n a business park on the outskirts of Reading, there is a glimpse of what office life could be like once lockdown restrictions start to ease. Tucked in the corner of the car park, a biotech firm has opened testing pods, which it hopes to roll out nationwide. The UK arm of a Hong Kong-based company, Prenetics runs Covid testing operations for the Premier League and has launched test sites in Reading and Dartford, Kent, at premises belonging to IWG, the UK’s largest flexible workspace provider. The pods offer lateral flow or laboratory tests – known as PCR tests – to workers based at IWG buildings, and members of the public, at a cost of up to £110. Tests are booked online, results are received by phone, and any positive findings are automatically reported to Public Health England and the test-and-trace system. Three-fifths of UK business leaders expect some Covid testing to feature in the return to workplaces, although this is largely expected to be voluntary. One-fifth of managers anticipate making testing mandatory, as revealed last week in a national survey of leaders by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). If they get their way, and systems such as the one offered by Prenetics take off, arriving at your office 30 minutes early in order to acquire a negative result before being allowed to enter the building could be part of the post-pandemic return to work. The government is offering free workplace testing to all UK businesses, including those with 50 employees or fewer, provided they sign up to its scheme by 31 March. Those registered will receive free lateral flow kits for staff, a rapid test which usually provides a result within 30 minutes and is now being used at schools in England. However, the free tests will only be provided until the end of June, before the expected date of any large-scale return to work. Prenetics plans to open a further eight test sites at IWG locations from Bristol to Leeds over the coming weeks and its goal is to open a network of up to 100 pods across the country. “For travel or workplace purposes, testing is going to remain part of everyday life,” says Avi Lasarow, the chief executive of Prenetics UK, which is also involved in Heathrow airport’s pre-departure test facility. “We park accessible pods around the country, so trained people can administer or observe these swabs. People turn up, get the test and come into work.” According to Lasarow, lessons learned from the UK’s first mass Covid testing trial in Liverpool emphasise the need for lateral flow tests to be observed to ensure they are carried out correctly. “If the tests aren’t administered by people that are trained, or at least observing people and telling them what they are doing wrong, the efficacy of the tests goes down significantly; and you aren’t using the tests in the way they are designed, to get people back safely,” Lasarow said. Firms in the financial sector have already begun to offer regular testing to staff who are required or choose to go into the office. Goldman Sachs began a staff Covid testing programme at its London headquarters in January. The US bank, whose chief executive has already signalled his determination to get workers back at their desks as soon as possible, requires London employees attending the office to take at least one antigen test weekly. Its fellow Wall Street bank Citigroup has launched a pilot testing programme for up to 1,000 staff based at its London headquarters in Canary Wharf, where lateral flow tests are posted to those who volunteer for the scheme. However, not all companies, particularly smaller ones, have available resources or staff to devise and manage their own testing regime. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is encouraging its members to sign up to the government’s free testing programme before the 31 March deadline. “The window of opportunity for smaller businesses to get on board with free testing is short,” said Hannah Essex, a co-executive director of the BCC, who has called on the government to extend the free provision of tests to businesses “for as long as necessary”. However, employment lawyers warn that collecting test data could pose challenges for companies, as would the introduction of digital health passports, informing employers who is safe to enter the workplace. “The key thing is what happens when you get a positive test,” said Rustom Tata, the head of employment at the City law firm DMH Stallard. “Most people who work in offices are lucky and able to work remotely.” He added: “It is going to be problematic in those workplaces where if you don’t go in you don’t get paid, or you are only going to get statutory sick pay.”