Firms That Downsized After Covid Struggling to Find Office Space

Companies that downsized after Covid are wanting to move back into bigger, newer offices but are finding that there is next to no space available – because everyone thought work-from-home was going to be the new normal. The Times has the story.

The trend during the pandemic was to move to better but smaller offices, with bosses and workers expecting working from home to stick around. However, more businesses are now asking their staff to come back into the office more regularly, which has led to growing demand for bigger spaces.

One boss of a national consulting firm admitted his mistake, saying: “In lockdown I had to look into a crystal ball and predict our future ways of working and got it wrong.”

Stephen Inglis, Chief Executive of Regional Reit, which owns dozens of office blocks outside of London, name-checked Deloitte, the Big Four accountant, as one of those with downsizing regrets.

“They probably downsized too much, as did some of the banks, and they have some of the biggest [office space] requirements in the market just now,” he said, adding that most businesses wanted to be in “the very best space. But we’ve run out. There is little to no ‘prime’ space available in regional cities.”

That reflects a combination of the increased demand amid that ‘flight to quality’ but also the dearth of construction during the pandemic when few developers wished to bet on how demand for offices would hold up.

Worth reading in full.