longer term and we are planning accordingly.’

Real estate firm CBRE said empty office space in London has more than doubled over the past three years.

CBRE’s head of research, David Inskip, suggested a basic office set-up might put off staff, adding: ‘It has to be a high quality built environment that draws you in.’

Placemake. io and Visitor Insights’s data suggested that smaller towns and suburbs have gained from city centre losses, as high street footfall has increased.

In Kirkby, Merseyside, footfall has increased by 60 per cent over three years, aided by a new supermarket in the town centre.

PlaceMake.io founder Chlump Chatkupt said: ‘The places that have thrived have a more balanced, diverse mix of office, residential and retail.’