It’s almost been five years since the series of national lockdowns. Yet, we’re still asking…what’s the future of where teams work?
That’s the big message from leaders at the helm of the UK’s top startups and scaleups.
Hubble picked the brains of 125 founders and senior leaders to discover their feelings about where their teams work. The survey revealed some pretty interesting insights—from thoughts on return-to-office mandates to their own workplace preferences.
The full report covers a lot of ground. But for now, here are 7 interesting insights we unearthed from speaking with London’s top startup and scaleup founders:
1) 71% of founders are in favour of hybrid working
Hybrid working—where employees divide their time between the office and remote work—is the clear favourite workspace strategy among London’s leading startup founders.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents described their workspace setup as “hybrid”, whereas 22% described themselves as “fully remote”. Only 5% described themselves as “fully office-based”.
These notable differences point to a clear recognition of the benefits hybrid working brings—not just for business success but also for employee well-being.
It suggests a clear indication that implementing a hybrid workspace strategy works for most budding businesses in London!
2) 52% of founders want their teams in offices more often
Return-to-office (RTO) mandates have proven to be the most controversial part of the conversations surrounding workspace strategy.
The conversation tends to be dominated by leaders at tech giants like Google or Amazon. But we wanted to cut through the noise and hear what London’s startup and scaleup founders have to say.
Interestingly, ‘returning to the office’ seems to be picking up steam. 52% of founders expressed a desire for their teams to come back into the office more, whereas only 12% said they ‘didn’t mind’.
The tide seems to be turning towards office attendance. More founders are deciding that perhaps the office is the best place for their employees to be, and they’d like them to come in more often.
3) But only 7% ‘strictly enforce’ office attendance…
So, it’s clear that over half of London’s startup and scaleup founders prefer their teams to work under one roof. But what are their thoughts on office mandates?
Our survey results indicated that, in most cases, office attendance isn’t strongly enforced.
Only 7% of respondents said they ‘strictly enforce’ office attendance, meaning it’s mandated and sanctioned with disciplinary measures if teams don’t oblige.
However, a notable 37% of founders ‘moderately enforce’ office attendance, which means it’s mandated but not backed up with disciplinary measures.
This raises an important question: how can leaders successfully bring employees back into offices more when they only lightly enforce office attendance?
4) Over half of founders fear their team might quit if they enforce office attendance
A key challenge for founders in bringing teams back to the office could be concerns about backlash from employees. (After all, disgruntled employees at tech giants like Amazon and Apple have made headlines before!)
Nearly 60% of leaders in our survey worry that stricter office mandates could lead to a surge in resignations.
While it’s true that encouraging more office attendance carries risks—particularly for employee satisfaction—it’s worth noting that it can also bring bountiful benefits.
For example, employers who have chosen this path have found ways to mitigate the risks and are now reaping the rewards.
In fact, when asked about plans to change their workspace strategy in the next 12 months, leaders of fully office-based companies were the least likely to anticipate changes (86%)—hinting at high satisfaction with their current approach.
5) 57% of founders who require in-person attendance work from the office themselves
If the majority of founders want their employees back in the office, where are they choosing to work from?
Our survey shows that over half of founders who require in-person attendance lead by example, working from the office ‘all the time’ alongside their teams.
Interestingly, the remaining 43% appear to have more flexibility around how and where they work—with 29% working ‘mostly from the office’ and 14% working ‘mostly from home’.
6) Meanwhile, 80% who are fully remote have chosen to have an office setup themselves
On the flip side, 80% of leaders in fully remote companies still maintain an office setup of some kind.
56% of remote leaders work ‘mostly from home, sometimes office,’ 16% work ‘mostly from the office,’ and 8% work from an office ‘all the time’.
It’s important to note that remote work doesn’t mean working explicitly from home. Instead, employees can work from various locations rather than being tied to a centralised office.
The data suggests that leaders of remote companies still see value in working from an office-like environment—whether for productivity, a change of scenery, or other reasons.
In fact, 74% of remote leaders offer their employees the chance to work in person via things like coworking space memberships or a part-time office.
7) Over half of founders are planning to change their workspace strategies in 2025
While half of founders are planning to stick with their current workspace setup in 2025, the other half are still undecided or changing things up—even three years after lockdown.
33% are considering moving towards a more office-based strategy, and 12% are still undecided.
As mentioned earlier, a whopping 86% of fully office-based companies aren’t going to make any changes to their strategies next year. This was closely followed by fully remote companies at 70%.
Notably, among those planning to make changes, the vast majority are moving to more office-based working.
This highlights two key points: the workplace puzzle is far from solved, and 2025 could mark the widespread return to office-based working for London’s startups and scaleups. But we shall see what happens!
Download your FREE copy!
From office mandates to work preferences, the report covers a lot of ground. It answers questions like:
- Hybrid, remote, or office-based — where are teams and leaders working?
- What are the honest pros and cons of each workspace strategy?
- Do leaders crave more office attendance among employees?
- How are leaders handling office mandates?
- What changes are leaders making in the next 12 months?
Kick-off 2025 with the latest trends—grab your free copy below! 👇
