Regardless of distant work and the financial downturn, some corporations look to London for growth – TechCrunch

Barely a day goes by without news of layoffs rising from the tech world — from cybersecurity to gaming, no business is impervious. It’s not restricted to any specific measurement of firm, both — every part from fledgling startups and scaleups, to billion-dollar public entities such as Netflix have all “downsized” or put their hiring plans on pause this year. On high of that, there isn’t a geographical issue at play, with corporations spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and past all impacted.

However juxtaposed towards this, some corporations appear to be bucking the downsizing development by not solely hiring, however opening bodily places of work to accommodate broader growth plans.

London particularly stays a key vacation spot for worldwide corporations trying to unfold their proverbial wings, with U.S. unicorns and public corporations revealing inaugural or upsized places of work within the U.Okay. capital in current months. And nearer to dwelling, a bunch of smaller European tech corporations have additionally prolonged their attain out throughout the English Channel with their first U.Okay. hubs.

Cross-border investments

Information from FDI Markets*, the Monetary Instances’ cross-border funding monitoring service, signifies that London has attracted the best variety of overseas direct investments (FDI) into tech from worldwide corporations for the previous few years, forward of Singapore, Dubai, and New York. This consists of worldwide corporations which can be establishing a presence for the primary time, and people which can be increasing an present footprint (this may occasionally embrace M&A exercise).

Whereas this knowledge doesn’t essentially inform the entire story, at a broad stage it does recommend that some corporations are nonetheless increasing, and London is nonetheless an interesting proposition relative to different main cities.

Janet Coyle, managing director of enterprise development at London’s official publicity arm London & Companions, advised TechCrunch that there are numerous monetary perks which may attraction to abroad corporations trying to set up a base within the capital. This consists of tax incentives such because the lowest corporation tax rate among G7 countries, along with “a number of the world’s best research and development tax credits,” she mentioned.

“Different incentives such because the Enterprise Investment Scheme, Patent Box Scheme, and the ‘regulatory sandbox‘ make London a super place for modern corporations to check new applied sciences, merchandise, and providers,” Coyle added.

This narrative is supported by one other recent report from actual property large Cushman & Wakefield, which found that of the 398 Central London leasing transactions (over 5,000 sq. ft in measurement) it analyzed in 2021, 59 of those have been “new market entrants,” which it defines as new companies organising for the primary time, or these relocating from exterior London. The report added that this was the best quantity it had recorded because it started monitoring relocation tendencies in 2013.

Whereas it’s inconceivable to disregard the location-agnostic remote- and hybrid-working revolution spurred by the worldwide pandemic, some consider that corporations are turning to London for a similar causes they all the time did — it’s a serious accessible conurbation, and it’s a spot the place individuals wish to reside.

“We count on the post-pandemic evolution of London’s workplace market to proceed as occupiers focus upon simply accessible, top quality workplace area surrounded by vibrant facilities,” Ben Cullen, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of places of work U.Okay., mentioned in a press release in June. “The important thing will probably be about creating places the place expertise desires to be.”

However this arguably raises extra questions than it solutions throughout what can solely be described as turbulent instances for the world’s financial system. Why are some corporations seemingly swimming, whereas others sink? Does their business, profitability, enterprise mannequin, or monetary independence come into play? And why may the U.Okay. — now economically untethered from its EU counterparts through Brexit — nonetheless attraction as a launchpad for development?

Furthermore, why is one thing so mundane as a bunch of corporations opening new places of work remotely exceptional within the first place?

The good reset

The explanations for the widespread downsizing we’ve seen in current instances are manifold, however some widespread threads permeate lots of the organizations which can be scaling again. The post-pandemic reset is one apparent issue, with a number of the corporations that benefitted from the world’s retreat behind closed doorways succumbing when issues returned to regular. Peloton is an effective instance of this, with the at-home health {hardware} large skyrocketing through the pandemic earlier than falling again to Earth with an almighty bump when individuals ventured into the nice outside once more. Within the U.Okay., digital occasions platform Hopin serves as one other instance, rising from a seed-stage upstart on the pandemic’s outset to turn into a $6 billion juggernaut in simply twelve months — earlier than laying off a huge chunk of its employees in pursuit of more sustainable growth.

As issues transpired, individuals may want to community in-person versus digital breakout rooms.

