Half of UK firms open offices outside city centres, study claims

Workspace provider IWG says 73% have cut rental costs while 80% have changed to accommodate hybrid working

More than half of businesses have opened offices or working spaces outside city centres, in response to the shift towards hybrid working, according to new research.

Flexible workspace provider IWG, which operates about 300 offices under brands including Regus and Spaces, said that 82% of firms have changed their office space needs to cater for more flexible working.

If you ask intelligent people to commute unnecessarily for two hours a day, to come to an office to use a laptop that they could have used down the road from their home, they are going to question that."