Lots to think about when planning return to workplace

As we wait for news on whether the government will apply its latest stage on its road map and relax social distancing rules on 21 June, many businesses are turning their attention to the potential return of colleagues to the office, writes Steve Allen.

Certainly, our hospitality sector will be looking forward to more footfall in the city. The recent sad announcement by Opus that it was closing its doors for the last time demonstrates how this sector has been impacted by the pandemic.

Those who follow Twitter will have seen numerous posts about how fantastic our city is looking. You only have to walk from Chamberlain Square to Centenary Square to experience the beauty of what has been created from the new Paradise development to the stunning re-creation of Symphony Hall. It is to be hoped therefore that people will want to experience all that our city has to offer, particularly in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games.

Most businesses are, however, planning for what the new post-Covid world will look like by conducting root-and-branch reviews of working practices. Hybrid working looks to be the model most businesses are working towards combining the benefits of flexible working with the benefits of maintaining team cohesion within the office. It 's important that businesses get this right.

Whilst Covid has demonstrated how businesses can operate just as effectively with staff working from home there are still significant benefits in working from the office particularly from the perspective of culture, learning, mental health and collaboration. It 's also important that home versus office working does not introduce new inequalities into the work place for those who are not under the nose of management on a regular basis.

Similarly, office space will now become much more of an issue with many businesses contemplating whether they really need their large offices in favour of reduced floorplates as “collaboration ” areas when colleagues are in the office.

Business therefore has a lot to think about and whilst they do our city centre retailers, restaurants and coffee shops wait with unease as to what this may mean for them.

As we all begin to return to the office, we will be faced with Birmingham 's clean air zone which went live on 1 June. Anything that helps to improve air quality must be welcomed. At the Chamber, we have been working with the City Council since we first consulted with our members and produced our Consultation Feedback Report in August 2018.

We are pleased that the City Council have taken on board some of the recommendations in that report and formally partnered with us in raising awareness about the zone within the business community.

On the Chamber website you will find our Business Clean Air Zone Toolkit which includes an action checklist to ensure your business is ready for the new rules and access to our March 2021 paper 'Introducing Travel Plans for Business ' published in March to assist businesses help their staff use alternative modes of transport where possible.

Currently, because many of us are working from home there is good capacity in our public transport system due to a drop in passenger levels on pre-Covid levels on buses, the Metro and trains. Obviously these levels will increase as the return to work begins.

However, as we encourage colleagues to travel back into the city centre it is important that they are aware of the advantages of public transport and the steps taken by these companies to keep us all safe. For example, West Midlands Railway have on their website a function called 'How busy is my train today? ' which employs a green, amber and red traffic light system to help us understand when it is best to travel.

As businesses we can play our part as part of our planning by allowing staff to work flexibly to ensure that busiest times and routes are avoided in order to help maintain social distancing. But we should also more generally be encouraging our colleagues to put a toe in the water of returning to the city centre. There are so many benefits in doing so. This is Birmingham 's time and we should want everyone to be a part of it.

Steve Allen
President of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
Head of Birmingham office of Mills & Reeve

This column first appeared in the Birmingham Post