Different contributing components embrace an over-reliance on enterprise capital funding for companies that had but to determine a sturdy enterprise mannequin, whereas the broader financial downturn has compelled corporations to chop their prices and safeguard their remaining capital amidst a local weather of inflation and rising rates of interest.

However for each yin, there’s a yang. Some corporations adversely impacted by the pandemic have bounced again, similar to Airbnb which laid off a significant portion of its global workforce to see it by means of the worst instances, before recovering after which hitting the public markets to turn into a $67 billion enterprise.

However corrections and resurgences apart, there’s no denying the peril that many corporations at present face. In keeping with startup sacking tracker Layoffs.fyi, there was greater than 150,000 layoffs previously two years, spanning 1,000 startups. And this trend is showing little sign of easing.

So why are some corporations thumbing their noses in any respect of this, and opening shiny new places of work as a substitute?

Monetary independence

Proton, the Swiss firm behind encrypted email service ProtonMail, already has hubs throughout its native Switzerland, Lithuania, North Macedonia, and Taiwan. Earlier this yr, Proton revealed it was gearing as much as open its first U.Okay. workplace to assist its present dozen or so workers within the nation and 40 open roles marketed for the U.Okay. capital.

The principle goal for the London hub was that it wanted someplace for its U.Okay.-based employees to name dwelling — regardless of a broader industrial embrace of distant or hybrid working, Proton is all in regards to the workplace.

“Proton does from time-to-time make distant hires, however as a common rule we’re an office-centric — somewhat than remote-centric — firm, and most of our staff works from our places of work all over the world,” Proton founder and CEO Andy Yen defined to TechCrunch.

Whereas being tethered to a centralized bodily workplace could or could not hinder Proton’s hiring probabilities in an more and more distant working world, the truth that it’s ready to broaden in any respect, as different startups flounder, is value exploring.

In comparison with many different startups and scaleups, Proton has taken on little or no enterprise capital (VC) funding in its nine-year historical past — apart from a small $2 million seed funding round again in 2015 and a $500,000 equity crowdfunder the earlier yr, Proton has managed to develop principally by means of individuals paying cash for its service.

“The largest driver of our hiring is our monetary independence,” Yen mentioned. “Our give attention to a subscription mannequin allowed us to monetize early, which ensured that we didn’t need to depend on VC funding to scale, and gave us a dependable and rising income stream. This units us other than different corporations which have remained depending on annual funding rounds. Consequently, we’re insulated from the worldwide slow-down in VC funding and may proceed to rent in-line with our development.”

The character of Proton’s product has additionally been instrumental in making certain that it may be as self-sufficient as potential. Privateness-focused applied sciences remain in high-demand throughout the patron and enterprise spheres, and whereas Google’s unlikely to be knocked off its email and productivity software perch any time soon, there are nonetheless sufficient individuals on the market keen to pay hard-cash for a service that’s not funded by promoting or different data-harnessing practices.

“Our consumer base is at present rising at a speedy price as a result of international demand for tech that respects privateness is on the rise,” Yen mentioned.

Proton not too long ago claimed that it passed 70 million accounts, up from 2 million five years ago, although the corporate doesn’t escape how a lot of these accounts are actively used, or what number of are paying subscribers. However nonetheless, these 70 million accounts signify a captive viewers which have demonstrated no less than some curiosity in preserving their privateness. On high of that, Proton’s know-how pitch could be very a lot according to the European Union’s considering on privateness, which has been encapsulated by regulation such as GDPR. As such, Proton was able to secure a €2 million grant from the EU in 2019, additional bolstering the corporate’s “monetary independence”.

However the place does London come into all of this, and why open a brand new workplace there? In keeping with Yen, it’s a mix of things, together with the place it’s seeing demand for its service, and the accessible expertise pool.

“From the start, the U.Okay. has all the time been one of many nations with the most important Proton communities,” Yen mentioned. “Whereas Proton customers come from over 180 nations, the most important phase has all the time come from the English-speaking world. Once we have been trying to open a brand new workplace, London was the pure selection — [it’s] dwelling to an unbelievable variety of proficient people, who we consider will assist us scale the corporate and construct a greater web the place privateness is the default.”

