Action on Hearing Loss has announced plans to leave its large London office as part of plans to allow staff to work flexibly from home.

The charity is one of the first to announce its intention to give up its workspace in the capital and will instead focus on finding a smaller space for 'collaboration and meetings'.

The charity sold its Highbury office in December 2019 and has been renting from the new owners ever since, although London staff have been working from home since lockdown in March.

Senior leaders started viewing workspaces earlier this year, but this was put on hold as lockdown hit.

“We have decided that now is not the right time to commit to a new London workspace" the charity's chief executive, Mark Atkinson said.

"The past few months have proven we can make it work. We don’t see the point of rushing a decision when the world is changing around us. Offices might be very different after the coronavirus crisis and ways of working as we know them may be different.

"This is our opportunity to be on the front foot of any changes presented by coronavirus, and make innovative decisions driven by the needs of our people and our charity.

"In essence, we want to reinvest the money that would have been paid in rent, business rates, utilities etc. into delivering our purpose and rewarding our staff. Our view is that there are better ways to use that resource.”

Atkinson acknowledged the move would affect staff in different ways, adding that it will work with all staff and managers to make sure their relative workplaces 'suit them and their roles'.

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