Workers can return to the office in two weeks' time
Workers will be able to return to the office after 19 July when Covid restrictions are due to end, Boris Johnson has said.
Government guidance that people who can work from home should, is set to end with other restrictions.
Some firms said they were looking forward to "seeing our great towns and cities fill up again".
However, human resources body CIPD said the removal of restrictions "shouldn't signal a mass return to workplaces".
Many office workers have worked predominantly from home since the first lockdown in March last year.
The guidance changed briefly in August last year, when rates of the virus were low, and the government ran an ad campaign to encourage people back into the workplace.
Almost all Covid restrictions are expected to go in two weeks' time, and it will then be up to employers to determine whether their staff should be in the office.
The Centre for Cities think tank said the number of people back in their place of work across the UK's largest towns and cities was still just a quarter of what it was pre-pandemic.
Centre for Cities' Paul Swinney said the lack of people working in offices had been a "real challenge" for shops, cafes and pubs who used to depend on office workers for business.
"The change to the 'back to the office' advice will doubtless be good news for them, but a question mark remains over how many workers will return now restrictions have lifted," he said.
David Abrahamovitch, founder of Grind coffee shops, said the relaxation on office-working rules was "very much welcomed".
He previously said the four-week delay to restrictions ending "killed the summer" for his London-based coffee shops, which rely on commuters for business.
"We are looking forward to seeing more people back in the city," he said. "I hope lots of companies will follow the lead of those such as Apple and mandate a return to the office for at least three days per week."
Almost all of 50 of the UK's biggest employers previously told the BBC they do not plan to bring staff back to the office full-time.
Some 43 of the firms said they would embrace so-called hybrid working, a mix of home and office working, with staff encouraged to work from home two to three days a week.
Major city banks are adopting different working approaches. Goldman Sachs has told staff to be ready to return to the workplace in July, while NatWest's new working model could see just 13% of staff in the office full-time.
The Bank of England has asked its staff to work at least one day a week from its offices from September.
Joanna Place, the bank's chief operating officer, said it was expecting over time staff would spend three or four days a week on average in the office and one or two days working from home.
"My own personal view is that the pull of the office might be a bit bigger than we anticipate," she said.
'Give confidence to workers'
Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, said a return to the office should be "down to individual organisations consulting with their people to agree working arrangements".
"'Freedom Day' shouldn't signal a mass return to workplaces, but it could signal the start of greater freedom and flexibility in how, when and where people work," he added.
Mr Cheese said regardless of the changes in guidance, employers should continue to put in place measures to "give confidence to workers that their workplace is safe", such as spacing out desks and implementing one-way systems.
"Businesses shouldn't rush to simply revert to how they used to work, now we have experience and evidence that it can be done differently," he said.
"People generally want a mix of workplace and home working. Employers should be trying to understand and support individuals' preferences over more flexible working arrangements where possible, balanced with meeting the needs of the business."
Alistair Elliott, a senior partner at Knight Frank, said the estate agent "wholeheartedly" welcomed the lifting of working from home guidance.
"While this was imperative at the beginning of the pandemic, we look forward to seeing our great towns and cities fill up again, bringing all the benefits that the best collaborative workplaces create," he added.
Richard Burge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said businesses would welcome being able to increase their capacity or "kickstart their chosen future ways of working plans".
"For London this is all hugely significant and is a further placing of the 'open for business' sign on the front door," he added.
However, Mr Burge said he wanted to hear "clarity regarding face covering usage" on London's transport network.
"Confidence in public transport is key to both commuter and visitor return to London," he said.
Can my boss order me to work from the office?
"Ultimately, the answer is yes" - your employer can tell you to work from the office, according to Shah Qureshi, partner and head of employment at law firm Irwin Mitchel.
However, Mr Qureshi adds that under the Health and Safety at Work Act, "employers have an obligation to ensure that there is a safe working environment, a safe workplace, to which an employee returns", which is irrespective of whether restrictions are abolished on 19 July.
So although all coronavirus restrictions are set to end on 19 July, measures put in place by companies could still include spacing desks out, enforcing one-way walking systems and ensuring adequate sanitary facilities, to make sure their offices are safe.
"There is an obligation to return to the office where an employer requires you to do so, and your normal workplace is the office, but there is a duty of care that the employer has to ensure that everything is safe as far as possible," said Mr Qureshi.
"The duty of care [from employers] still remains and has always been there," he added.
Mr Qureshi added that as the law currently stands, there is no legal right for employees to work from home.
