Boris Johnson will launch major campaign reassuring ‘the workplace is a safe place’
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Boris Johnson is set to launch a major campaign to get Britons back to their workplaces.
A drive to champion the virtues of going back to the office and make the ’emotional case’ for meeting up with colleagues will start next week, reassuring the public that ‘the workplace is a safe place’.
The Prime Minister is thought to have growing concerns about empty offices and deserted city centres as millions still resist Government calls to go back, the Telegraph reports.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is said to be worried of further job losses among businesses that depend on office workers, such as sandwich shops, pubs and gyms – along with the cost of running nearly empty buses and trains.
A Government source said: ‘People need to understand that working from home is not the benign option it seems. We need workers to be alert to what decisions their bosses may take in the weeks ahead. If they are only seeing workers once a fortnight then that could prove problematic for some employees in the future.
The Prime Minister is thought to have growing concerns about empty offices and deserted city centres
Conservative MPs urged Boris Johnson to ‘wake up’ to the threat to town centres last night as Pret a Manger slashed nearly 3,000 jobs
‘We want employees to be careful what working arrangements they accept. Suddenly the word ‘restructure’ is bandied about and people who have been working from home find themselves in the most vulnerable position.’
Senior Tory figures are now pressuring Boris Johnson to deliver a ‘clear and consistent message’ that going back to work is safe, warning of ‘devastating consequences’ for city centres.
Head of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers Sir Graham Brady told The Times: ‘Of course there are some businesses which find their staff are just as productive working from home. What is essential is that the government gives a clear and consistent message that it is perfectly safe for people to return to town.
‘They should not be worried about infections as a result of travelling on trains and buses. We can all see the devastating consequences for many businesses when a huge proportion of the customers on whom they depend aren’t coming into our towns and cities.’
Conservative MPs urged Boris Johnson to ‘wake up’ to the threat to town centres last night as Pret a Manger slashed nearly 3,000 jobs.
The sandwich chain became the latest victim of the working-from-home culture yesterday, after seeing a decade of growth wiped out in months.
Pret has suffered a 60 per cent slump in takings, leaving it no choice but to axe 2,800 jobs – around a third of its workforce. It is also cutting store opening hours to reflect the collapse in footfall in towns, city centres and transport hubs. A further 1,000 jobs were saved only after staff agreed to a shorter working week.
The move came hours after CBI chief Dame Carolyn Fairbairn warned in the Mail that Britain risks becoming a nation of ‘ghost towns’ unless people return to their workplaces.
The move came hours after CBI chief Dame Carolyn Fairbairn warned in the Mail that Britain risks becoming a nation of ‘ghost towns’ unless people return to their workplaces
Pret has suffered a 60 per cent slump in takings, leaving it no choice but to axe 2,800 jobs – around a third of its workforce (pictured: Trade Secretary Liz Truss at a Westminster branch)
Senior Tories said the plight of Pret should serve as a ‘wake up call’ to the Government.
Former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith blasted ‘selfish and short-sighted’ companies for keeping staff at home when it was ‘perfectly safe’ to go back to work. But mixed messages from ministers were failing to reassure the public and it was now vital for the Government to lead by example by getting Whitehall civil servants back to their desks, he said.
‘These job losses at Pret are a sure sign that disaster is coming down the tracks. We have to wake up. We are in the foothills of economic Armageddon and, unless we get people back to the offices, that is where we are going to end up.
‘We have to stop the mixed messaging and send out a clear signal that it is safe to go back to work and safe to use public transport. And we have to get civil servants back – we are the employer and we should get them back now.’
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, said that while some businesses find their staff are just as productive working from home, there needed to be a ‘clear and consistent message’ that it is safe for people to return to work.
‘They should not be worried about infections as a result of travelling on trains and buses,’ he said. ‘We can all see the devastating consequences for many businesses when a huge proportion of the customers on whom they depend simply aren’t coming into our towns and cities.’
The Go-Ahead group, one of Britain’s largest bus and train operators, urged the PM to ‘lead from the front’ by getting on a bus to show commuters that public transport is safe.
Government sources insist Mr Johnson is fully aware of the need to get more office workers back to their desks, but has to prioritise the return of schoolchildren next week.
A No 10 source said: ‘The Prime Minister is very keen on getting more people back to the workplace. The main focus has to be on getting every civil servant back at their desk. It sets an example to the rest of the country and demonstrates that it can be done safely.’
But the drive has so far seen only a trickle of civil servants return to Whitehall, with unions resisting a widespread return. Ministers conceded privately that the Government does not have a wider strategy for getting people back to the workplace while the pandemic continues.
High streets and other sectors of the economy have seen a torrent of job losses in recent weeks. Gatwick Airport cut 600 jobs.
Rolls-Royce announced it would close its site in Annesley, Nottinghamshire, weeks after announcing 9,000 aerospace job cuts. Restaurant chain Wahaca is to close ten restaurants and BMW announced the loss of 400 jobs at its Mini factory in Oxford.
