We are living in interesting times, and we are also certainly living in times that are as challenging as most can remember. Threats to the global economy have arisen as far away as Iran, over which we have no control and seemingly little influence. Tariff-based threats to the global steel supply chain create uncertainties all of their own.
Predictions of the ‘end to the office’ as more and more people are said to want to work from home – or ‘from beach’, as some sceptics of that trend have observed – might have weakened but are still being made by some. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest threat to demand for office space to house staff, but some optimists can see reasons from history for expecting to see demand for human capital increase because of AI (see Jevons Paradox).
There has been no shortage of doom-and-gloom laden outlook forecasts in recent months; it takes steely nerves to commit significant amounts of capital to speculative projects against that background. But there has always been a substantial group of investors with the courage to peer through the fog of dismal forecasts and see reasons to be more optimistic – and commit investment funds to take advantage of opportunities not obvious to the herd.
Demand for the best office space in at least one key market – the City – has in fact seldom, if ever, been stronger, developers report. There has been a ‘flight to quality’ in recent years and steel-framed commercial and office developments across the UK have benefited greatly. Alternative materials cannot cost effectively produce the aesthetically pleasing, circular economy beneficial structures made possible by constructional steelwork.
Summer 2026 has kicked off with confirmation that a consortium of Asian investors has commissioned Stanhope to go ahead with the renamed 1 Undershaft – now called One London – which will be the tallest commercial building in the City at 74 floors, 309.6 metres. These investors are taking a long-term view as the building, expected to cost in excess of £1 billion, won’t be completed until 2033.
Within a shorter time scale there are other strong signs of life in the offices market. For example, a report from lawyers Irwin Mitchell finds that more UK office occupiers are planning relocations despite a continued focus on reconfiguring existing space. The firm’s latest Office Occupiers Survey of 500 UK-based senior decision-makers responsible for office space said that the percentage of firms looking at relocating had risen from 23% to nearly 32%.
Reconfiguring existing space remained the favoured option but the number looking at doing this had dropped from 49% to 43%. The number looking at taking on more space also dropped, from 45% to 33%. Demand for offices is underpinned by expectations of higher staff attendance, the survey found, with some 78% of business leaders expecting office attendance to increase in the year ahead, up from 74% last year.
Personal contacts with office-based workers from London’s West End and City to Glasgow suggests that although staff like to work from home, employers are successfully tightening up on ‘work from the office’ requirements. How these conflicting pressures will be resolved is probably still anybody’s guess. But at least a lot of smart money is backing the need for sustained demand for offices. Which is good news for constructional steelwork.
Strong quality offices demand belies predictions of the death of the office
We are living in interesting times, and we are also certainly living in times that are as challenging as most can remember. Threats to the global economy have arisen as far away as Iran, over which we have no control and seemingly little influence. Tariff-based threats to the global steel supply chain create uncertainties all of their own.
Predictions of the ‘end to the office’ as more and more people are said to want to work from home – or ‘from beach’, as some sceptics of that trend have observed – might have weakened but are still being made by some. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest threat to demand for office space to house staff, but some optimists can see reasons from history for expecting to see demand for human capital increase because of AI (see Jevons Paradox).
There has been no shortage of doom-and-gloom laden outlook forecasts in recent months; it takes steely nerves to commit significant amounts of capital to speculative projects against that background. But there has always been a substantial group of investors with the courage to peer through the fog of dismal forecasts and see reasons to be more optimistic – and commit investment funds to take advantage of opportunities not obvious to the herd.
Demand for the best office space in at least one key market – the City – has in fact seldom, if ever, been stronger, developers report. There has been a ‘flight to quality’ in recent years and steel-framed commercial and office developments across the UK have benefited greatly. Alternative materials cannot cost effectively produce the aesthetically pleasing, circular economy beneficial structures made possible by constructional steelwork.
Summer 2026 has kicked off with confirmation that a consortium of Asian investors has commissioned Stanhope to go ahead with the renamed 1 Undershaft – now called One London – which will be the tallest commercial building in the City at 74 floors, 309.6 metres. These investors are taking a long-term view as the building, expected to cost in excess of £1 billion, won’t be completed until 2033.
Within a shorter time scale there are other strong signs of life in the offices market. For example, a report from lawyers Irwin Mitchell finds that more UK office occupiers are planning relocations despite a continued focus on reconfiguring existing space. The firm’s latest Office Occupiers Survey of 500 UK-based senior decision-makers responsible for office space said that the percentage of firms looking at relocating had risen from 23% to nearly 32%.
Reconfiguring existing space remained the favoured option but the number looking at doing this had dropped from 49% to 43%. The number looking at taking on more space also dropped, from 45% to 33%. Demand for offices is underpinned by expectations of higher staff attendance, the survey found, with some 78% of business leaders expecting office attendance to increase in the year ahead, up from 74% last year.
Personal contacts with office-based workers from London’s West End and City to Glasgow suggests that although staff like to work from home, employers are successfully tightening up on ‘work from the office’ requirements. How these conflicting pressures will be resolved is probably still anybody’s guess. But at least a lot of smart money is backing the need for sustained demand for offices. Which is good news for constructional steelwork.