WORKERS might not return to Glasgow city centre offices until next year – a delay which would worsen the impact of Covid-19 on shops and cafes.

The prolonged drop in footfall would leave businesses facing “substantial challenges”, the Glasgow City Region cabinet has been told.

Research by the region’s intelligence hub found retail, the accommodation sector, food services, entertainment and the arts face risks due to the reduced number of visitors.

Kevin Rush, the region’s director of economic growth, said the findings were “not a massive surprise”.

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He added the impact had “to some extent” been put off by the furlough scheme and business grants scheme.

“As we start to see that support taper off, I think the indication that we’ve had from a number of big employers is that they don’t really expect to see people back in offices until at least the start of next year.

“Those business, those small cafes or restaurants, whatever it may be, that rely on footfall from offices will really have substantial challenges.”

It has been estimated, and reported to the cabinet, that 217,000 employees were furloughed across the City Region.

Mr Rush said: “It would be the most optimistic economist in the world to tell you that all 217,000 of those employees will go back into work. There will be real challenges for businesses.”

Stuart Patrick, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce chief executive, said: “The short-term outlook is deeply concerning for city centre businesses that depend on office workers to spend in shops, bars and restaurants both at lunchtime and staying on in the evening as part of the night-time scene.”

He pointed to research by think tank Centre for Cities which ranks Glasgow in the bottom 10 for how quickly high streets are returning to previous activity levels.

The think tank’s High Street Recovery Tracker data for July, which covers over 60 cities and towns in the UK, revealed centres had recovered on average “almost half of their pre-crisis activity” but showed “only 17 per cent of workers were using city centres again”.

Mr Patrick said: “It’s no surprise workers are staying away from Glasgow and Edinburgh city centres – both in the bottom 10 – with cautious employers’ health and safety policies likely to keep most staff at home for months to come.

“In Glasgow, that is most alarming for city centre businesses that employ over 30,000 in our retail, hospitality and night-time venues – many of which are small and rapidly running out of reserves.”

He is calling for a task force dedicated to the recovery of Glasgow and other Scot-tish city centres.

“Glasgow Life has launched the Glasgow is Open campaign to remind Glaswegians what they can safely enjoy on their own doorsteps, but more is needed – specifically from the Scottish Government on how it will support business in city centres as part of its Economic Recovery Plan.”

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The City Region has identified 15 priority areas to be included in recovery planning.

An expanded package of business support and advice services, additional grant and loan funding and enhanced support for workers facing redundancy are listed in the programme.

Helping businesses to re-open, such as meeting the cost of implementing social distancing and hygiene measures, and asking the Scottish Government to speed up the process for acquiring vacant land are also included.

Developing these priorities has been agreed by the cabinet but some actions would require a change in government policy or “significant” additional resources.

The City Region includes East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire councils.