Sweet suburbia

It's apparent that the three day office week is here to stay, with a typical working week in the office now running from Tuesday to Thursday.

A study conducted by Placemake.io and Visitor Insights analysed mobile phone activity from over 500 UK high streets between 2019 and 2022. The study revealed that there has been increased activity in many small, suburban towns, which appears to be linked to the working from home trend, making seaside and suburban towns a lot busier than before the pandemic. 

So, what does this mean for suburban, regional town, high streets?

With consumers spending more time at home and in their local community, it's critical that landlords and local governments understand their local catchment and resident needs, to thrive.

The increased activity has led to greater high street footfall. In Kirkby, Merseyside, for example, footfall appears to have increased by 160% over three years, aided by local regeneration, including the opening of a supermarket in the town centre.

Barnsley Council has transformed the town centre through construction of The Glass Works, a £200m retail and leisure complex, a regenerated town market, which includes a high-quality food court on the upper floor, and more traditional stalls on the ground floor, as well as a high-quality public square.

Marlow and Wokingham were among some of the town centres recording the biggest increase in activity, with Marlow up by 33%. In Wokingham, Peach Place (seen above) has recently been redeveloped to provide modernised retail, restaurants, and newly developed residential apartments and townhouses.

It's becoming more important than ever for local high streets to have a balanced, refreshed, and diverse mix of offer. Towns with shops, offices, and housing all within walking distance - what planners call a 15-minute city - will be the most successful.

What does this mean for the City of London offices?

According to CBRE vacant office space in London has more than doubled in the last three years. The CEO of LandSec said Tuesday to Thursday was incredibly busy in the City of London, but activity on Mondays was only 50-60% of that level, and Fridays were almost as quiet as weekends.

Therefore, asset managers and landlords need to prepare for fewer people going into the office for the longer term and consider how to create a flexible space that provides more than just a desk and a computer. For offices to survive, they need to be attractive enough to draw staff in.

A good example of this is The Department Store, Brixton, which offers a compelling space for workspace occupiers as well as engaging the local community. The design of the space has been informed by the existing fabric and layers of history. Facilities for the public to access include a restaurant and bar which doubles as social space including two private dining spaces, an events space for talks, exhibitions, installations, photo shoots and pop-up events.

How can asset managers use commercial space to entice people back to the office, and how can they use commercial space to engage an additional audience to a development, beyond only those people who work in the building?

We help local governments, landlords, and asset managers to better understand their local catchment demographics and residential spend potential, as well as assisting in the optimum workplace strategy to entice people back to the office, and engage that additional audience.

Jemima Scott

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