Will 'Freedom Day' mean Spinningfields and Manchester's offices return to pre-pandemic occupancy levels?
Sign up to FREE email alerts from BusinessLive North West Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  A short walk through Spinningfields during any rush hour of the past few months would have demonstrated that Manchester's firms are mostly following advice to continue to work from home if they can. The Step Four easing of all restrictions - originally due last week - was expected to mean that final Government guidance was consigned to history, however 'Freedom Day' was then delayed by a month to July 19. Sam Booth, chief executive of Pro-Manchester, told BusinessLive offices are currently at no more than 25% capacity - but that there is a big split between SMEs and multi-national corporations' city HQs. She said while there will be a boost following next month's 'Freedom Day', the simultaneous start of the summer holidays will temper any rise, meaning a more noticeable increase may instead come in the autumn. She said: "The majority of businesses are 100% saying the same thing - [that we'll see staff heading back around autumn]. "When the messaging from Government is still very much if you can work at home stay at home, the majority of businesses are adhering to that. "There obviously is a huge amount of caution with the Delta variant and rising infection rates, which make businesses very nervous about bringing people back into the office. "You've got some of your smaller businesses which perhaps can be a bit more agile with their working spaces, bringing some people back, but still, we're looking at 25% maximum capacity in office spaces, just because they have to do that with regards to adhering to what the restrictions are, and how that can be managed." According to Ms Booth, whose organisation represents the Greater Manchester business community and is the North West's largest business development group, office occupancy did increase "a little bit" as the June 21 date approached. But she said the rising cases in the North West "made some businesses really halt on that". She added: "Once we get to July 19, the summer holiday period kicks in. I think the real boom will come in September, hopefully, and even then it will be quite a cautious, very staggered approach. "It might not be back until towards the end of the year that we really see some significant businesses back into the office environment." Ms Booth said that would mean levels of just half of those seen pre-pandemic, with firms adopting a hybrid model of home and office working. She added: "Businesses are using this as an opportunity to really understand what is required from a business perspective, but also what is what is required from a personal and employee perspective as well, because it's quite divided with regards to what people want. "Some people absolutely want to stay at home all the time, some people cannot wait to get back into the office." Despite firms changing the way they use office space, Ms Booth is adamant it will not mean Spinningfields one day being filled with empty units. Sign up for your free BusinessLive North West newsletter BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the North West- and you can stay in touch with all the latest news from Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria through our email alerts. You can sign up to receive daily morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss. By bringing together North West coverage with that from across Reachs titles in England and Wales, BusinessLive will shine a spotlight on the entrepreneurs, the stars of the future and the small firms that are the backbone of our economy. Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive. She said: "We know it's well documented that some businesses have reduced their office footprint, and it makes sense for them to do that. "But in some cases, some have had to increase their office footprint, because they've repurposed their office space, providing more big and spacious, collaborative, creative working spaces, as opposed to streams and streams of desks. "So actually, there will be some change, absolutely. I don't think so, because the one thing that the past 12 months has taught us is that we do need to be in the office environment - it is equally as important as that flexible working model as well." Will Lewis, founding director of real estate firm OBI Properties, said he had already seen a "positive increase" in employees returning to offices and cities. He echoed Ms Booth's point that larger firms are less likely to have called their staff back in. "The current gap is with the bigger international businesses that have regional offices in Manchester but are currently restricted by their own national or global corporate regulations. This is apparent particularly in the advisory sectors such as legal, banking and accountancy. "We do know that there is a real weight of desire from individuals to get back into the city and back into their office environments and occupancy levels have been steadily increasing over last few months." Mr Lewis added that places like Spinningfields will see a "significant shift" when restrictions are lifted next month. He added: "We wont see an immediate return to pre-pandemic office use but Spinningfields as a micro location in Manchester has the highest density of office workers and will be the most noticeable district in the city following the change. "An interesting trend  that certainly dispels the scaremongers writing off city centres and offices  is the current weighted demand from businesses looking to relocate from regional towns such as Altrincham, Wilmslow, Cheadle and Stockport into the city centre. "OBI is working on in excess of 200,000 sq ft of deals with regional occupiers looking for space in the city centre.