For observers in some quarters, it might sometimes seem as if the rapid rise of remote and hybrid working patterns over recent years has merely been an incidental consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Certain data might seem to back up this view. As of 2019, for example – just prior to the pandemic – only 4.7% of UK employees worked from home.

Fast-forward to April 2020 – when the first lockdown was in place – and some 46.6% of UK employees did at least part of their job from…