Rail strikes ‘risk making work from home trend permanent’ – live updates

The week of rail strikes that has forced many commuters to kick off 2023 working from home will encourage more workers to work from home permanently, according to City chiefs.

Britain faces the most disruptive rail strikes yet this week, with five consecutive days of action set to leave passengers stranded.

Simon French, chief economist at investment bank Panmure Gordon, said the strikes had hit the City in terms of footfall, which he expected would worsen this year.

He added the pre-Christmas strikes hugely impacted the trade of hospitality businesses in the City at their most lucrative time of the year.

He told BBC Radio 4: “Getting into the new year, we expect office trips to be considerably down.

“They are still down between 25-30pc on pre-pandemic levels because of this behavioural shit which is not just affecting metropolitan areas in the UK but around the world.

“That affects ancillary services not just in hospitality but in entertainment.

“The strikes just add another reason for people to move their patterns from temporary towards permanent.”

Read the latest updates below.