London is working. Commuters who once resembled lone salmon, fighting their way upstream in order to get behind a city desk, are returning en masse – and at long last they look more Big Sur than Scottish burn. Theatre lights are coming on in the West End, and City suits are rediscovering their favourite drinking holes.
Almost two years after a pernicious new bug emerged from a wet market in China, a vaccinated UK workforce and its resilient businesses, shops, hoteliers, restaurateurs and cultural sectors, are falling into step.
The September return to work, post Covid–19 restrictions, has quickened Central London’s pulse. Gone are the days when a bottle of Cab Sauv on your nearest high street seemed to be the limit of one’s expectations.
Then again, London has a long history of reinventing itself after plague and fire. There are even signs that a new approach to employment and business might be cooking. Hybrid working is still in place for those who can work remotely. At the same time, companies and people have recognised that human contact is necessary and desirable for society as a whole.
Businesses have emerged from two years of Zoom–dominated isolation with a determination to rekindle the flame of optimism, but at the same time to offer something that counts. Mixed in with the desire for fun, and for the future, is an underpinning that yearns for something that matters.
You know that something interesting is happening when business–minded Westminster MPs start talking about the economic recovery of Central London in terms of a living organism, rather than numbers on a spreadsheet.
In late June, Nickie Aiken (Conservative MP, Cities of London and Westminster) referred to her constituency andits classic mix of businesses, restaurants, shops and hotels, as “part of a larger ecosystem.” Each sector relies on the other, she says, and on “the huge cultural offer that my constituency provides.” (Hansard, 22 June 2021).
Happily, since that speech in June, Central London no longer looks like a bleached outcrop of the Great Barrier Reef.
Savills commented on 27 October that investment in, and occupation of, Central London office space has picked up (good news for any 5 star hotel in Central London that would benefit from business conferences for part of its income, as well as the many eateries and hairdressers that service a busy office workforce).
The Evening Standard also says that investors’ interest in Central London offices has bounced back, with an emphasis on high quality, modern workplaces (£1.5bn and £1.4bn spent on City and West end office buildings from July to September 2021). The word on the street is that “carbon neutral” office buildings are the next big thing.
Savills also notes that the leisure sector has improved – pubs, bars and clubs report a 43 per cent spend growth against 2019 levels, while the entertainment sector has seen a renewed appetite for events, gigs and cinemas, plus after–work socialising.
There’s even talk about “pandemic exiles” who fled London over the last couple of years, only to boomerang back to enjoy the benefits of the capital. “Write off London at your peril” is the conclusion.
“High street footfall was undoubtedly supported by a shift back to the office” says Diane Wehrle of Springboard, the data tracking company, (Reuters, September 27). In fact, the number of eager shoppers coming back to Central London rose by 6.5 per cent in one week during September.
As for Nickie Aiken’s constituency biosphere, comprising business, hospitality, and cultural sectors:
“Covid has proven that if we take one part of that ecosystem away, for example, by not allowing theatres to open to their full capacity, there is a vast knock-on effect on all surrounding hospitality businesses, as well as on other cultural offers such as museums and galleries.”
The good news is that from Bankside and Tower Bridge in the East, to St Martin’s Lane and Shaftesbury Avenue in the West, Central London’s theatres are no longer dark. And people are coming back. The buzz is infectious. Alongside classical theatre there are immersive forms of entertainment (theatrical, role playing, games–based) and even pop–up, themed cocktail bars.
The audience is hungry to get involved. It’s this push to embrace the future that’s driving business confidence – and Central London is leading the way.
According to City AM, London will be the driving force for UK economic recovery. Which is quite an achievement, given that this was one of the locations hit the hardest during the pandemic.
But firms in the capital are now more confident than any other region across the UK when it comes to their medium term future (according to Lloyds Bank’s latest business barometer survey).
Naturally there have been problems, not least supply chain breakdowns and shortages of essential materials. But as these factors have eased, confidence has risen. Post Christmas, increasing costs mean that almost half the firms canvassed by Lloyds expect to increase prices in 2022, but the sense of wanting to move into the future with head held high remains undaunted.
There are things that could help that future. A government–backed insurance scheme that allows event organisers to plan for the risk of Covid 19 cancellations would be beneficial.
The VAT freeze on cultural tickets has already helped investment in venues, as well as recapitalisation and paying off pandemic debt.
Extended Sunday trading hours (as in Edinburgh, New York and Tokyo) would be a great boost to hard pressed retailers, helping them mitigate the effects of the last two years. Increased Sunday opening hours would benefit theatres that are now introducing Sunday matinees, while top London hotels from Tower Bridge to Westminster Abbey could continue to pamper international travellers as well as weekenders and Sunday visitors. Confidence in safe public transport systems is essential.
An ecosystem is a community of living and non–living things and their shared environment, it’s a recognition of interdependence, not just competition, of niches and sustainability. Post pandemic, London’s frame of reference has shifted from the mechanistic to the organic. It’s a good look, and it’s committed to the future.
