Twelve months after the first national lockdown, and despite current restrictions starting to lift, the nation鈥檚 offices have changed for ever.
The upheaval of spring 2020 has subsided and for millions, a new style of remote working has become the norm.
As the economy tentatively opens up, where will new technology such as mobile phones, high speed internet, Zoom and remote PA services leave those offices?
Some companies have already said they will be shutting offices completely. Others have said it could be months before staff are able to return.
And many others have mooted a combination of home and hub working which could provide the best of both worlds.
This month call centre giant Capita told 35,000 out of 55,000 staff they can work from home permanently if they want.
Jon Lewis, Capita鈥檚 chief executive, said: 鈥淐all centres are to some extent, a historic capability today. There鈥檚 no reason why you need to put 2,000 people in a warehouse in the 海角视频. Those people can work from home.
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 dead, but there鈥檚 certainly going to be a lot less of them.
鈥淭here may be some financial services activities where, for reasons of security, people have to be in a secure environment, but for many of the things we do they don鈥檛 have to be in such a facility.鈥
Office interior specialist Rob Day said the writing was on the wall well before the pandemic.
He believes that the traditional office space and huge call centres of the last 30 or so years will have to change or die.
Rob runs workplace consultancy and commercial office fit out specialists Blueprint Interiors.
Based in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, it serves the Midlands and beyond.
The team recently completed a new office for Gleeds in Bristol, creating open plan workspaces to encourage agile working.
Rhys Davies, who heads the law firm's south west office, said the changes represented a 鈥渇irst step in a shift in approach as we think about changing the ways in which we all work鈥.
Mr Rhys said: 鈥淲e want our staff to have access to working spaces that are Covid-compliant in the short-term and encourage collaboration and flexible working practices long-term.鈥
As well as helping clients adapt, Blueprint has been working on a behind-the scenes project at its own offices, WorkLife Central, putting in audio-video systems with big, interactive digital screens and new software which helps people work together wherever they are.
A new work-cafe area, furniture, greenery and clever acoustics have been used to demonstrate how agile spaces can be created for individuals and groups to work together and socialise safely.
Rob said: 鈥淥ver the last 20 years we鈥檝e continually evolved to create workplace environments designed with people in mind.
鈥淲hilst there has been a steady progression in this belief, the effects of the 2020 pandemic has significantly accelerated this demand.
鈥淚t was therefore time to re-design our own office space so those who need to re-define their office for the return of workers can see and experience for themselves the latest in design, furniture and technology as part of the overall discovery of how their offices and culture could be transformed with our help.鈥
He said many companies will have no choice but to shake-up how they operate.
鈥淭he IT revolution is the fourth industrial revolution, and the rate of change is doubling, so those rows and rows of people in call centres are the ones that are facing the biggest changes.
鈥淲ith the pandemic it鈥檚 changing even faster now. We started demonstrating the new way of doing things three years ago when we opened our office.
鈥淪ince my first job 35 years ago for Barclays when I worked in three big hexagonal tower blocks in Poole, Dorset, the evolution of the workplace has been phenomenal.
鈥淚 first became aware of office design in 1979 in an open plan office, which was revolutionary back then.
鈥淏ut in the last five years the evolution of the personal computer and then mobile computing has been exponential. A PC or MacBook Pro has more computing power than the computer floor of a bank 30 years ago.
鈥淎nd think what you can do with that 鈥 my job has gone from moving bits of information on pieces of paper to engaging directly with members of other organisations. So our ability to collaborate and work together as individuals has developed.
鈥淭he workforce that mimics the old fashioned transfer of paper from one desk to another will simply not exist.
鈥淲henever I call someone in a call centre I always ask them what鈥檚 going on, and quite early in the pandemic they were saying 鈥淚 don鈥檛 miss the commute, but I really miss the social side of things鈥.
鈥淚f you look at solicitors鈥 offices, for instance, many of them are massively over-represented with desks.
鈥淚f you think about how they have changed in the last 20 years, partners have become their own secretaries, planning their own work. They are knowledge workers and the whole world is going that way.
鈥淭his changing dynamic has been going on a long time, but the reasons for it are now clearer to everybody.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about giving your workers cheap gym membership 鈥 it鈥檚 about empowering them and entrusting them to work smarter.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a massive fan of everything Richard Branson does but he was wise enough to say if you look after your staff they will look after their customers.
鈥淚f people just continue in the old 9-to-5, same-old same-old, they will get left behind. If you do not change you will die.
鈥淕leeds wanted us to help them change the culture of their Bristol office and that鈥檚 how things are going to have to change 鈥 not every business will make it.
鈥淐ompanies need to change their systems and their processes and their people control, and if that happens we will have better, richer, more stimulating work environments where it is easier to engage with people.鈥
