Lockdown diaries: Savills’ James Sparrow

James Sparrow is Savills’ chief executive for the UK and EMEA. Here, he details his first day back at Savills’ global headquarters on Margaret Street, W1, after more than two months in lockdown. Getting up and getting ready for work feels very different today. For the past nine weeks my commute has been a few paces to my desk at home and it is amazing how quickly I have adjusted to a new routine in such a short period. Today, though, I am heading back into central London for the first time since mid-March, so the alarm goes off at 6am – the earliest in quite some time. I am feeling excitement, but inevitably some trepidation. The first strange part of my day is putting on a suit. The second odd thing is saying goodbye to the family, after being together almost 24/7 for months. I set out at 7am for my 30-minute walk to the office in the sunshine. The nearby streets are busy – people getting in their exercise early in the day or also heading to work. I normally hop on a bus, but the walk is enjoyable, clears the head and will become a very good fixture for me, I think. As I approach the office near Oxford Circus, I spot Pret and Starbucks are both open. It’s a bit of an odd experience queuing at a distance and hanging back to let other customers past, but the coffee and croissant are more than worth it. Now the big moment: actually entering the office. As I step through the doors I feel relief and then joy. It’s wonderful seeing colleagues (at a distance) and being able to chat again face to face. I see Mark Ridley, Savills’ group chief executive, who has cycled into the office, and Richard Rees, our UK managing director, who has run in. I feel a little outdone, having only walked, and they take great pleasure in telling me so. I know I am back. I’m quickly reminded that although you can do a lot on the phone, and even more on Teams and Zoom, nothing beats proper human interaction. The conversations are different and more fulfilling in every sense. I can feel the energy again. Our health and safety and facilities teams have been working tirelessly to reconfigure communal and desk areas and to ensure that those who need to return to the office can do so safely. Of course there are fewer people in the office, there are markings on the floors and demarcation of the desks, but it’s not as odd as I was expecting. In fact, it all feels just the same. The main reason I’m in today is to cross-check that all of this has been implemented correctly so more colleagues who have not been able to work from home can return. At the moment, we can operate offices on rotational plans at a maximum of 30% density, including full PPE and distancing measures. For a large proportion of staff, however, it’s “business as usual” at home, so they will continue to work from there for the immediate future. When lockdown began, Savills swiftly transitioned to remote working and in many respects we have been busier than ever before. But there are teams across both our commercial and residential businesses that can’t work outside the office and some have continued to travel to their workplace or been unable to work fully. Now that we have been able to reopen all our commercial and residential offices, we are seeing very positive signs that business should return to some kind of normal fairly quickly. I have my first client meeting just before noon. They have been keen to talk face to face at the first possible opportunity. Again, I’m not sure what to expect, but it’s fine. After meeting at a distance and not exchanging handshakes, we sit at either end of the table and talk just as we would have before (after the obligatory “what’s your lockdown been like?” stories). In the afternoon I have some video calls with colleagues, including a call with all our heads of country across Europe and the Middle East. They are generally a few weeks ahead of us and reassuringly seeing levels of business return to pre-lockdown levels. I then wade through the paperwork on my desk before packing up at around 6pm to retrace my steps home. For me it’s a massive personal positive being once again able to separate home and work life. Overall then, it has been an excellent day. It was a real pleasure seeing some colleagues in person and knowing that when others want to return they will be able to. The great camaraderie in the firm is totally unchanged and stronger than ever. With all my concerns allayed, I can’t wait to get back in again.   To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette