Earlier this week, reports indicated that the world’s oldest insurance marketplace is considering relocating from its landmark Richard Rogers-designed headquarters. While still in their early infancy, the rumours have already sparked significant debate, with some hailing the proposal as the end of an era while others dismiss the very idea of expressing an emotional reaction on the subject of where an insurance market hangs its hat as sentimental nonsense.
The Spock-like rationality and prudence of the latter reaction is not lost on me. After all, Lloyd’s has found its home in no less than eight buildings over the last three centuries, and One Lime Street has only called itself the home of the London market since 1986. In fact, in its earliest days serving the underwriters and brokers that have traditionally milled around its iconic Underwriting Room, complaints were made regarding those same unique structures that set the building apart from its peers.
I know this, however, because after taking up a kind offer from a generous friend in the market to look around the building, I went home to read about it in-depth, in an attempt to explore exactly what it was about the structure that had so captivated my (and many others’) attention. And so, despite my proclivity to understand the reasonable statement that “a building is just a building”, I find myself at odds with that same reason.
What’s in a building? A fair question certainly. But what’s in a name for that matter? What’s in a sartorial decision? What’s in a choice of words when the words you’re choosing between all have the same technical meaning? These are decisions that from a distance may not seem to have a significant impact. That is because their impact is not designed to change the perspective of those viewing from a distance, but rather to change how those who are actually making the decisions view themselves.
A physical workplace, for many, is an extension of the myriad of small yet instrumental decisions that govern how professionals dress, comport and otherwise behave themselves during a working day. Despite my affection for the current Lloyd’s headquarters as a signifier of the might of the London insurance market, extensive commentary on any relocation is still markedly premature. But the wider implications of this rumour are incredibly significant - not just as a sign of the future of Lloyd’s, but also of the future of the wider UK insurance industry.
Research from the property data specialist Remit Consulting has revealed that the number of workers returning to physical business premises has recently stalled despite a promising initial uptick when COVID restrictions were originally lifted. Across the UK, average occupancy stood at just 21% in early November 2021, a stat that Remit’s Lorna Landells said suggests, “a reluctance of a significant percentage of the workforce to return to the office on a full-time basis”.
There’s a lot of research and statistics taking the temperature of how willing workers are to return to the office, but my concern is that some companies will find themselves making rushed decisions regarding the closing of offices. For business leaders, these decisions will likely not feel especially accelerated given that we are now nearly two years into the COVID crisis, but a true picture of how life after COVID will look has yet to truly emerge. So, before any conclusions about the full-scale shutdown of offices are made, extensive consultations should be held with those most impacted by any resulting decision.
Flexible working has been identified by many insurance firms as the silver bullet able to answer their overhanging concerns around working arrangements – allowing staff to choose a blend that works best for them. Choice is king in this regard, but this flexibility must extend beyond the central hubs of insurance businesses to include their regional and/or smaller offices. In short, the final verdicts on the future of work in the UK should not be wholly decreed by those whose working conditions have never been anything less than comfortable.
What’s in a building? Well, people usually. And as long as they want to be there, that building takes on a new, more indispensable role than its humble bricks and mortar might imply – it instead becomes a sanctuary and that is something that ought to be protected at any cost.