Metropolis slickers

Recent off a $10 million series A funding spherical, SoftBank-backed German local weather tech startup Plan A not too long ago revealed plans for its first U.Okay. workplace, scheduled to deal with some 100 workers within the coming years. The five-year-old firm, which has present places of work in Berlin, Munich and Paris, presents automation know-how to assist corporations account for his or her carbon emissions. Its upsizing plans are additionally in line with tendencies elsewhere within the local weather tech area, which has been on a perennial upwards trajectory.

In 2021, round $40 billion was invested across some 600 climate-focused startups, and regardless of robust headwinds elsewhere in the startup investment space, this development is seemingly continuing into 2022. Local weather-focused corporations are still an attractive proposition for investors, with numerous dedicated funds continuing to crop up, and far of that is to do with demand from inside business which is being pushed by exterior pressures similar to rules.

Europe’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) got here into pressure simply final yr with a mission to reinforce transparency in sustainable investments. In impact, it’s to make finance corporations extra accountable for claims they make round sustainability and stop greenwashing. Whereas Plan A targets all method of industries, the finance sector is a central focus, provided that local weather change and the worldwide financial system are closely intertwined.

“The monetary system is the spine of our financial system — by means of loans, investments, and the controlling of worldwide money flows, it’s crucial automobile relating to sustainably reworking our financial system,” Plan A cofounder and CEO Lubomila Jordanova mentioned.

The choice to launch its new workplace in London in the end boiled right down to strategic practicalities. Regardless of Brexit, London is still a global financial powerhouse, and is at present the one European metropolis within the high 10 of the World Monetary Facilities Index (GFCI), sitting behind New York in second place.

“From a enterprise perspective, we see nice potential on this location as London is each one of many world’s largest monetary and enterprise hubs and has a vibrant tech, service, and IT ecosystem — and U.Okay. companies face very market-specific regulatory necessities,” Jordanova continued.

Emergency (Br)exit

It might be considerably remiss to color the U.Okay. because the land of milk and honey although — there may be ample proof that companies in search of extra liquidity, or favorable conditions for going public, usually want to look elsewhere. And there may be the thorny Brexit elephant within the room to deal with, too.

Australian tech titan Atlassian recently confirmed that it was “exploring” the potential of redomiciling its foremost father or mother holding firm from the U.Okay. to the U.S. It’s value stressing that Atlassian has solely ever actually been a U.Okay.-domiciled firm on paper, although — its international headquarters has all the time been in its native Australia, and it has by no means had an workplace within the U.Okay., although workers are allowed to base themselves from the U.Okay. as a part of Atlassian’s remote work policy.

So whereas Atlassian has by no means meaningfully existed within the U.Okay. because it formally moved there in 2014, its want to relocate to the U.S. factors to some drawbacks for corporations within the U.Okay. Certainly, regardless of its U.Okay.-domiciled standing, Atlassian has been listed on the U.S. Nasdaq since 2015, and the corporate mentioned the explanation that it’s now trying to transfer is to entry extra capital and a “broader set of buyers” by shifting its company entity throughout the Atlantic. It mentioned earlier this yr:

We consider transferring our father or mother entity to the US will enhance our entry to a broader set of buyers, assist our inclusion in extra inventory indices, enhance monetary reporting comparability with our business friends, streamline our company construction, and supply extra flexibility in accessing capital.

Elsewhere, evidently the U.S. additionally stays a extra fascinating possibility for tech corporations contemplating going public, with SoftBank-owned U.Okay. chip large ARM reportedly favoring an IPO in the U.S, although the U.Okay. authorities is trying to engineer a dual-listing that features the U.Okay. Nonetheless, SoftBank has made it clear that it could want a U.S. itemizing.

“We expect that the Nasdaq inventory alternate within the U.S., which is on the centre of worldwide hi-tech, could be most fitted,” SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said earlier this yr.

After which there are the numerous companies — huge and small — which have moved their official base away from the U.Okay. as a consequence of political occasions. A kind of is Eigen Technologies, a seven-year-old AI startup backed by Goldman Sachs, which final yr transitioned its headquarters from London to New York, citing the U.Okay.’s exit from the EU bloc as a driving pressure behind the transfer. Almost three-quarters of the corporate’s enterprise was already stemming from North America, nonetheless, so Brexit could have been extra of a nudge in that course somewhat than a violent shove.

