This research used Annual Business Survey data from the Office for National Statistics to review the rule of thumb. This data represented around six million jobs annually or 20% of all jobs and around £429 billion in combined total business costs from the four key sectors representing ‘the office economy’. There was a significant amount of variation across the four key sectors in terms of purchase costs and employment costs, however, property costs were fairly consistent. The full analysis is available in the report.

An examination of the widely accepted, informal 80:10:10 (salaries: property: other costs) ‘rule of thumb’ that has featured in the property industry for many years.