We already know that working from home in the UK is more popular than ever as a more flexible attitude to work and improving broadband services make a choice hitherto seen as career suicide an acceptable one.
We also see the army of home businesses, small office home office (SoHo’s) and micro businesses starting from bedrooms as the breeding ground for new entrepreneurs.
And we also know a fair bit about the demographics of the people opting for working from home.
But what is news is the positive transformation that working from home is having on some of the UK’s beautiful but remote coastal towns and villages.
What were recently areas blighted by second homes, occasional visitors and limited employment opportunities are beginning to see transformation into hubs of activity with real people forming a permanent community in homes previously unoccupied for months on end.
The study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlights that there are areas now where anything between ¼ and 1/3 of the working population work from, or run their businesses from home.
It’s no surprise that those areas with the largest proportion of home workers are also sought after beauty spots with the top 10 throwing up some familiar second home destinations. However the trickle down effect could have positive impacts on previously absence-blighted regions.
- Lynton, Devon (35%)
- Tintagel, Cornwall (33%)
- Porlock, Somerset (30%)
- Hugh Town, Isles of Scilly (30%)
- Southwold, Suffolk (29%)
- Overstrand, Norfolk (28%)
- Salcombe, Devon (28%)
- Charmouth, Dorset (27%)
- Rock, Cornwall (26%)
- Polperro, Cornwall (26%)
Perhaps it’s the sea air that brings out the entrepreneur as much as it does the free spirit but the trend is certainly positive news for the working population searching for a new dynamic and the villages that all too often previous generations were forced to leave behind.