Bosses are calling for staff to get back into the office more regularly — and snapping up space in central London. While many big firms accept that a hybrid working model is here to stay, City banks in particular are taking a tough stance. JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have made it clear they expect to see staff most days, if not all five, especially if they run a department.
Demand for London office space has climbed, new research shows, signalling that employers see having staff under one roof, for at least part of the week, as vital. Figures compiled for the Standard by JLL show firms sought 11.8 million new square feet in August. This has increased for five consecutive months and is 44 per cent higher than the same period a year earlier. It is also 31 per cent above the long-term average.
Andrea Rossi, CEO of City fund M&G, said: “Coming together fosters better collaboration and teamwork, enabling us to better serve our clients. The development of 40 Leadenhall by M&G Real Estate, the largest office development set to be completed next year in the City, shows demand from high-performing businesses for excellent, well-located space to bring teams together.”
JLL says the banks are most active in terms of demanding space, followed by professional services and the technology, media, and telecom sector.
Andy Lewis-Pratt, CEO of Market Halls, which operates food halls in Victoria, Canary Wharf and Oxford Street, said: “It’s vital to have workers coming back to the office. We have seen a change in the pattern of office workers coming into London. Professional workers are coming back, sometimes because they’re told to, but sometimes because they want to.”
More than four-fifths (83 per cent) would opt for working in some form of office over doing so remotely full-time. The research, commissioned by the Office Group, which offers short-term lets and flexible contracts, included replies from 142 London-based staff.
