If you want me, I’ll be in the pub

Working from home was all well and good when the weather was fine and screen breaks could be taken in the garden or the local park. Now, six months in, with heating bills mounting and that dodgy wi-fi as slow as ever, it’s no wonder lots of us are desperate to find alternative office space, even if it’s just a day or two a week to break the monotony.

Who’d have thought six months ago that even the most reputable hotels would be hiring their rooms out by the hour, but that’s the case in lots of cities. It’s not hard to see the appeal when a desk comes with access to a pool and sauna, but it does come with a significant downside. Prices stretch up to £2,000 a day (£2,300 if you don’t want to bring your own food) at the Shangri-La at the top of the Shard. That’s a lot to pay for the privilege of putting in a 9 to 5.

So it’s great that landlords of a different nature have stepped in with a defiantly British solution. Increasingly numbers of pubs are encouraging office workers to spend the day with them with offers of unlimited tea, coffee, a lunchtime sandwich and maybe a drink at the end of the day. Typical prices are a much more affordable £10 to £20. You could spend that on heating alone when winter bites.

It’s just another example of how nimble footed the hospitality industry is showing itself to be. God knows, it needs to be with rules changing by the day, but it shows the truth in the old saying that there is opportunity in adversity. It just takes creative thinking.