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Brits must return to offices to stop city centres becoming 'ghost towns', CBI boss warns

AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images

City centres risk becoming permanent "ghost towns" if staff do not return to offices, a senior business leader has warned.

Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said getting staff back into offices and workplaces is as important as pupils returning to school in September.

Boris Johnson signalled an end to stay at home guidance in July as he gave employers the green light to get staff back to work, but Dame Carolyn called for the Prime Minister to do more to get office workers back at their desks.

"The UK’s offices are vital drivers of our economy," she wrote in the Daily Mail. "They support thousands of local firms, from dry cleaners to sandwich bars. They help train and develop young people. And they foster better work and productivity for many kinds of business.

"The costs of office closure are becoming clearer by the day. Some of our busiest city centres resemble ghost towns, missing the usual bustle of passing trade. This comes at a high price for local businesses, jobs and communities."

Her plea came as a survey from University College London found almost a third of younger workers intend to carry on working from home, the Telegraph reports.

The UCL Covid-19 Social Study found that 32 per cent of 30 to 59-year-olds and 29 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds said they planned to work from home more after the pandemic ends.

The study has been monitoring the attitudes and views of 70,000 people since coronavirus lockdown started in March.

A separate survey by the BBC found that 50 of the UK's biggest employers have no plans to return staff to the office full-time.

Some 24 companies said they did not have any plans to return to workers to the office, while 20 have opened their offices for staff unable to work from home.

One of the main reasons to remain at home was the inability to stick to social distancing guidelines while accommodating large numbers of staff.

However, many businesses said they were offering choice and flexibility to staff who wanted to return.

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It comes as a CBI report revealed retailers have slashed jobs at the fastest pace since the height of the financial crisis - and warns the worst of the cuts are yet to come.

Non-essential shops have been able to reopen since June, but many retailers have had to close shops and cut staff as shoppers and office workers continue to avoid the high street.

Alpesh Paleja, lead economist at the CBI, said: "The furlough scheme has proved effective at insulating workers and businesses in some of the worst-hit sectors during the pandemic, but these findings reinforce fears that many job losses have been delayed rather than avoided."

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