// Frasers have asked for staff to return to the office full time after it found flexible working on Fridays made it unproductive
// It introduced Frasers Fridays at the end of 2020
Frasers Group, owner of House of Fraser and Sports Direct, has banned working from home on Fridays and asked for staff to be in the office all week after it found the practice unproductive.
The retail group has found that its “Frasers Friday” home working initiative had created“an unproductive day of the week”, Frasers Group chief operating officer David Al-Mudallal wrote in an internal memo.
According to The Sun, Al-Mudallal said that there were “too many examples of people or teams not being contactable when they need to be…and colleagues who via their social media profiles are demonstrating they’re not treating Friday as a working day”.
Frasers introduced the Frasers Friday initiative at the end of 2020, when remote working was rife as Covid restrictions were in place.
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Flexible working has been one of the long-lasting consequences of the pandemic with almost a third of UK office workers still working from home at least part of the time, according to the ONS.
A Frasers spokesman said: “We have an incredible workforce of dedicated colleagues, and in-person collaboration is key to how we deliver value together.
“We believe that we are all at our best when we work together in an office environment.”
Frasers Group, formerly Sports Direct, was founded by Mike Ashley, who remains its largest shareholder.
Ashley passed on the reins to son-in-law Michael Murray, who became chief executive of the retail group in May. This makes him one of the youngest bosses of a listed company.
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