10.07.2020, 11:07
The Perfect Work-Life Balance
With COVID-19 reshaped thinking about office-based working in the UK, Burrough Court in Leicestershire is rolling out a blended “Home & Hub” lifestyle concept.
As lockdown restrictions ease even with the new coronavirus still in circulation, practical changes and a psychological shift are affecting how traditional office space is used.
Public opinion on the use of office space post-COVID shows some interesting results. Savills reports that 89 per cent of the 65,000 people it surveyed believe that physical office space remains a necessity for successful business operations. A Bright Horizons survey, meanwhile, found that just 13 per cent of working parents want to return to fulltime office work. The majority (55 per cent) rooted for a blended home/office model, with no more than three days spent in the office each week, while 14 per cent preferred the idea of just one day a week in the office, with office workers shifting towards a blended “Home & Hub” model of working.
Companies may also need to look to a hub-style model in order to facilitate social distancing. In order to comply with social distancing requirements, UK companies will need to reduce the capacity of their offices, as well as rethinking the use of communal areas. Well located regional hubs can absorb the staff misplaced by this need to reduce capacity.
Fred Wilson, Burrough Court director, says: “While it’s still early days, in terms of the lockdown measures easing, we’re seeing a definite shift in mindset when it comes to using office space. Many of our clients are working around a new Home & Hub hybrid model that blends home working with working from a hub that is outside of the big city but that still provides them with a professional environment. It’s a concept that we’ve seen growing gradually over the past 12 to 18 months, but the COVID pandemic has seriously accelerated the pace at which interest in the Home & Hub idea is growing.”
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