The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has calculated that the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a total of £11.9bn of displaced city centre spending, as many workers swapped offices for their homes in major UK cities. 

The firm stated: ‘This is the amount we estimate that workers would have otherwise spent in shops, pubs and eateries near employment hubs in five of the UK’s largest cities between March 2020 and May 2021, which has been lost or displaced. Our analysis looked at five of the UK’s largest cities: London, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle and Cardiff. If office workers move to hybrid working long-term, then these cities are set to see employment hub spending stand £322m a month lower than pre-pandemic levels.

‘Google mobility data shows that in April 2020, the number of people going to places of work on weekdays across the UK was 69% lower than before the crisis, this number has since recovered to 34% in May 2021. Out of the five cities analysed in this study, Cardiff remains the city with the lowest share of workers who have returned to the office, with the number of people attending workplaces on weekdays standing 50% lower than pre-crisis levels in May.’