To ask where all those who said that WFH would be good for business are now?

[ChampagnePuppy]

Sorry, sort of a rant.
I work in a small local foodie business in the South West. I know there is a cost of living crisis, but I also feel that WFH culture is killing us.
So many said that they would spend more in their local high streets now they were WFH but that seems to have stopped.
People are online food shopping and then not leaving their houses. Three local businesses announced they were closing this week, two bakeries and one restaurant. I can count five since Christmas which have folded.
I know a lot are feeling the pinch from gas and electric but a lot of people are just WFH, squirrelling their money away, saving and then saying 'oh that's a shame' on the Facebook posts when a business announces they're folding. Why not support them? I'm not talking about those on the breadline but those who are financially comfortable.
If you want a diverse high street, you have to support local businesses or we won't be here in a years time.

The “high street” is pretty irrelevant to me. Online shopping gives me far greater value, choice and convenience.

I was never the kind to spend on coffee or sandwich out - fair enough if I’m out and about but I would never just pop out for coffee or lunch. I think it’s daft to spend coffee shop prices for (mostly) mediocre coffee and overpriced sandwiches.

We do support our local pub - DH drinks there weekly and we’d go there for food for special occasions, even though I don’t think it’s good value for money, because we want to support our local. The local curry house, however, is diabolical and therefore we went once and never again. You need to sort your business out, OP.

I feel your pain OP as we run a small cafe and sales have dropped 40% this year. I don’t know how we can pay staff this month, I’m so stressed.
But wfh has been brilliant for many and I totally support it, and much prefer it myself (when I worked for a charity).
I think inflation/cost of living is much more to blame. We did well on Deliveroo before this from wfh workers (though Deliveroo take 30%) but now people understandably are cutting back.
Unfortunately we’ve just been hit really hard in hospitality again but I wouldn’t resent wfh workers, it’s just another factor.

Agree it’s annoying people love little quirky independents and then don’t spend in there, but they’re not obliged to, we’re not charities. Im not sure we’ll survive this either, I hope you can make it through and things pick up for everyone.

That's irrelevant.

It's not irrelevant when talking about price increases...

I’m working in a job I would never have been able to do without working from home (due to child care)! Sorry about your business, but without work from home I would have even less money and wouldn’t be spending anything on local business anyway. Wfh has opened up so many doors for people. I actually tend to pop to town for lunch more now than when I worked in town many years ago!

I’ve always been thrifty, even before the pandemic. I don’t drink coffee, cake is fattening and I’m not going to start going to overpriced cafes or order expensive takeaways to support businesses.

This isnt wfh it's the s rewung of the economy by Brexit, Tory policy re energy prices and taxation of people not businesses. We are in recession.

Sorry your job doesn't let you wfh but no economist would agree with your assessment of why high Street spending is down

Ok so as a real example, in 2020/2021 plenty of people moved to our neck of the woods as they could now WFH forever. They were used to paying London prices and now were buying £60-£100 worth of groceries per week, enjoying their new disposable income and having a three bed for the price of a one bed in London.
They used to go on about the high street, how lovely it was, how unique and how all the indies made the area for them. They presumably still have the same jobs, they still pay the same rent or mortgage, but they've stopped coming, not just to us but to all the indie shops. So they will probably lose the one thing that made them love the area in the first place.
So yes you can call it a 'saving' buying a plastic cup of Starbucks from the fridge in Tesco but you cannot then moan that you're house price has gone down or that there is no local high street when things pick back up again for you.
Yes there will be those who are on the bones of their arse right now, as am I. But not all are, some are just being tight.

I think in terms of the South West the real enemy are retail property owners who have increased high street rent. Pushing the likes of Next, Lakeland and several banks out. And the closure of stores like Accessorize, Monsoon, Vans, Joules etc

That's your real enemy OP. Fight and adjust accordingly :)

How old are they? How do you wfh and look after them simultaneously? Our company doesn't allow that except if they're sick etc.

I work from cafes when I need to go to town to visit the bank/dentist/bigpostoffice. I still pay for childcare.

Of course they don't have the same mortgage...because interest rates have risen sharply, as has council tax, as has energy, as has food, fuel

It's not wfh

Do you vote Tory by any chance because you seem determined to blame the economic failure of the UK on anyone but the government?

