Relaxation of working from home guidance in Scotland is expected to bring boost to businesses in Inverness city centre
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Business leaders in Inverness have welcomed the news that working from home guidance is to be eased in Scotland from Monday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the move was possible due to falling rates of Covid-19 cases, but did not expect to see a mass return to offices next week as cases still remained high.
However the return of employees to their work places at least under hybrid home/office arrangements is expected to bring an economic boost to shops, cafés and other businesses in city centres which have been hard hit by lockdowns and work from home requirements during the last two years.
Easing of restrictions is 'excellent news'
Colin Craig, vice chairman of Inverness Business Improvement District, said it was “excellent” news that restrictions are being eased again.
“The more normality we can get to, the better and hopefully soon we will have a bit more life in the city centre when offices are up and fully functioning,” he said.
Regarding a phased return to work places, he said: “I think everyone understands the need for caution and obviously we have not got to the end of the pandemic yet.
“It seems a sensible measure and hopefully will lead to a further opening up and the end of more restrictions in due course.”
Jackie Cuddy, managet of the city’s Eastgate Shopping Centre, said the growth of lunchtime trade in city centres over the coming months was vital to the success of retail.
“Getting people back working from offices is vital to growing the economy of city centres as are no more lockdowns,” she said.
“Therefore, it is a fine balance so we welcome the hybrid approach suggested by the First Minister to get us on the first steps of recovery.”
The easing of restrictions was described as a "significant" move by Stewart Nicol, chief executive of Inverness Chamber of Commerce.
"It is a really welcome step forward in terms of some form of normality for business and also for the city centre," he said.
"It is a very positive and encouraging first step to get back to being in an office in the city centre – and obviously lifting footfall in the city centre.
"A lot of businesses rely on face-to-face meetings and interaction.
"I think a lot of personal development and mentoring can only really happen on a face-to-face basis."
Norman MacDonald, owner of Café One in Castle Street, felt many people had missed the social element of the work place.
“It’s great to see progress,” he said. “We seem to be on an upward curve.”
Shops, cafes and businesses have suffered loss of customers
Inverness economist Tony Mackay was more cautious and queried whether city centre consumer business would return to pre-covid levels.
“The return to office working will certainly benefit the Inverness city centre although it is not clear how long the ‘hybrid’ system will last for,” he said.
“Some employers and employees may choose to continue home working, at least for some of the time.
“Many shops, cafes and other businesses in the city centre have suffered substantially from a loss of customers because of home working.
“The Highland Council offices are probably the biggest example of that.”
Mr Mackay said some shops had closed during the last two years and were unlikely to reopen while home working had resulted in a big switch to online shopping so it would be interesting to see if that changed with a return to offices.
“It is worth mentioning that shops and other businesses in the smaller towns such as Dingwall, Alness and Nairn have benefited from home working so it will also be interesting to see how they react to this change,” he said.
“Overall, I do not expect consumer business in the city centre to return to the pre-covid level because I think some of the changes will become permanent.”
Read more: Work from home guidance to be relaxed
