Advertising giant WPP has found that working from home has led to quicker and, in some cases, more creative work – but it has not been an easy transition for all, says CEO Mark Read.

COVID-19 has had a massive impact on office-based businesses, with many people now working from home due to social-distancing requirements. 

While it has not been an easy adaption, Read points to the positives that have come from the new set-up and he thinks companies will be more flexible in the future about the option of being based outside the office.

Importantly, Read thinks creativity may have improved.

"When I talk to our clients, they would say that business has continued pretty much as normal," he told CGTN Europe.

"It's been faster. It has been more agile, and the creative quality has been just as good if not, in some cases, better than it was before. So I think we've really adapted extremely well to this new working environment."

Still, working from home is far from ideal for some people and it very much depends on personal circumstances.

"It's been a difficult experience for many people, I mean it's okay for me, I live in a house with a garden but many of our younger employees just starting out their career live with their parents," said Read.

"I have to say ... people have performed magnificently. Work has got done, ads have been made, we've been able to produce things."

If working from home has been a success at WPP, then many other firms will sit up and take notice. And Read feels that many of the changes are here for good.

"I don't think we'll ever go back to working in exactly the way that we were before. It's probably a good thing," he said. "When I talk to our people at town halls, the number one question they ask me is, can we have more flexible working in the future?"

Check out The Pandemic Playbook, CGTN Europe's major investigation into the lessons learned from COVID-19

Video editor: Sam Cordell