Working from home: will this mean the end of the office?

Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Tanya Mercer

Over the past few months, many of us have adapted to home working and all the technology it involves. But what impact has it had on businesses and employees? 

Evidence suggests it has changed some mindsets and practices for good and a lot more of us could be working from home from now on.  

Carl Ketteringham is a project manager in the offshore wind industry. Normally he'd travel thousands of miles every week. 

But now, instead of jumping on a plane, he now gets up early to fit in with different time zones and heads to his home office.  He says it's worked so well it's reshaping how they could work in the future. 

Millions of people have been adjusting to the new normal and discovering working from home is now an option.  But the question is how will our working lives look going forward? 

As rules are eased, organisations are having to decide if and how to reoccupy offices. 

Managers will need to balance between the advantages of face-to-face interactions with employees and remote-working and work if international travel is worth the cost and the risk of staff having to quarantine.

Experts say there is a lot of reshaping to come, but this crisis has made long-term changes to business-practices and mindsets. 

The charity Working Families is calling for a fundamental rethink of jobs.  

All this change has been a huge boost for Smart Garden Offices based near Bury St Edmunds.  They've seen a 45% increase in demand since lockdown began. 

Uncertainty and social distancing could be with us for a long time yet but from this could come opportunities for those of us who approach our work in completely different ways, providing benefits both to ourselves and the environment.