The tonic brand Fever Tree has announced that it will build a bar within its London office as it declared that their employees will never return to working full-time in the office again.
Fever Tree’s Co-founder and Chief Executive, Tim Warrilow, said that the company plans to adopt a flexi-working approach, whereby a hybrid of remote and in-office working will become the new ‘norm’. This plan will create additional space in their office meaning it will never be completely full.
Prior to the pandemic, all Fever Tree office employees worked from their HQ based in Hammersmith, London.
This news comes as Fever Tree announced that their sales increased by 20 per cent in 2020 compared to the previous year, citing this increase due to the fact that more people were treating themselves to a ‘well-deserved’ gin and tonic during lockdown.
This rise in sales despite closures among global pubs, restaurants and hospitality outlets serving the tonics last year proves the company’s growth as a household name.
Warrilow declared that the company has now completed building a “fantastic bar in our office on the basis that we’re never going to be going back to full-time working there”.
Fever Tree is not alone in their endeavour to pursue a future of flexi-working, with Google, Salesforce, Facebook and PayPal among some of the big corporations who have extended remote working until at least September 2020.
Additionally, when the world was just two months into working from home, Twitter announced that this change would become permanent for many. An email from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey addressed to all employees cited that those whose role does not require a physical presence would be allowed to work from home in the future.
Google similarly announced that they would be testing a flexible ‘workweek’ in the US once it is deemed safe to return to offices. Employees would however be required to work at least three days in the office a week.