London Businesses are Flexible Working Champions

ï 84% of London businesses offer flexible working options, compared to 74% nationwide

ï 64% of London businesses allow employees to work from home, compared to 55% across Britain

ï 54% believe the governmentís plan to extend flexible working to parents of older children is a good idea, compared to 52% national average

London is leading Britain in embracing flexible working in the workplace, with 84% of London-based businesses saying they have introduced flexible working options, compared to a national average of 74%, according to independent research commissioned by Citrix Online. Over half of London businesses (54%) also stated the governmentís plan to extend flexible working to parents of older children is a good idea, compared to 52% nationally. The study surveyed middle managers and above from 538 businesses across England, Scotland and Wales, as well as 1,800 working parents.

London businesses highlighted staff retention (72%), employee satisfaction (71%) and providing a work-life balance for working parents (58%) as the key business benefits to introducing flexible working. Maintaining company culture was a concern for 35% of London businesses, but only 8% thought that quality of work would suffer.

The study also showed that London businesses are leading the nation in embracing technology to help employees work away from the office, with 61% (national average 57%) providing a laptop, 50% (32%) offering a Blackberry or iPhone, and 47% (40%) providing software to allow employees to access their work PC remotely.

The 1,800 working parents who responded to the survey said they believe that London businesses are meeting the needs of parents by offering flexible working options. Working away from the office was the top benefit that working mums would like from a job, ranking above a pension and an annual bonus. For 87% of dads, avoiding traffic and saving time by not commuting to the office were the best things about flexible working.

Denise Tyler, founder of Mother@Work (www.motheratwork.co.uk), the online magazine dedicated to helping working mothers get the right balance in their working, family and personal lives, commented: ìWorking parents worry about the effect that having children will have on their career aspirations, so it is promising to see that businesses are recognising the benefits of flexible working and introducing options that will really help employees.î

ìLondon businesses clearly recognise the benefits of offering flexible working and are leading Britain in actively exploring ways to enhance employee satisfaction and retention,î commented Bernardo de Albergaria, Vice President and General Manager, Global Marketing and eCommerce, Citrix Online. ìTravelling less and being able to work from home are seen as key benefits by employees, so enabling them to access their PC and collaborate from anywhere will help businesses offer their staff the flexibility they desire.î