It’s now been five years since Boris Johnson sent us all home from work, with rapidly drafted WFH policies to follow.

The first UK lockdown began on 23rd March 2020, and over the ensuing years, the pandemic caused seismic shifts in societal norms – especially the real estate world, where spaces including offices, retail, and industrial have had to repeatedly pivot.

To gauge the enduring impact, we asked a range of Workman leaders to tell us how Covid changed their sectors…

How Covid changed offices

Monika Newton, Partner and Head of Welcome Offices

How have office owners and occupiers found innovative ways to recover from the pandemic?

“Repositioning of office spaces – many buildings have been transformed into amenity-rich environments, offering features such as collaborative spaces, advanced technology and wellness facilities to attract new, and retain existing, occupiers such as Mott MacDonald’s expansion at 10 Fleet Place or the creation of a new terrace and reception refurbishment to create more space for collaboration at One Stratford Place. Demand for good quality offices is stronger than ever, especially in central London locations such as Oxford Street, where AEW recently withdrew the sale of 100 New Oxford Street, in favour of a recapitalisation.

“Hybrid work model – flexible work arrangements and hybrid models that see employees split their time between home and office, are the new norm. For example, Oxygen has recently created a new plug & play office space at 80 Cheapside, a Workman-managed property where we supported the client’s team in delivering the project by ensuring uninterrupted operations for existing occupiers during the ongoing work. We collaborated with the Oxygen team to ensure the final product not only looks great, but also functions seamlessly in daily operations.

“Community – creating spaces within buildings that foster community and collaboration, such as shared lounges and event areas. But also looking further afield and seeing what impact a building can have on the wider community such as Moretown’s collaboration with Mulberry London Dock Academy for World Book Day or providing affordable co-working and business support to start-ups and social enterprises at Republic London.

“Collaboration – more than ever, owners are keen to gather feedback from occupiers, their customers, on the experience within their buildings. The ever-growing fight for talent, and the need for business to provide good-quality space not just a desk and PC, has increased collaboration between occupiers and owners to understand their respective aspirations.”

What’s changed about how Workman manages offices?

“We are committed to fostering closer collaboration with office owners and occupiers to create environments where businesses and individuals can thrive.

“By positioning ourselves as an extension of our clients’ teams, we have fully embraced a unified, one-team approach.

“Our focus on customer experience is stronger than ever – it is essential that we support our occupiers in providing their employees reasons to come to the office, with wellness initiatives and appealing spaces and playing an increasingly important role, as detailed in this Bisnow article.”

“While technology supports us with delivering customer experience, we firmly believe that nothing can replace the value of face-to-face human interaction. Therefore, being present and available for our occupiers and clients remains our top priority.”

How Covid changed occupier services

Caroline Moore, Director of Customer Services

How have occupier services developed in the past five years?

“In the five years since the first UK lockdown, companies transitioned from fully office-based work to home-based work, and now to varying degrees of hybrid models, often prompting a re-evaluation of space utilisation.

“The CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook survey, published January 2025, found that adoption of forms of hybrid working remains widespread: nearly half (41%) of employers allow hybrid working with formalised policies in place. 

“Among large private sector employers that already mandate days, 30% are planning to increase the number of mandated days in the next 12 months”, compared to 21% of SMEs and 17% of employers in the public sector. However, just 6% of employers who currently have no mandatory days in the office say they plan to introduce them in the next 12 months.” 

What’s changed about the way Workman delivers occupier services?

“In response to these shifting needs, Workman has continued to tailored occupier services packages to suit customers’ changing requirements. We have focused on:

“Health and safety, with greater emphasis on compliance, testing and audit – this is something our team is well-placed to manage for our occupiers.

“Enhanced cleaning and hygiene, as higher standards of cleanliness and visible cleaning protocols have fast become the norm.

“Flexible approach, with many occupiers adapting and testing different hybrid working models – our team ensure we are able to offer a flexible approach to ensure we meet and exceed the needs of our occupiers.”

How Covid changed ESG

Vicky Cotton, ESG Director

How has the relevance of ESG changed as a result of the pandemic?

“The Net Zero journey was kick started into action in 2020 during COVID, with the launch of the Better Buildings Partnership’s Net Zero Carbon Pathway Framework. A significant number of real estate leaders signed up and set out their own commitments to Net Zero – as such this shaped the journey to date.

“At the time, there was a collective holding of breath to see if ESG died or slowed with Covid (as it had in 2008 with the financial crisis). However, the opposite happened.

“The rather unique opportunity of having a little more time on our hands meant ESG professionals across real estate could collectively come together and map out a direction of travel. The strategies created and the focus on reporting that was created have certainly created the foundations that we have built on since.”

What’s changed about the way Workman delivers ESG services?

“Workman took the opportunity to work out exactly what it was our clients were asking for – and we mapped our reporting to those needs. The biggest change for us was to look beyond our rather limited data reporting and to start to embed genuine ESG into our property management and building consultancy services, ensuring we provided specific advice across the lifecycle of an asset.

“Using our existing specialism within Workman, we now offer simple and user-friendly reporting that allows clients an understanding of exactly what they need to do to drive change.

“Without the slight break from PM/BC business as usual, my colleague Hedley Jones (Partner and Head of ESG Refurbishment and Development), and I would not have joined the two focus areas together to create the multi-disciplinary team as it stands today.”

