Almost half of readers worried working from home will hit trade

Almost half (48.9%) of respondents to a Twitter poll posted by The Morning Advertiser (MA)​ voted that they were worried a permanent shift to working from home would damage their recovery.

Are you worried that a permanent shift to working from home will damage your pub's recovery? #ukpubs

— The Morning Advertiser (@morningad) May 6, 2021

A similar proportion (42.9%) said they were not worried about the potential hit to trade while less than one in ten (8.3%) voted "unsure".

The results came after the BBC found that almost all of the country's 50 biggest employers do not plan to bring workers back to the office on a full-time basis.

Some 43 firms said they were gearing up for a hybrid of home and office working, encouraging staff to work from home two to three days a week.

The Government’s message on work is currently that those who can work from home should do so.

Laptop brigade

However, as lockdown eases this stance is expected to be eased and workers to be encouraged to return to offices.

City-centre businesses have suffered from a lack of lunchtime trade and after work drinks since the first lockdown was lifted last summer.

Speaking to The MA​ earlier this year, Manchester-based operator Elaine Wrigley described how her pub had been hit by a drop in city centre footfall.

While the Atlas Bar had always repealed the benefits of a “laptop brigade” of office workers and university students, this trade had failed to pick up after the first lockdown, the licensee said.

Prior to the third lockdown in England, there were marketing initiatives across the sector to encourage home-workers to set up office in a pub.