Following the outbreak of the coronaviruses COVID -- 19 London, Britain, June 5, 2020, bicycles are seen in front of The Frames, an office building owned by Workspace Group Plc. REUTERS Simon Newman
On Thursday, customer demand remained strong despite sector concerns about the surge in coronavirus cases in the UK, according to Workspace Group WKP.L, a London-focused office-space provider.
Office space providers like Workspace are limping back to recovery after being forced to realign their business models and strategies as tenants weigh in remote and hybrid working options or downsize spaces in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies exposed to office properties were pegged back further when the rapid spread of the Omicron variant brought back restrictions in several parts of the world.
Despite the renewed work from the Government in December, Chief Executive Officer Graham Clemett said in the company's third-quarter trading statement on Thursday that there is strong demand for our space, with good levels of enquiries, viewings and lettings.
Workspace said utilisation, which calculates the physical usage of office spaces by the tenants, has picked up in the first two weeks of January and is now at 43% of pre-pandemic levels, compared to 55% in November.
The company, which has some 3,000 customers and owns 40 million square feet of space across 60 buildings in London, said utilisation had fallen following the work-from-home guidance issued by the government last month.