[David9694]

The same businesses that keep saying “we must have cars outside”, etc is it, Dame Carolyn?

Coronavirus: Civil servants ‘must get back to offices quickly’ (BBC news)

“The government has launched a campaign to encourage people back to the workplace after business leaders, including the head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), warned that city centres could become “ghost towns”.

Thousands of businesses that rely on passing trade are suffering while offices stand empty, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn from the CBI has said.” (my emphasis)

also:

“Writing in the Daily Mail, Dame Carolyn said the UK’s offices were “vital drivers” of the economy, supporting thousands of local firms, from dry cleaners to sandwich bars. 

“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.””

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53925917

I agree about bustle : How about sorting out cycling infra to enable that to happen?

Topic

[TheBillder]

I’ve been wfh since early
I’ve been wfh since early March and yes, coffee spending is up – real coffee, natch, none of your instant nonsense. But I can get a lot of coffee for my bus fares.

What I don’t understand is why the CBI DG, who presumably believes in free markets, commercial Darwinism etc, thinks that those businesses that depend on wfo should be kept afloat by the rest working less efficiently and perhaps risking spread of the virus. Surely the market has spoken and the labour and capital used in dry cleaning could be better used in production of something we actually need.

I hope the increase in wfh is permanent, saving emissions and making the roads safer for cycling. I never want to get anything dry cleaned again, thanks.

[brooksby]

Wouldn’t WFH lead to an

Wouldn’t WFH lead to an increase in your electrical and heating costs, and on your spending on instant coffee?

(I never stopped WFO, I’m afraid)

[David9694]

On the plus side, WFH as the

On the plus side, WFH as the default slashes a range of overheads for employers and employees alike.  

[Anonymous]

I bet Dame Carolyn wrote her

I bet Dame Carolyn wrote her words from the comfort of her kitchen table while WFH. Why should the hoi polloi return when many public sector workers and the professions are staying resolutely away?

I agree that it’s a fantastic opportunity to invest in cycling and it’s infrastructure, but I wouldn’t trust any of the institutions we rely on right now to have a clue how to do joined up thinking on a local scale, let alone national.

[Author]

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