Quarter of UK business to close or scale down offices post-pandemic | WARC | The Feed
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Quarter of UK business to close or scale down offices post-pandemic
Over a quarter of UK companies say they plan to close, downsize or consolidate their offices going forward, as they move to a flexible mix of remote and in-office working.
Such a change has profound implications for many businesses, not least the experiential advertising sector, which had seen booming growth for over a decade leading up to 2020 – then the pandemic struck.
The details
- After a year of experiencing the work-from-home model, more than half, or 53%, of businesses say they plan to offer more flexible or remote working policies, according to research from research company YouGov carried out for HR tech firm Applaud.
- 30% of businesses say they are expecting employees to come into the office only between one and three days a week. 14% say they don’t expect staff to return to the office at all after the pandemic.
What it means for advertising
- Meanwhile, advertisers in the UK and US are gaining in confidence as vaccine rollouts gather pace and an end to the toughest restrictions are now within sight – agencies report pent-up demand from advertisers to return to pre-2020 levels.
- Experiential activity is likely to see a shift, and focus less on central locations. According to UK agency Appear Here, which helps brands use vacant storefronts, sometimes for as short a time as a day, the focus now is on local ‘neighbourhood’ activations, with brands increasingly renting storefronts next to places where people work, eat and seek entertainment.
- Savvy brands are active in neighborhood spaces to connect with local communities. Demand for stores in ‘cool neighborhoods’ versus city centre high streets has gone up by 56% compared to pre-Covid, it says
Key quote
“People want to congregate outside in parks and restaurants. That’s an experience where brands are looking to see how they can help and play a role in even those in-between spaces. It’s really a pretty broad spectrum in terms of how brands are looking to come back” – Gaston Tourn, Appear Here chief marketing officer.
Sourced from CityAM
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