British Telecom was one of the pioneers. It began a telework scheme in 1986, and now has 15,000 homeworkers out of 92,000 employees. The company argues that homeworkers save it an average of £6,000 a year each, are 20% more productive and take fewer sick days.

The best thing for about working from home is that it can be any home, office or cafe with an internet connection - especially since gaining a neat little netbook.