“Brexit has considerably undermined the advantages of the U.Okay. as a house marketplace for us, notably in weakening the college ecosystem and the lack of a single unifying market with Europe,” Eigen’s cofounder and CEO Dr. Lewis Z. Liu mentioned in a press release on the time. “So, whereas I’m very unhappy to go away London, it’s time for me to return to New York [where Liu is from] and lead Eigen on to the subsequent stage of its journey to ensure that it to fulfil its potential.”

However for a similar cause that corporations have opened places of work in London over the previous yr, Eiger has retained a robust presence within the U.Okay. capital, and it nonetheless serves as dwelling for its technical management and command middle for the EMEA and APAC areas. Much like the Massive Apple, Liu acknowledged that London stays a serious draw as in worldwide participant.

“We replicate the distinctive worldwide outlook of New York and London, the worldwide cities that Eigen is rooted in,” Liu mentioned.

Rent floor

Whether or not it’s privateness tech or inexperienced tech, startups with a give attention to fixing actual issues could also be higher positioned to climate the present storm. However that doesn’t imply purely by way of attracting massive enterprise prospects or big-name VCs — it very a lot extends to the hiring realm too, with employees emerging from the great resignation wanting for more meaning and purpose of their day-to-day working lives.

“I feel quite a lot of this may come right down to which corporations are engaged on fixing huge, vital technical or societal challenges,” Dan Hynes, associate at European VC juggernaut Atomico, mentioned. “That’s the place expertise desires to work lately, and candidates will ask themselves ‘does this match into my private worth system? What’s its ESG (environmental, social and governance) technique,’?”

However by way of which corporations are prone to show extra resilient throughout this downturn, there are numerous components at play, together with people who have secured sufficient capital to see them by means of this turbulence, and “which corporations are being well-managed and disciplined,” Hynes mentioned.

“It additionally is dependent upon what stage corporations are at — people who have discovered go-to-market match will probably be very cautious, however they are going to be hiring to construct out the business arms of these groups, and people who have product-market-fit searching for go-to-market match will probably be doubling down on hiring engineering, design and product expertise to get their product in the very best form as shortly as potential,” Hynes defined.

With a lot of huge tech trimming their workforce or curbing their hiring, this might additionally assist startups with fewer monetary sources to access talent that may previously have been unaffordable to them. Or, the place different startups have needed to reduce, this serves to enrichen the broader expertise pool for different corporations which can be increasing.

“At a excessive stage, issues are nonetheless very constructive in know-how in the present day — in-house recruiters will probably be going by means of the lists of expertise which have not too long ago been laid-off in a short time, as recycling of expertise has all the time been a constructive a part of the tech business and continues to drive the European know-how ecosystem flywheel,” Hynes continued. “Europe has had deep swimming pools of expertise, throughout all enterprise features, for a variety of years now with direct expertise of scaling in any respect ranges.”

Distant management

However whereas London may nicely stay a compelling possibility for companies trying to broaden, location may be much less of a precedence than it as soon as was. There may be greater than sufficient proof that employees aren’t eager to hurry again to the workplace and endure 3-hour round-trip each day commutes — however regardless of all that, individuals nonetheless like having choices. American gross sales and advertising and marketing software program large HubSpot, a $14 billion publicly-traded firm, announced its first U.K. office in London final September, alongside plans for 70 new jobs in England, Scotland, and Wales. The corporate already had round 1,500 workers throughout Europe, with hubs in Berlin, Dublin, Ghent, and Paris.

It’s value noting, although, that HubSpot’s new London workplace solely homes 20 individuals, so it’s not anticipating everybody to relocate to the U.Okay. capital — nearly all of its workforce within the nation would somewhat be distant.

“Primarily based on our survey of how workers wish to work in 2022, we all know that greater than two-thirds of our U.Okay. staff is planning to work remotely long run, whereas the remaining want to work from the workplace some or more often than not,” HubSpot’s VP of worldwide recruiting Becky McCullough mentioned.

From a enterprise perspective, the U.Okay. has emerged as a serious focus for HubSpot too, and it’s now the corporate’s second largest market globally (and largest in Europe), claiming greater than 10,000 paying prospects final yr.

