Money

London’s Canary Wharf set for increased worker numbers as rules are relaxed


London’s Canary Wharf is readying for the return of up to three-quarters of its workforce following the relaxation of social-distancing rules.

The financial district has enforced one-way routes, limits on lift capacity and regular cleaning. As of last week, about 7,000 of its 120,000 workers had returned, about double this time last month.

Canary Wharf is now making changes to reduce social distancing down to “one metre plus” across its estate, in line with government guidance, which will mean more workers will be able to return. 

Howard Dawber, managing director for strategy of Canary Wharf, said that major tenants expected to slowly increase numbers over the summer, taking a cautious approach and following government guidelines, but that the estate was “ready for large numbers to come back”.

The office district is sticking to rules that mean only four people per lift, although the reduction in distancing means it could allow more in blocks such as One Canada Square in future. 

Mr Dawber added: “We haven’t really had any queues yet — we have built the system to cope with a very large number and 7,000 is easily handled, plus people are staggering their arrival times.”

But he said public transport was the main issue preventing more workers from returning. “Government advice remains ‘avoid public transport’. We are hoping that they will soon amend this to ‘avoid peak times’.”

About 216,000 visits were made to its shopping mall this week, again more than double last month. Almost half of the retail outlets have reopened.

Many banks and professional services groups are reopening their offices for workers who need to return to do their jobs. On Friday, PwC told the Financial Times that all of its UK offices would be open from Monday, at what it expected to be about 15 per cent occupancy.

Kevin Ellis, UK chair and senior partner, said that “bringing people together safely is important for teams, good for communities and good for the economy”.

He added: “Office life can be balanced with working from home and the safety of our people is key. Currently we have six offices open across the UK, with a few hundred of our 22,000 people working there at the moment. From 6 July, we are opening all of our offices and expect that we will have up to 15 per cent of our people initially who have a business or personal need to work in the office.”

PwC has put safety systems in place for its workers, including sensors that allocate desks for people to sit at. “I see value in people being back in the office, so we’re continually reviewing and adapting our plans as lockdown eases. If it’s safe to do so, I would hope that our offices are operating at more than 50 per cent of their usual capacity by the end of September,” Mr Ellis said.

Other City occupiers such as Goldman Sachs have also said that employees could return to the office.



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