The Centre for Economics and Business Research calculated the cost of lockdown to 'ghost town' London's hospitality sector at £25million per day. The Mail's findings come as a report published today said London's pubs, shops and restaurants alone had lost £2.3billion in lunch and after-work trade between March and June. It's going to be nice seeing colleagues again and being back in the office.' 'I've been working from home throughout the lockdown and started getting very bored. Ms Graboyz added: 'I'm not nervous at all and am confident that the management have done everything they can to make sure the office is safe. Things have to start returning to normal again and we have to get the economy back on its feet.' 'I think it's a very good move for the whole country. I've been working from home but had been told that we should now come back because the Government is allowing it. She said: 'It's my first day back and I'm actually quite excited. 'But we can't stay at home any longer, the country has to get working and most of our staff have been very supportive of what we have to do.'Ĭarina Graboyz, 60, an audiology technician said she was instructed to return to work by her manager following the Government's announcement. It's a very tricky situation because if there is another spike, we will all be in trouble. Mr Chalonel added: 'The Government has to get the balance right between reviving the economy and the nation's health. It cost us another £1,000 getting the office ready.' 'We're spending around £200 per week on regular cleaning, providing masks and hand sanitiser. He told MailOnline: 'We have told our staff to come back and have gone out of our way to make sure that it's safe for them to do so. Peter Chalonel, 69, who employs nine people, revealed how he is spending £200 per week to keep his office Covid-secure so that staff could return to the office. BT said it would only ask staff to return 'when we are confident it is safe'. Unilever will ask staff to return from September in a 'hybrid' system where people come into the office only a few days a week. The PM said Britons could go back to the workplace at the 'discretion' of their employers and would no longer be advised to stay away from public transport.īut many businesses are not planning for most workers to return to offices until at least towards the end of the year, while the likes of Facebook and bank RBS said staff will not go back until 2021. London traffic data from TomTom shows congestion at rush hour this morning stood at just 22 per cent, down from 26 per cent last week and 52 per cent last year.īut Apple mobility trends, which is only available up to Saturday, suggests there are more people driving in London - up 10 per cent - while walking and transit are down 11 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.Ī Mail audit of 30 of Britain's biggest firms, representing 320,000 employees, found just 17 per cent of office-based staff would travel to work this week. On a typical morning before the coronavirus struck, about 1,124,825 would take the London Underground between 4am and 10am.īut during the pandemic this plummeted by up to 90 per cent, with just 109,306 taking the network on the morning of May 29. MailOnline has contacted Transport for London for today's figures.īoris Johnson had heralded today – the first Monday in August – as the day 'work from home' guidance ends and Britain should return to the office. It is a world away from the usual jostle for a position at rush hour, when thousands of weary Londoners cram into all available spaces in the carriages. Passengers, some still not wearing face coverings, had plenty of space for social distancing as a few took the Jubilee Line into the city centre.īoris Johnson had heralded today – the first Monday in August – as the day 'work from home' guidance ends and Britain should return to the office.īut almost five in six office employees will continue to stay at home despite the desperate drive to reignite the economy.Ĭommuters sat on the Tube on their phones and read the newspaper this morning, with plenty of spare seats and only a few travellers forced to stand. Just 240,000 trips were made on the Tube during this morning's rush hour to 10am, which marks a six per cent increase on last week. London Underground journeys are still down by 75 per cent on last year as workers ignored the government's drive to get back to work today.