“Whereas our Dublin workplace has supported our U.Okay. development through the years, we acknowledged that with elevated development, it was the best time to extend our native presence to raised assist our prospects with extra face-to-face engagement,” McCullough added. “We [also] know that there’s a massively proficient pool of people within the U.Okay., and pairing the highest expertise with the thriving tech enterprise scene, London made essentially the most sense for us to place down roots.”

On a associated notice, HubSpot not too long ago published the results of a survey it carried out with its 6,000 employees globally, discovering that 52% of its workers would favor to earn a living from home on a regular basis, whereas 36% would select a hybrid mannequin and simply 12% wish to be within the workplace completely.

HubSpot: World work preferences survey

This helps to focus on why a serious firm may elect to broaden by means of smaller places of work — it’s a mirrored image of what employees need, and there are indicators that different huge corporations are adopting an identical method.

San Francisco-based API and microservices platform Kong opened a new London office in May. The corporate, which hit unicorn status last year off the again of a $100 million fundraise, needed a hub that was simpler to entry for its U.Okay. workforce, which constitutes greater than 10% of its international headcount of 450. Furthermore, 25% of its  present open positions are primarily based within the EMEA area — so having an workplace that’s accessible for short-term guests from the continent, and from throughout the U.Okay. itself, was key.

“London is a simple hub to navigate to and inside,” Kong’s VP of EMEA Carl Mattson mentioned. “On the finish of the day — and within the new ‘remote-first’ world we reside in — the workplace have to be straightforward to entry and centrally situated. Naturally, our U.Okay.-based staff will make the most of the area on a extra common foundation as a consequence of proximity, however the area can also be accessible as a collaboration area for these situated elsewhere.”

Kong serves as one other good instance of how the workplace of the longer term is evolving in-line with the expansion of distant working — smaller places of work situated strategically in places close to to the place workers are primarily based, ought to they should use it.

“We’re starting to plan our workforce places extra intentionally,” Mattson mentioned. “Whereas we’ll all the time be a remote-first firm, the pandemic has taught us that we’d like and worth the power to collect, collaborate, join and have interaction in individual. Consequently, we anticipate extra places of work the place now we have a excessive focus of workers.”

Kong’s new workplace at present has a capability for simply 20 individuals, although its association permits it to scale up shortly as its headcount within the area grows, and when in-person collaboration returns to regular.

“Kong is keen for extra in-person collaboration, particularly after such a protracted time period working primarily in isolation because of the international pandemic,” Mattson added.

Some six months after its debut on the Nasdaq last June, enterprise undertaking administration and staff collaboration software program firm Monday.com launched its first U.K. office, serving because the Israeli firm’s official European HQ. Then in Could, Monday.com expanded into a brand new workplace situated in Fitzrovia, revealing plans to develop its present 60 headcount to as a lot as 150 within the coming years.

As TechCrunch noted after Monday.com’s Q1 earnings this yr, its robust development figures have been an extra indication that SaaS remains strong in an atmosphere of slowdowns and scalebacks, which positions companies similar to Monday.com nicely. Furthermore, as Monday.com’s new London workplace suggests, hunkering down and hiding isn’t actually a long-term technique.

“Firms struggling to seek out their footing throughout this time may be transferring in the direction of a ‘hibernation’ interval the place they abandon development and solely give attention to sustaining,” Naveed Malik, Monday.com’s regional director for EMEA channel partnerships, defined. “Whereas this could typically be a viable technique, it could be much less sustainable now as we emerge from the peaks of the pandemic, the place many organizations have been already pulling again and making an attempt to re-stabilize.”

On condition that its product is all about connecting disparate groups, Monday.com may be well-positioned to flourish in a world that has quickly transitioned to distant work. However as its new workplace signifies, the corporate itself hasn’t deserted real-world interactions — it desires individuals within the workplace, no less than a part of the time.

“In the course of the pandemic, the complete, international group adopted a remote-first work mannequin,” Malik mentioned. “Right this moment, because it turns into safer to open again up, we’ve transitioned again to an office-first method that encourages workers to embrace each in-person and distant work fashions relying on their wants. Whereas places of work stay open for everybody all through the week, particular person groups are ready to decide on which days they wish to collaborate in-person, and which days they’ll work remotely.”

Much like different corporations which have not too long ago arrived within the U.Okay. capital, Malik pointed to the “excellent expertise” as one cause it selected London, although the brand new workplace can also be strategically situated near prospects.

