Is it government policy that people who are working from home should return to their offices? Boris Johnson and ministers gave mixed messages over the weekend, after Johnson urged everyone – not just those whose jobs cannot be done remotely – to return to work. But government advice remains that those who can work from home should do so – and perhaps, more importantly, Conservative Party conference continues to be a digital-only event.
As I wrote on Friday, the reality is that while people are working from home, the businesses that have developed and expanded to service the needs of commuters will continue to suffer. Pret A Manger, Greggs, John Lewis, Timpson’s, Upper Crust, WHSmith: you name it, if it has a branch at or near a major train station, its fortunes are set to shrink in the short term and it may well disappear completely in the long run – unless it can manage the transition from servicing commuters in city centres to catering to them in residential areas.
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