Deserted streets, empty restaurants, shuttered stores: London’s financial districts remain largely abandoned by workers still worried about the pandemic and reluctant to return to office life. 

The City, a square mile in the heart of the British capital traditionally home to the finance industry, was eerily quiet over the past week, with just a smattering of tourists strolling the streets around St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

In Canary Wharf in east London’s Docklands, known for its skyscrapers housing the headquarters of major banks and related firms, it is a similar story. 

The picture has not changed much despite the government encouraging employees to begin returning to workplaces since August 1 in a bid to boost the struggling British economy. 

It is up to individual companies to decide how forcefully to urge their staff back and many are opting for a more relaxed approached. 

“Many of our clients, particularly in finance and insurance,