A growing focus on work-life balance in the jobs world means that as many as 70 per cent of London City employees would rather work in the countryside, according to new research.
The research from HR consultancy Robert Half found that employees were increasingly drawn to the green spaces of the countryside rather than to the capital's Square Mile.
Working away from the city no longer meant taking a pay cut for many employees, the company said, something likely to be an extra incentive to those seeking to escape city life.
The desire of employees to work outside of the city reflected a growing trend identified by the company for businesses to relocate from the city to counties in the south-east.
"Over the last eight months, Surrey and Sussex have witnessed a number of large corporations relocate to the area to reduce costs and increase office space," said director of Robert Walters Surrey and Sussex division, Daniel Ladd-Hudson.
Among the larger companies that had already moved to the south-east were construction company Berkeley Group and security firm Group 4 Security.
Digg 
Delicious 
Reddit 
StumbleUpon 
Google 
Technorati 
Netvouz