How Covid changed retail

Nick Hilton, Partner

What’s different about the retail sector today, because of the pandemic?

“ ‘Retail is dead.’ It was difficult to counter this argument in the depths of the pandemic.” 

Remember all the rent concessions, payment plans, running schemes on a shoe-string budget – and all the ‘2m keep your distance’ signage? 

Five years have passed. 

We all know the sector has come through significant changes but it’s clear a lot of the hard and painful work is bearing fruit. For me some of the biggest changes are: 

• Experience-led retail: consumers expect more than just transactional retail; they seek social, engaging and immersive experiences that justify visiting a physical location.

• Demand for convenience: local and community-focused retail has seen a resurgence, with retail parks performing well.

• Shift in investment strategies: investors are more selective – focusing on prime assets and mixed-use schemes with diverse income streams.

• Leisure growth – There is increased demand for experiential and social leisure concepts (competitive socialising, immersive experiences etc) as consumers seek in-person engagement.”

What’s changed about how Workman manages retail property?

“We have achieved a more active, partnership-led approach. Pre-pandemic, landlords and managers were primarily focused on lease enforcement, rent collection and working in a traditional way.
Today’s property managers act as strategic partners to occupiers, providing support on footfall generation, customer engagement and operational efficiencies.

“Property managers are now curating destinations, not just managing properties. Before Covid, retail schemes functioned largely as transactional spaces – retailers leased units and footfall was taken for granted. Today, management teams are actively curating tenant mixes to create experience-led destinations. Events, community engagement and placemaking initiatives are key strategies to drive footfall and dwell time. Shopping centres, retail parks and high streets are designed to offer more than just shopping – they must be places where people want to spend time.

“Today we work together for financial resilience and sustainable revenue models. Pre-pandemic, we applied traditional rental models, payment plans where occupiers struggled – and turnover rents were the exception. Now, we have evolved towards flexible leasing models, turnover-linked rents and diversified income streams (such as pop-ups, F&B hubs, and flexible workspace) are built into long-term financial strategies. Investors now seek resilient, mixed-use schemes rather than pure-play retail assets.”

How Covid changed project management

Ben Kearns, Partner

How are the effects of the pandemic still being felt in project management?

“The early weeks of the pandemic sent every Employer’s Agent and Project Manager reaching for building contracts to revisit relevant matters and suspension provisions, in the alarming prospect of construction being halted. Thankfully, panic was short lived: government backed the sector, and soon the unoccupied buildings and clear commutes provided an upside to the trauma, adding an extra layer of focus and productivity to many live sites.

“Zoom calls soon gave way to Teams, which swept through professional lines, providing the ability for design and construction teams to collaborate and resolve challenges quickly, saving many hours spent travelling to meet in person.

“While there’s nothing quite like meeting and building relationship in person, the shared adoption of online meeting and associated tools has remained a legacy accelerated by the pandemic to the greater strength and resilience of the industry, particularly when working against testing and pressure project deadlines.”

What’s changed about the way Workman delivers project management?

“The origins of materials used in construction activities were placed under intense scrutiny by the pandemic, both the constituent parts to manufacture in remote parts of Europe and beyond – and subsequent transport challenges in delivering anywhere close to on time.

“The need for greater understanding of supply chains and processes is now accompanied by the need to understand embodied carbon through Whole Life Carbon Assessment – this new depth of understanding can help ensure project resilience.”

“A strong commitment to communication – aided by tech such as Teams – helps identify and resolve construction challenges. The management of knowledge and engagement, at all levels from investor to sanitary-ware supplier, must be structured by the Project Management team to achieve successful outcomes. The pandemic propelled the industry to collectively experience and accelerate enhanced ways to communicate and engage.”

How Covid changed retail enlivenment

Andrew Sparrow, Director of Placemaking

How does enlivenment counteract the effects of the pandemic still reverberating in the retail space?

“Enlivenment brings people together and provides unique experiences, two things that during the period of the pandemic were just not possible. It also reduces the transactional nature of the retail experience, providing the consumer with a greater customer experience, drawing them to a place and making it somewhere they want to spend time with friends and family.

“This is potentially why there has been a growth in the range of experiential and social leisure concepts over the past few years, as customers seek out and expect a far more in-person engaging retail experience.  

“Many of the retail centres across the country have struggled with footfall, dwell time and spend in recent years, so a key factor is addressing reconnection with their local communities and the array of talented people and brands in and around them.

“Working with them, often with an enlivenment focus, has been a great way of bringing more footfall back to centres and creating truly locally led experiences.”

 What’s changed about how Activate now delivers for retailers and owners in the wake of the pandemic?

“Our approach to placemaking is focused on supporting assets to attract and retain customers. Certainly, the percentage level of spend on enlivenment and associated in-person experiences has increased, with both retailers and owners seeing that as a conduit to increasing the footfall and spend within their locations.

“Therefore, the digital and web-based content we produce also has to reflect this. Our focus is now less about individual offers and promotions, and more about the overall experience on offer at a centre. There is now more emphasis on audio-visual content, showcasing how each centre is now the hub of the community and introducing new leisure concepts.

“In essence, it’s a lifestyle sell to customers. In addition, the customer experience journey has grown in prominence, ensuring each touchpoint provides a positive experience for customers.”  

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