What it's like being the only one in the office when everyone works from home

"London is the best city in the world and it's just incredible to see it pretty much like a ghost town today..." said City firm boss Patrick Reid

The boss of a financial firm in the City of London said he could "feel the echo" in his office after everyone else started working from home.

Patrick Reid from The Adamis Principle consultancy firm said the buzz of London had vanished and the capital had turned into a "ghost town" after Covid guidelines tightened.

"You can feel the echo, it's very different from last Friday and having that buzz in the City," he told ITV News London.

"London is the best city in the world and it's just incredible to see it pretty much like a ghost town today," he added.

The government said people should work from home if they could as part of their 'Plan B' approach to control the spread of coronavirus.

Patrick is normally surrounded by fifteen staff, some of whom are graduates and benefit from being in the office.

"Working from home is fine, but let's not have it for too long - my heart sank when working from home returned and I'm hopeful we can get back to working normally soon," he said.

"Graduates want to be in the heartbeat of the city and that is challenging for them and not everyone can adapt to video conferencing.

"So it is a problem," he added.

Patrick said nothing could beat meeting clients face-to-face, "having a nice lunch, shaking their hand and looking somebody in the eye - and having a nice one-to-one conversation."

The new guidelines would also hit the company financially because of the uncertainty of what might happen next.

"What happens to Plan C, or D or onwards?" he said.

The Omicron variant is set to become the dominant strain of coronavirus in London, just weeks after it was first detected in the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the strain will be responsible for the majority of infections in the capital by Tuesday, and has warned of a “tidal wave” of cases across the country.

The first UK cases of Omicron were only confirmed on November 27 and the speed of its spread has alarmed ministers and prompted a dramatic acceleration of the booster jab programme.

Mr Johnson said on Monday: “We can see Omicron spiking now in London and some other parts of the country.

“Here, in the capital, it probably represents about 40% of the cases. By tomorrow, it will be the majority of the cases and it’s increasing the whole time.”