Working from home was a government directive during periods of Covid lockdown.

It now looks as though it is here to stay, with most businesses recognising the benefits the flexibility provides for both staff and customers.

However, the concept of working from home remains controversial in some quarters.

In the last few days, the boss of an investment firm based in the City of London has claimed staff ‘abuse’ working from home and are less productive.

Meanwhile, a LinkedIn post from the owner of a recruitment company went viral after he accused people who work from home of being ‘lazy’, ‘spoilt and entitled’, and wanting to watch Loose Women in their pyjamas.

Newport-based accountants Ellis Lloyd Jones have had staff working from home since the beginning of the pandemic, and they will be continuing to provide the option for staff post-Covid.

Senior partner Richard Ellis said:

“We haven’t seen any reduction in productivity as a result of staff working from home; in fact it has often been quite the opposite.

“Trusting staff is key to the success of working from home and perhaps not doing that is the reason why some firms see it as a problem.

“People want working from home as it offers them a better work-life balance. During a recent recruitment process, the best candidates for the roles were looking for the options of flexible working and working from home.

“I think employers who don’t offer it will struggle to attract good staff now.”

Richard sees hybrid working practices as the way forward, with IT solutions the key to success.

“The technology is there to make working from home a success for employers, employees and customers,” he said.

“Our software is all cloud-based, which allows us to work from home, from our offices, or at a client’s premises – and it generally ends up being a mixture of all three

“I think it is highly unlikely we will ever return to a full office and work in the way we did before the pandemic.”