“We’ve seen terrific traction on our platform within the space, and having the staff headquartered there’ll assist our continued development,” Malik mentioned.

What all this reveals is that the way forward for work just isn’t a inflexible, one-size-fits all mannequin — some corporations need employees within the workplace greater than others, however for essentially the most half, they might want to provide a level of flexibility in the event that they’re to draw the most effective expertise.

Future of labor

One other rising theme right here is how corporations’ relationships with native communities and society on the whole are evolving, with distant and hybrid working enjoying a pivotal half.

World wide we’ve seen how excessive concentrations of corporations can have detrimental penalties for the realm they inhabit. This consists of locations similar to San Francisco and the broader Bay Space, the place the price of housing, pervasiveness of homelessness, and a growing wealth gap are signs of billion- and trillion-dollar corporations permeating the area. There are some early indicators that issues are altering.

A number of weeks again, esteemed Silicon Valley VC Andreessen Horowitz revealed it was “moving to the cloud,” that means that it was shifting its middle of gravity away from the Bay Space in response to the world’s newfound love affair with distant working. It initially dedicated to a few new places of work in Miami, New York, and Santa Monica, along with its present hubs in San Francisco and Menlo Park. It’s additionally planning extra bodily places of work all over the world.

Whereas acknowledging the historic causes round why Silicon Valley and surrounding space emerged as a magnet for technical expertise, Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz cofounder and associate, famous that the pandemic modified every part — corporations have been “compelled to determine learn how to work remotely,” and whereas it is probably not excellent, the advantages of decentralization maybe outweigh the bumps.

“Concentrating all of these corporations into one or two geographies cuts off nice alternatives from anybody who can contribute, however can’t simply transfer,” Horowitz wrote. “Distant work is opening up many new places for entrepreneurs and know-how employees.”

A sluggish however regular variety of corporations have both deserted the Bay Space or opened secondary headquarters and satellite tv for pc places of work. Fintech large Xero transitioned its Americas HQ to Denver in 2018 lengthy earlier than the pandemic, while Oracle and Tesla have since revealed similar plans however with Texas because the vacation spot. Whereas there is no love lost between Tesla and California, CEO Elon Musk attributed the HQ transfer to easy practicalities — Austin is extra accessible for employees.

“It’s robust for individuals to afford homes and folks have to come back in from far-off,” Musk mentioned of its Palo Alto HQ. “There’s a restrict to how huge you’ll be able to scale it within the Bay Space. In Austin, our manufacturing unit is like 5 minutes from the airport, quarter-hour from Downtown.”

Probably the most notable sides of the tech business is that it’s all the time transferring and evolving, with cities competing for corporations, employees, and inward funding. So what’s true in the present day, is probably not true tomorrow, that means that no metropolis can relaxation on its laurels, however they need to additionally tackle the unintended penalties of their successes.

London, as with many different main international cities, has lengthy laid in the shadows of tech holylands similar to Silicon Valley, but it surely has suffered related issues on a smaller scale. In 2017, the Shoreditch space of the town, dwelling of the so-called Silicon Roundabout, obtained the dubious honour of being named the world’s most costly know-how district by way of workplace actual property. And extra not too long ago, information emerged that housing development in west London could be curtailed because of the excessive focus of information facilities in close by Slough — knowledge facilities require quite a lot of electrical energy, and the grid is seemingly approaching capability.

This demonstrates the inextricable hyperlink between corporations, infrastructure, and the atmosphere they inhabit. “Tech scenes” and excessive concentrations of particular sorts of corporations have their advantages, however there are downsides. And that may very well be one constructive consequence of the pandemic — main cities similar to London will all the time be in demand, however location in 2022 just isn’t as vital because it was three years in the past, which can result in a extra balanced know-how ecosystem.

“London continues to be in robust place by way of expertise and entry to capital, however the world has modified considerably since Covid,” Atomico’s Hynes mentioned. “Nearly all of corporations in the present day, particularly on the early-stage, are both remote-first or undoubtedly hybrid, and you will notice that proceed as tech will all the time be a talent-driven market. [But] London will proceed to be an vital a part of the tech ecosystem in Europe — it has extra engineers than wherever else in Europe, however I feel the best way of working has actually modified once more by way of distant and hybrid, and I can’t see individuals wanting to return to pre-Covid full-time workplace hours.”