London and Lilongwe: how a two-office team stretches your working day
Our assistants work from London and Lilongwe, Malawi. Lilongwe is one or two hours ahead of the UK depending on the season, which means work can start before you're up and get finished after you've logged off. Here's how that works in practice.
Lilongwe is two hours ahead of London in the UK winter and one hour ahead during British Summer Time. With assistants in both cities, work can start before a UK client's day begins and be finished after it ends, while still sharing most of the working day in real time. That's the practical upside of our two offices.
The time difference, explained simply
Malawi runs on Central Africa Time (CAT), which is UTC+2 all year. It doesn't change the clocks.
The UK does. So the gap moves twice a year:
- Late October to late March (GMT): Lilongwe is 2 hours ahead. 9am in London is 11am in Lilongwe.
- Late March to late October (BST): Lilongwe is 1 hour ahead. 9am in London is 10am in Lilongwe.
The gap is small enough that both teams share most of the day, and big enough to be useful at the edges.
What that looks like for you
Say you're a London client and you send a brief at 6pm asking for a research summary. A Lilongwe-based assistant picks it up first thing their morning, which is still early for you, and it's in your inbox before your first coffee.
Or the reverse: something lands late in the UK afternoon. The London team handles it while Lilongwe hands over notes from their day. Nothing waits overnight for the sake of it.
Doesn't working across two offices make things messier?
It can, if nobody writes anything down. This is why our setup is built around documentation. Every client's workflows, preferences and tone of voice are written up during onboarding. Your work is shared across trained people, with a backup who already knows your systems. So a handover between London and Lilongwe isn't a cold start. It's the next person picking up a well-labelled file.
You still deal with one main assistant and your Engagement Manager. You don't need to know who's in which office unless you want to.
Who it suits best
- UK businesses that want things moving early and same-day turnaround on end-of-day requests.
- Businesses with customers or partners in southern and eastern Africa, where a team in the same time zone (and familiar with the local context) is a real advantage.
- Anyone travelling between Europe and Africa, who needs someone awake and working in roughly the same hours.
For clients elsewhere, we can usually arrange schedules to maximise overlap. Ask us about it on a free call.
The bigger picture
Our offices are in Blackheath, south east London, and in Lilongwe. Our sister company, Helping Hand Accounts, works with businesses in Malawi on accounting and tax, and our parent company Hustle Media shares our London base. If you're curious how the three fit together, read One group, three teams.
If you're weighing up remote support in general, our comparison of freelancers, agencies and managed teams covers what to ask about cover and continuity. Or see how it all comes together in our personal assistant service.
Quick answers
What is the time difference between the UK and Malawi?
Malawi is 2 hours ahead of the UK from late October to late March, and 1 hour ahead during British Summer Time. Malawi uses Central Africa Time (UTC+2) and doesn't change its clocks.
Can a remote assistant in Malawi work UK hours?
Yes. The time difference is only one or two hours, so an assistant in Lilongwe shares most of the UK working day and can start a little earlier.
What time zone is Lilongwe in?
Lilongwe uses Central Africa Time (CAT), which is UTC+2 all year round.