Working from home has a massive impact on Sheffield city centre, new research finds

Sheffield Property Association’s report “An evolution of the economic impact of post-Covid working practices on Sheffield city centre” was commissioned “to substantiate what many would regard as gossip or hearsay” on how working from home changed everything.

One of the most striking revelations was that Sheffield was experiencing the joint fourth-highest increase in remote working of any of England’s core cities at 18 per cent.

As a result, people started spending more locally – for instance, Walkley has seen the fifth-biggest boost in local spending of any UK neighbourhood outside London with 16.7 per cent.

Bus and tram journeys are down by a third compared with pre-Covid numbers and now Sheffield City Council and the South Yorkshire mayor are being urged to do more, including investing in offices.

In terms of office occupancy numbers, many major city centre employers are still operating at under 25 per cent in Sheffield.

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Tim Bottrill, a director at Sheffield Property Association, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it wanted a paper backed up by facts on the impact working from home had and “not just individuals saying something”.

He said: “Working from home and all of these sorts of working trends actually existed before Covid… The concept is not new. I think what Covid did was just to accelerate lots of things and it’s here to stay. There is no doubt about it.

“What we would try to highlight is that whilst a lot of people see the positives in it, everything is not positive – coffee shops, suffer massively, restaurants, bars, shops – and we all care deeply about our city centre.”

Mr Bottrill added they also wanted to highlight the benefits of visiting the city centre so more people would do so.

He said these days offering the balance of working from home was the norm, however, some big companies started to sell themselves to potential employees by creating “an amazing environment” in a vibrant city centre.

“It’s just trying to get this balance back,” he added.

When asked if hybrid working – for example, three days in the office, two days at home – was the solution, Mr Bottrill said it was very sector-specific.

However, forcing people back to the office may come across as an aggressive approach.

He said being in the office employees have the chance to learn from each other – by listening and watching – without possibly realising they’re learning something new.

Mr Bottrill said: “But it depends on the job role because there are certain job roles which are very individual – you do not need any sort of interaction.

“But then there are other bits, like design where you need to talk to people and be in rooms – I just think the balance just needs to come back a little bit more.”

He added only half a day or a day more (or on the contrary, less) in the city centre had a huge financial impact.

The above-mentioned report found that two days working from home would see a total annual loss in city centre spend of £16.2m while three days working from home would see a total annual loss of £32.4m. The report also found the Cathedral and Kelham areas have seen a 7.5 per cent loss in spending, adding to pre-Covid difficulties.

Also, between March 2020 and September 2021, Sheffield suffered a loss of 31 weeks of sales, the research concluded.

He said: “These are huge numbers, aren’t they?”

He added the report included a number of recommendations to Sheffield Council and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) with whom they were in touch.

The public bodies, the report said, should continue investment in the city centre, help shops, support the night-time economy and make sure it has a variety of shops, businesses, green spaces and housing.

Among the recommendations to employers were introducing an ongoing investment into the office environment, offering flexible office hours, scheduling team days and organising social events.

In addition, the report is calling for the support of the £2 bus fare in order to incentivise public transport use/travel.

The report concluded: “These recommendations aim to foster a greater uptake of office working, ensuring a healthy balance between remote and in-person work.

“By doing so, they seek to mitigate the potential downsides of new working patterns while simultaneously supporting the future economic prosperity of the city centre.”