Sunshine, the Ashes and the great British WFH bunk-off

MILLIONS of people were enjoying the Great British bunk-off today as glorious weather and the start of the Ashes combined to lure them away from their working day.

- Robert Dex and Jonathan Prynn

London’s pubs — which are already experiencing a heatwave boost — were expecting crowds of early drinkers with play between England and Australia starting at 11am.

Shops were also expecting the tills to be ringing as many people took advantage of working from home and started the weekend early with drinks and barbecue food all proving popular.

The sunshine and temperatures in the mid to high 20s, which the Met Office say will last into Sunday morning, have already seen pubs and restaurants booming.

Workplace analysts said today’s start of the Ashes was likely to follow the pattern seen with other major events, with office occupancy dipping compared with previous Fridays — but higher in the days after.

Lorna Landells, of Remit Consulting, said: “National events, such as the coronation, have a clear impact on the data, but what is interesting is that there is often a noticeable uplift in the figures during the following week as staff, presumably, look to catch up with work and face-to-face meetings.

“It will be interesting to see if this happens after the Test match and other sporting events this summer,” she added.