I live on a new build estate of around 200 houses. Roughly 90% office workers, now mainly WFH.

Sure, Pret in Manchester is missing those customers. But the local shops in my rural home town are booming.

Here's why I don't buy this research https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/aug/30/no-return-workers-offices-could-cost-uk-economy-480bn-pounds-cebr

How long will it be before independent shops and pop up in small satellite towns, to service the new market of 1000s of people working at home?

Sure, people can make sandwiches at home. But they could do that before, and didn't. They bought lunch. They wanted the ease.

And if you WFH you want an excuse to get out at lunchtime. You don't want to sit indoors. Groceries, sandwich shops, small, local convenience stores will - surely - start to appear. Sandwich vans touring housing estates. A whole new economy.

And it's surely only a matter of time before the owners of Pret see the value in closing 5000 stores and buying 10000 small vans instead. Cheaper, lower rates, just as many people eating food.

I'm simply not convinced by this £480bn loss story.

I think what they mean is: the dominance of commercial landlords in city centres just ended. And it'll hurt them.

But it can benefit 1000s of other small business owners.

And millions of square feet of useless, worthless offices can be converted into much needed homes.

Is this definitely the future? No.

But it's a far more likely future than everybody stopping eating lunch.