The Vegan Society has moved to a smaller office despite an increase in its staff, due to a shift to remote working leaving its office largely empty.
The Birmingham-based charity is leaving its office building in Ludgate Hill which it has occupied for five years. It moved there after its team quadrupled to 40 staff in 2018.
Since then, its employees have grown further to 70, but a shift to remote working arrangements meant that it was paying for a “largely empty office”.
The charity has now moved to its former premises at Donald Watson House, which it owns.
Some staff work from home on a permanent basis
The Vegan Society took up remote working practices during and after the pandemic. The charity reported that it continued to be effective and popular with staff.
A spokesperson from the charity told Civil Society News that while employees are required to be in the office once a week, many others work from home on a more permanent basis. All are given the flexibility to come into the office when they would like to do so.
In its latest accounts for the financial year ending December 2021, Vegan Society reported paying £16,584 in office expenses and £95,691 in premises costs.
Its total income for the same year was over £3.9m with an expenditure of £4.2m.
Remote working has opened the charity’s recruitment pool
The shift to predominantly home-based working allows staff more flexibility and has opened up the charity’s recruitment pool, the Vegan Society said.
Steve Hamon, chief executive of the Vegan Society, said the charity is excited to return to its previous office.
“We’ve found that home-based positions have worked well for our team of dedicated staff and have decided to continue with this arrangement. We’re excited to return to our previous office building and returning to a smaller property that the society owns has the added benefit of reducing expenditure that can be utilised more effectively in other areas of the charity.”
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