Most people are struggling and trying to keep money to save.

During covid a lot of childcare options were stopped. The ones that stayed opened it was erratic due to sudden closures due to lack of staff.

Now companies expect the children to be in some sort of care outside the home.

So for many wfh, the only reduction is travel costs. Although this will be offset due to being at home all day.

Anyone who is employed faces the possibility of job loss regardless of the industry.

But how do you know that's down to those people working from home and not that they're just struggling with gas/electric/bills etc?

It’s not tight not to want to spend on the high street. Get real.

But not all are, some are just being tight.

People are allowed to be 'tight' if they want - or how about cautious, frugal, sensible?

It's not just immediate things that are effected by COL - the value of savings and pensions is being eroded by rapid inflation; property prices slumping means the option of downsizing to release equity becomes less viable as a nest-egg option.

I can see this. We have a few local businesses we make a point of supporting - butchers, nicest pub etc - but we were talking to the butcher recently and he said that demand wasn’t the issue, in fact they have more custom than ever, but it’s so random now because of wfh. So the busy days are less busy and the quiet days are now busy.. but also not at all predictable. So Tuesday was a big day last week and they prepare for this Tuesday to be busy too .. and then it isn’t. They were saying that managing supplies is getting really difficult.

@ChampagnePuppy home workers will have all the things you’ve mentioned to worry about too, except the bus fare, and as many many others have mentioned on this thread, all that other stuff is costing much more than it was, which is probably eating into any savings they make and preventing them from spending money at your foodie business. And being a home worker doesn’t mean you’re not walking around with a target on your head for redundancy!

Sure there will be some people who are doing better with their current arrangements than they were pre pandemic, but that’s not representative of the population as a whole and I don’t know how you can absolutely definitively say that they are not still spending at local business?

I’ve always worked from home. I also have no interest in cafes or the such either. But it’s going to be col your item is not a priority for those who need to save.

On the flip slide the company I also run works on the basis on people who rent office space but again those rentable office spaces are not near high streets either but those buildings always existed too.

No, a lot of the people who moved down have moved back.

The South West didn't provide many people with the life, schools, colleges, jobs and salaries that people were hoping for.

3 of my neighbours on my street have moved back to the South East because they didn't realise the SW was this deprived! The people who purchased their homes are not people who WFH. They are people in their 50s who took early retirement.

@Christmaspyjamas no I completely blame the government too. But I also have family in Europe and know that their high streets will never die as people value relationships and community there in a way that Brits don't.
Gio who has his cafe on the corner in Milan will not lose out all of his custom to a local Starbucks as people love Gio and love his coffee. Here, British people just care about cost, fuck Gio and his family, they'll go across the street whilst he watches just to save a few pennies.

WFH only saved petrol and parkings costs for me, everything else, particularly utilities and food, have increased because I'm home all the time and prices have risen dramatically. My husband's company closed all their physical offices so now they save on all those costs such as rent, electricity, occupational health, furniture and office supplies but they've been entirely passed onto us! Not so much me as I'm NHS but it's been a far better deal for husband's company than him! It's nonsense to say there are only advantages to WFH but the disadvantages (and benefits for the employer) aren't really talked about much. Even tea, coffee and milk that most offices provide now falls to employees. I very much doubt that the majority of WFHers want to or can afford to pay many times the price for a cuppa, just to keep someone else's business afloat. Conversely in my small town, many new cafés and eateries have opened in recent times and often full to bursting, with parents with kids, friends and older people in couples and groups...very few look to be WFH types (although could be wrong of course) but we're all at home...guess what...working!

@HermioneHerman haha, you don't get coffee or tea in the NHS! Or at least the hospital I used to work at, not even milk!

@Wishawisha I wish I could hug you. My DH is a butcher (I work in a near by shop, it's like Tobermory, our little life) and he says exactly the same! Valentines was dead this year, but phenomenally busy the week before. Christmas, for him, was down 60%. So difficult to predict.

During Covid a lot of people had extra time to visit the high street because they were furloughed. Have you forgotten this @ChampagnePuppy

Now they are back in their workplaces so money spent locally will be spent near work.

Highstreets have been in decline for a long long time even without the Col.