Investment Banking

Senior banker: ‘If rivals see clients face-to-face, we’re pressured to do the same’

Finance bosses including ex-Barclays CEO Bob Diamond say the pandemic has changed office work forever — except in banking

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Thousands of City executives worked from home in 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis Photo: Getty Images

High-flying investment bankers came back down to earth in 2020 — literally. As the pandemic hit the City, thousands of dealmakers went from spending most of their lives on a plane to meeting clients via video chat from a spare bedroom.

Nine months on, and the question remains as to whether office work has been revolutionised forever. But for banking — an industry that prides itself on long hours and close client relationships solidified via in-person meetings — talk about the end of the office is premature.

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