How are UK agency bosses reacting to lockdown lifting delay?
With a return to offices further delayed across the UK, how are company bosses feeling about the lockdown easing being postponed yet again?
Many UK firms say the 21 June postponement will minimally impact plans to return to work
Earlier this week, senior government ministers in England decreed that further easing of lockdown restrictions, scheduled for June 21, was to be pushed back by another four weeks.
The planned shift, which would have seen the return of nightclubs as well as lifts on capacities in sports venues, pubs and cinemas, was also the date in mind for many companies to begin reintegrating staff back into offices.
For now, the government’s advice remains that everybody who can work from home should do so. Nadine Young, chief executive officer of, Starcom comments on how the government’s changes to its plans for easing restrictions will impact plans for reintegrating staff back into the office: “The delay to the government’s easing of restrictions hasn’t changed anything for us other than the timeline for our official welcome week back.
“We’re really pleased to see the office is getting buzzier each week as people start to feel more comfortable. This week’s announcement is an emotional disappointment of course, no one wants to feel like we’re taking a step back, but we look forward to having our welcome activities just a few weeks later.
“Obviously, flexibility is still key and we’re looking forward to seeing our new hybrid ways of working in action over the coming months, which is aligned with our Publicis Groupe UK Heads Up, Heads Down, Heads Together principles.”
Many agency bosses have agreed that the change in dates does not come as a huge surprise, and will not impact their plans to return to work all that much as a result.
Euan Jarvie, chief executive of Dentsu UK&I, says: “Our priority is to do everything we can to protect the health and wellbeing of our people, so of course we will stay close to the government guidance.
“In the meantime, we continue to work towards our hybrid model of working – a blend of home, office and remote working – and putting in place the tools and guidance needed to make this work for our people and our clients in the long term.”
Christi Tronetti, marketing director at M&C Saatchi, similarly told The Drum that the change in plans will have minimal impact on its offices as leadership had already planned for a 3:2 hybrid working model for staff, meaning it will ask full-time employees to aim to be in the office (or a client’s office) three out of five days a week.
“We believe this approach will enable us to improve wellbeing as well as helping us to attract and retain diverse talent,” she says.
At AMV, meanwhile, Michael Pring, its acting chief executive, deputy chairman and chief marketing officer, says that the government’s announcement will not have a major impact on its plans as a return to office hinges on the success of the UK’s vaccination rollout.
“There is plenty of pent-up demand to get back together, but also understandably some concern. Also, not all those who would like to be fully vaccinated are yet, and that is a further factor we need to be sensitive to. The end game is for most people to be in the office most of the time, but with some flexibility built in where it makes sense for both our staff and the business.”
Imbalances in levels of vaccination among staff has been a key factor when planning the return to the office – particularly in the US, where it is currently legal for employers to enforce mandatory vaccination. Some major firms, such as Goldman Sachs, are instructing workers to disclose their vaccination status ahead of returning to the office.
In New York – where around 70% of the population has now received their first dose – many workers are expected to return to their desks. Morgan Stanley’s chief exec James Gorman made headlines this week after he revealed he would no longer endorse out-of-state working, his message being: ”If you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York.”
In the UK, major banks including JPMorgan are leading the way in pushing for a return to offices – without the prerequisite of a vaccination. Although many of these plans have been pushed back in light of Monday’s announcement.
With the vaccination rollout in the UK still underway, it seems unlikely that most companies in adland will push for a mandatory return to the office before the autumn. However, with the rise in new variants, the likelihood of this remains to be seen. As Pring puts it: ”We will take return to the office step-by-step rather than committing to a plan that we then have to roll back from.”