'A business loses its edge when it's atomised' - Cancom UK boss on why the office isn't dead

Martin Hess says Cancom UK is reverting back to office-based working as the default

Cancom UK chairman Martin Hess has stressed the importance of office culture, saying businesses "lose their edge" when employees are entirely remote.

The vast majority of the country has been forced to work from home over recent months, with some companies intending to keep offices shut for at least the remainder of the year.

But Cancom UK opened its offices in early June, with Hess explaining that the business had dropped slightly below its high standards when entirely remote.

The chairman said he is a supporter of remote working as part of a hybrid model, but said he is keen for office-based working to become the "default" again. Around 50 per cent of Cancom's workforce is now back working in the office.

"In our managed services business the SLAs were just dropping off in terms of how we're managing customers," he said.

"That's an easy way of measuring it but other functions of the business are not so easy to measure. I found my own game dropping off as well.

"So I think it's edge, energy and innovation. I think you get more innovation in the office."

View more of Hess' view on returning to offices in the video above.