Edinburgh and Aberdeen show top interest in Scotland in returning to office

Edinburgh and Aberdeen have shown the greatest interest of major Scottish cities in returning to the office, with searches for such spaces up by a quarter from pre-pandemic levels, a new report has found.

The insight from Orega Offices – which looked at cities across the UK – has in addition revealed that demand in Glasgow grew by 13 per cent.

The study has found the vast majority of UK cities are interested in acquiring office space, “indicating an increased demand in returning to the physical workplace”.

The findings were based on data obtained from 18 cities, analysing average keyword monthly search data to reveal where office space is most in demand, and based on a comparison from April 2019 to April 2021.

Edinburgh ranked fourth highest with a 24 per cent jump in interest in acquiring office space. Picture: Ian Georgeson.

Overall, 83 per cent of locations analysed showed an increased interest in finding office space, even when compared with pre-Covid searches in 2019.

Edinburgh ranked fourth highest with a 24.2 per cent jump between April 2019 and April 2021, followed by Aberdeen at 23.5 per cent. Sunderland came top at 72.7 per cent, while Glasgow was in ninth place at 13.9 per cent.

The new data comes after a report found Edinburgh’s office market got off to a “positive start” in 2021, while Aberdeen recently saw the biggest office investment deal since the onset of pandemic, for example.

Laura Walker, sales and marketing director of flexible office specialist Orega – which has one location in Aberdeen and two in Glasgow – said: “Our clients and partners are telling us their teams are keen to get back into the office for collaborative working and are tired from Zoom fatigue.

"They’re missing the ability to pull up a chair and have a quick chat with colleagues on small matters, which actually make a big difference to productivity, performance and overall commercial success.

"The future still remains uncertain for some types of businesses, which are now increasingly turning to flexible workspaces that provide the ability to grow or reduce workstations based on business performance.

"Many employers are finding themselves with increased office capacity as they shift to hybrid working, and are turning to flexible serviced offices to get better value, compared to traditional long-term leases.”

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