GVA Grimley questioned 200 lawyers, bankers, consultants and media/marketing professionals working mainly in the City and Docklands. The survey found the average time taken travelling to and from work is nearly two hours every day (52 minutes each way). Eighty-six per cent of respondents travel by public transport.

Stephen Robinson, London regional senior partner at GVA Grimley says: 'These findings underline the extent to which transport dominates the agenda of those working in London. In the longer term, a brain drain of professionals away from London to other European cities may be unavoidable unless greater coherence is given to attempts by government, mayor and planners to improve London's infrastructure.'

Transport links dominate workers' attitude to the various business locations within the Greater London area. For example, 41% of the London professionals surveyed say they would consider changing firms if faced with a move to South Bank.

But other locations meet even more resistance: over two-thirds (69%) say they would think about changing jobs to avoid being sent to an east London location, such as Stratford, and 58% take the same attitude towards Paddington and Hammersmith, respectively. A massive 83% would contemplate a change of employer to avoid being relocated to a business park within the M25.

Robinson commented: "The South Bank's appeal as a place to work relative to other non-City of London locations is explained by the fact that, since the completion of the Jubilee line extension, the area has become extremely well-connected to both tube and rail networks.'

And if further improvements to the area's transport network come to fruition, Robinson forecast that Southwark is set to become one of London's pre-eminent and most highly priced office locations.

But he concluded: 'The poor state of London's public transport creates a dilemma for many City-based firms. On the one hand, congestion and high rents are constraining their use of space; on the other hand, the intensifying war for talent means that they must provide a high-quality working environment or risk losing valuable staff to their competitors. A move to a non-City location is the obvious solution but is simply not viable until they can be sure that employees' transport requirements will be met.'

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