A pedestrian wearing a face mask or covering due to the Covid-19 pandemic, walking past shuttered shop fronts on an empty shopping street in London on August 12, 2020
Official figures suggest that 730,000 lost their jobs between March and July. Economists have warned the number out of work could rise to nearly four million by the end of the year.
Pret, which has already announced 30 store closures, said customer numbers have started to recover. However the sales over the past month were back to the levels of ten years ago, when it was a much smaller business.
Trade across its 367 UK shops remains around 60 per cent down year on year. Alongside the 2,800 job losses in shops, a further 90 staff will go in Pret’s support centre teams.
Chief executive Pano Christou said: ‘I’m gutted that we’ve had to lose so many colleagues. Although we’re now starting to see a steady but slow recovery, the pandemic has taken away almost a decade of growth at Pret.
‘We’ve managed to protect many jobs by making changes to the way we run our shops and the hours we ask team members to work.
‘I’m hopeful we’ll be able to review all these changes now that trade is improving again, and I’m encouraged by the improvements we’re seeing every week.
‘We’ll soon be announcing a number of big changes to help bring Pret to more people. We’re grateful to the Government for the support they’ve given our sector, and hope that support will continue as long as possible.’
Rolls-Royce ‘may not survive’ after suffering a record £5.4billion loss following a collapse in air travel
By Francesca Washtell, City Correspondent for the Daily Mail
Rolls-Royce yesterday warned it was struggling to survive after suffering a record £5.4billion loss following a collapse in air travel in the pandemic.
The jet engine maker – one of Britain’s most prestigious companies – is fighting to shore up its finances. The Derby-based firm gets paid according to the number of hours flown by planes fitted with its engines.
It only makes engines for larger aircraft that fly long-haul routes which have been badly hit in the crisis.
Rolls believes business will not pick back up to 2019 levels until 2025. It has already announced plans to cut 9,000 jobs and this week said factories in Nottinghamshire and Lancashire would close.
Rolls Royce’s plant in Derbyshire is set to become the focus of its manufacturing and testing, as it looks to close five sites worldwide
Rolls Royce CEO Warren East said the company had to ‘protect profit,’ as it prepares to cut another 1,000 jobs in the next four months
Experts have warned the Government could be forced to step in to save the 114-year-old firm from collapse. In its financial results for the first half of the year, Rolls said a longer downturn could kill off the company.
It insisted the Covid crisis had posed ‘material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern’.
Chief executive Warren East said the best thing ministers could do for the company was to make it easier for people to start travelling longer distances again.
The company, which employs 52,000 people, wants to raise £2billion by selling off parts of the business in a restructure.
A large chunk of Rolls’ loss – £2.6billion – was down to an accounting charge linked to currency movements.
Meanwhile, one of Britain’s biggest transport providers yesterday urged Boris Johnson to ‘lead from the front’ to get commuters back to the office.
The Go-Ahead Group, which operates bus and rail franchises across the UK, wants the PM to reassure Britons public transport is safe to use again.
The firm’s Katy Taylor said passenger numbers were still running below 40 per cent of capacity. She urged the PM to get on a bus to help dispel fears about safety.
She stressed: ‘If the Government really wants the country to get back to work it has to lead from the front and encourage people back on to the train and bus.’
Hasn’t Matt Hancock got the message? Health Secretary undermines Boris Johnson’s ‘back to work’ message by saying he was happy for his officials to work from home
By Jason Groves, Political Editor for the Daily Mail
Matt Hancock undermined Boris Johnson’s ‘back to work’ message yesterday by saying he was happy for his officials to continue working from home.
The Health Secretary opened up a Cabinet rift over efforts to get civil servants back to their desks by saying his officials were welcome to work from home provided they got the job done.
The Prime Minister has ordered Whitehall chiefs to get civil servants back to their desks as part of a wider push to revive the economy.
In an interview on Times Radio, Mr Hancock was asked if he knew what percentage of staff in the Department for Health were working at home. ‘I have absolutely no idea,’ he responded
An estimated 95 per cent of civil servants worked from home during lockdown, leaving Whitehall deserted.
And, despite the PM’s order to return last month, insiders suggest at least 80 per cent are still working from home.
Asked how many of his own department’s staff were back at their desks, Mr Hancock yesterday told Times Radio: ‘I have absolutely no idea. What I care about is how effectively people work. Obviously people should come back to the office if that is what they need to do their job.
‘And obviously employers need to make sure the offices are Covid-secure, as we have done for the Department of Health, as you would fully expect us to.
‘But what I care about is that people perform. Of the people I work with, some have been working from home, some come in… What matters to me is that they deliver.’
An ally of Mr Hancock insisted he supported the push to get more civil servants back to their desks, but said he was ‘totally focused on dealing with the pandemic’.
But a Government source confirmed the PM was serious about getting all civil servants back to their desks this autumn. ‘The main focus has to be on getting every civil servant back at the desk. It sets an example to the rest of the country and demonstrates that it can be done safely,’ the source said.
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