Living in a different city from the office location? (UK)

Hello!

It´s not ideal but honestly I have seen people doing it. However, these were people with a certain tenure who could negotiatiate a bit. 

Usually, in the pre-pandemic world, consultants would travel Monday-Thursday. Friday was the day to be in the office -in the city where you are supposed to have a house and so on, since accomodation is not provided-. 

Hence, I have seen people taking the flight Mon-Thurs from their location one week, and the follwoing having a hotel/friend in the city where the office is. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Within the UK that should be fine. Your main issue is if you are staffed in London you will not be able to reimburse hotel/meals. So you will end up having to rent for the duration of the project.

Udayan

Hey there,

Yes, it definitely works and I remember quite a few colleagues that had such an arrangement. There are two obvious downsides to it:

1. You won't be as integrated into the local office since most Fridays you probably won't bother to be in London just to sit in the office and rather work from home. Going Monday - Thursday for biz travel and then Thursday - Friday to another city is quite taxing over time. I had a project like this for 3 months and it was not pretty. It is nice to be integrated into the office culture, making friends, etc. You might go the extra mile initially but at some point, it will be tiring. Not sure how LON office handles hotel nights in the city but my hunch would be that it would have to be paid out of your pocket.

2. Depending on where you live / how far from the office, it could make your travel arrangements more tedious. The people I know who lived in some smaller city sometimes had to take 2 flights Monday morning to get to the client, which translates to even earlier mornings, more travel stress, higher chances of delays, missed connections, etc. Sometimes, you might also need to fly out Sunday night to make it in time for Monday morning meetings.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi, it is totally feasible, especially in this period, when 90% of the projects in Europe are handled remotely.

Best,
Antonello 

At McKinsey London, there are quite a few consultants who live outside the M25 so it's definitely feasible!

Hi Richard,

It should be possible – I would check with HR for your specific case once you get an offer. However, there would be a major drawback. If you are staffed in London, you will have to rent something or commute daily there.

I agree with Ian that your partner will probably be alone anyway Mon-Thu, given you may have to travel or possibly rent in London if you are not that close, so that's something you will have to take into account as well.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

It is feasible, but it increases your chance of burnout. 

Logistically, it may become a bit of a headache. For example, if you have a project in mainland Europe, you'll have to fly there. Are you close enough to London to make that weekly flight work? Can you fly direct from your location? Secondly, if you're staffed on a London project, can you commute in/out each day? (Accepting that this could be at 10pm, 11pm, etc.). If you can't commute, are you ok with renting a room on your own dime for that night or the whole week?

Just make sure you understand that this is a hard job even in the best of times. This will cause a lot of strain.

I'd also like to point out this personal point not to be overlooked: If your partner isn't going to be ok with being alone Mon-Thurs you have to understand the strain this will put on your relationship...whether you're physically home or not Mon-Thurs, you're going to be quite tired and not always mentally present.

Just be careful and think through what this really means in reality!