The number of people working from their office in the UK last week reached the highest level since the start of the pandemic, according to Remit Consulting data.
The industry-backed management consultant’s research finds that for the week ending 17 June, average office occupancy rates for the UK stood at 30.6%, the highest since the start of the survey over 12 months ago when office workers were able to start returning after the COVID lockdowns.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all achieved occupancy of more than 35%, while Friday reached 20% for the first time. In London, the average office occupancy rate reached 40% from Tuesday to Thursday, with the West End exceeding 50% on the busiest days.
Lorna Landells at Remit Consulting said occupancy rates have been affected by recent events, including the extended Jubilee celebrations and half-term school holidays, but the underlying data reveals that, nationally, average office occupancy has been hovering at around 26-28% for several weeks. She said the most recent data is a continuation of this trend, "though tentatively encouraging".
Landells points out that the pattern of behaviour remains generally unchanged, with a strong showing from Tuesdays to Thursdays and Fridays now "almost a write-off in terms of a working day".
"Our data shows that, since mid-May, occupancy rates on Tuesdays to Thursdays have regularly reached 30-33%, with Fridays seeing figures of just 15-18%."
Landells said this week's planned tube and rail strikes will "clearly do nothing to boost numbers in the office".
The Return Report is compiled by Remit Consulting weekly and is based on data provided by building managers from office buildings in major cities around the UK, many in central and prime locations. The data is obtained from the buildings’ access control systems, providing an overview of the number of staff and visitors entering a property on weekdays. This is presented as a percentage of the capacity of each building.
There are diverse views in the property sector regarding what constitutes maximum occupancy for offices, with some industry commentators suggesting that, due to holidays, external meetings, staff sickness and other operational issues, offices were only ever 60-80% "full" before the pandemic.