What’s the cost of a commute?

Today we’re launching the second edition of Tyto’s ‘Cost of a London Commute’ study.

Remote working has risen to the forefront in 2020 as Governments worldwide have battled to try and control the spread of Coronavirus. As many businesses voluntarily opt to extend their remote working policies, it seems that working from home is set to remain a way of life for many over the next few months.

However as social distancing measures begin to ease, and the number of cases thankfully decrease, many businesses have already reopened their doors. And one day  in the not-too-distant future, even more people will be required to shrug off their trackpants, dust off their travel cards and contemplate travelling back into a central office.

We created this annual study  last year to shine a light on the time and costs faced by London bound commuters and to raise the level of debate around newly tested alternative ways of working.

London commuters take a significant – and often unnecessary – financial hit due to train fares. More than this, they typically spend a huge amount of their time on overcrowded and delayed trains.

To gauge just how much of an impact this has on commuters, we’ve done the calculations. London  commuters save an average of 23.5 days per year in travel time – which is the equivalent of  £10,020  in  unpaid time.  Remote working also saves commuters an average of  £5,114  in travel costs, which is nearly a fifth (18%) of the average annual London net salary post-tax.

For parents requiring childcare, the picture is even bleaker, with the average cost of wraparound childcare required to cover commute times equating to £12.17 per day, or £2,873 per year – which is 10% of the average London net salary post-tax.

At Tyto, we’ve always operated remotely. This was a deliberate move, and one that underpins the foundations of our business. When I set the company up in 2017, I wanted to develop our business around a new location agnostic operating model. This model means that we have an entirely remote team that works as one across Europe. Our employees can opt to work from home or in a co-working space.

There are many compelling reasons for adopting a location agnostic model, but for me it boiled down to three main reasons. First, I wanted to build a fast-paced dynamic agency but without my previous  three-hour round-trip  London commute. Second, I saw a fixed office as the greatest constraint on access to talent as it limited the catchment area to recruit the best people from. Third, I wanted to build a one team culture across  multiple  European countries, and I saw offices as building barriers between people.

The benefits to our employees, our clients and our business of a location agnostic model have been significant and satisfying. Without the shackles of costly London commute, we achieved my goal of having a talented, connected and productive agency team who can live anywhere, and work anywhere, and deliver outstanding service to clients.

I hope you find this study valuable and we welcome feedback on how we can make improvements to it  next year.

You can find the full report online.