Sandwich bars and cafes in London's main business districts are experiencing their worst trading in over six months, according to a closely watched survey, raising fears about the health of the UK's wider £15billion grab-and-go industry.
Figures from Bloomberg's 'Pret Index' - named after the popular chain Pret a Manger - show sales at the firm's stores in the City of London and Canary Wharf fell to below a third of pre-pandemic levels last week.
Excluding the weeks during Christmas and Easter holidays, when footfall figures are typically smaller, this is the lowest level since March 2021 - when the country was in lockdown.
The figure has been put down to big banks and law firms in the Square Mile asking staff to work from home following Government advice set out last month in a bid to curb the spread of Omicron.
While the index measures transactions at Pret's stores in major cities across the world, including London's business districts, it is viewed as a snapshot of the health of the wider cafe and grab-and-go sector.
And it will heap pressure on the Government to review its working from home guidance in the wake of recent analysis showing Omicron is less severe in term of chances of needing hospital care.
Cabinet ministers believe lifting the guidance would 'help get the economy firing again' and are already said to be putting pressure on Boris Johnson to end working from home later this month.
Figures from Bloomberg's 'Pret Index' - named after the popular chain Pret a Manger (pictured: Library image) - show sales at the firm's stores in the City of London and Canary Wharf fell to below a third of pre-pandemic levels last week
While the index measures transactions at Pret's stores in major cities across the world, including London's business districts such as Canary Wharf (pictured), it is viewed as a measure of the health of the wider cafe and grab-and-go sector
The latest figures come from the so-called Pret Index, which business data and media group Bloomberg has been running since January 2020.
The index uses weekly sales data, sent by Pret, of its sales across major international cities such as London, New York, Paris and Hong Kong.
The figure shows that sales in the City of London and Canary Wharf - two important districts for big finance and legal firms - was a third of pre-pandemic levels last week.
The index also shows sales in London stations and airports were also around a half of pre-pandemic levels over the same period.
But sales in London suburbs were only down by around 10 per cent, a sign experts suggest reflects the shift to more people working from home.
Sales in the West End shopping and entertainment district meanwhile were less than two-thirds of normal last week.
Analysts at Bloomberg wrote: 'Although January is typically a quieter month in the West End than December, when London residents and tourists descend on the area for Christmas shopping, Pret saw four consecutive weeks of declines before the holiday season.'
Meanwhile, chief executive of Pret, Pano Christou, said businesses that support office workers are struggling more now than at any time because there is no longer any government support.
He said: 'Businesses have depleted funds because of the current pandemic so people are in a worse position than they were 18 months ago.'
It comes as ministers are urging the Government to lift working-from-home guidance due to fears that it is damaging the economy.
According to The Times, ministers want Boris Johnson to lift the guidance by the end of the month.
One cabinet minister reportedly told the paper that they believed removing the guidance, introduced on December 13 amid fears over the spread of the Omicron variant, would 'help get the economy firing'.
This includes the grab-and-go sector, which was forecast to grow to £15billion last year, despite the impact of Covid restrictions and working from home guidance.
One cabinet minister reportedly told the paper: 'The scientific voices seem to be becoming less doom-laden.
'If we have to keep wearing facemasks for a bit, then I'm fine with that — ending work-from-home guidance is the important one. It will help get the economy firing.'
It comes as the Prime Minister last week that he hoped Britain would return to something 'much closer to normality' by the end of January.
Current restrictions, known as 'Plan B', are due to expire on January 26. They are
