Over the past decade, there’s been a marked shift towards coworking all over the world and especially in the UK, where that trend is set to expand at a rate of 20% year on year. In fact, London is the global capital of coworking, followed by New York City and, according to Statista, there are now over 18,900 space-sharing sites around the world. To give a sense of how rapid this expansion has been in London, coworking provider WeWork now has the second largest commitment to office space in the capital after the UK government.
As a result, forecasters expect 10% of all commercial office space will be coworking by 2028 and that new building tenants will be required to offer coworking and serviced options as part of their leasing arrangements. This means it’s time to start planning for the coming evolution of the corporate real estate market and evaluating your business space requirements in an exciting new way.
How does Coworking benefit corporates?
Non-stop productivity
With the connectivity now afforded by mobile technology, staff can work from home, from the office or from a designated coworking space with equal ease and still achieve the same high levels of productivity. Companies don’t need to provide fixed desks for all their staff to get results – it’s expensive and unnecessary - so this is driving the uptake in shared space modelling.
Stimulating innovation and efficiencies
One of the key appeals for big business is that coworking by its very nature promotes knowledge sharing, collaboration and a more open approach to problem-solving. Creative environments stimulate fresh ideas and highlight different ways of gaining competitive advantage – and large corporations are finding that the many incremental benefits gained in dynamic workspaces translate into significant efficiencies across their organisations.
Strategic locations
Rather than thinking in terms of permanent physical desks in fixed company premises, corporates are starting to adopt the more fluid options that coworking offers. Businesses are moving away from the idea of housing all their staff at head office. Instead, they’re taking space nearer to, say, their key customers or new markets so that the relevant staff can be based closer to where they need to be, while others are able to work just as well from home.
Using a coworking strategy makes better sense and uses fewer resources : companies are finding they need less space, that their workforce is more mobile and their traditional fixed cost overheads are considerably lower. What’s more, businesses are saving on non-productive travel time, reducing their carbon footprints and benefiting the environment at the same time.
Contracts-wise, long term commitments are no longer of prime concern; what’s important is that coworking spaces are in the right location, that they’re fitted out to a high standard and that they offer more flexible business options.
Lower costs, higher returns and better talent
In addition, businesses adopting this collaborative approach are starting to see happier, more engaged workforces, better creative solutions to their challenges and higher shareholder returns. On top of this, coworking companies tend to attract - and retain - the best talent, who are keen to embrace a progressive attitude to working, be it from home, in the office or at a coworking location.
Flexible working spaces
Another advantage of using coworking is that it gives companies room to expand, as their business requires. By taking out a coworking membership, it allows your staff (or suppliers, contract workers, visiting colleagues…) to simply plug in and work, wherever they happen to be.
Traditional landlords are now reacting to this changing real estate market by repurposing their surplus space, turning it into coworking offices on more flexible leasehold terms in keeping with the market’s new demands.
However, for larger organisations who typically require more space, more often and for greater numbers of staff, it can be more of challenge to meet their needs. Big business therefore relies on dedicated service providers who can source, tailor and fit out coworking spaces according to their needs.
Typically, companies are forward planning to meet both their existing requirements for desks and their anticipated future growth by leasing offices that incorporate coworking space which can then be repurposed in the future to house new joiners.
Offices iQ was established to help source best-fit solutions for businesses by finding the right flexible space for their existing staff numbers in specific locations around the world. And the flexibility we deliver applies to how spaces can be used now, with open plan working, private offices, coworking zones or any combination of these elements, as well as how they can adapt for future growth.
We’d be delighted to help you emulate the success of big business by finding exciting coworking solutions that will spark your staff’s creativity, stimulate innovation, attract talent and grow your bottom line so please get in touch if you’d like our assistance.
Offices iQ provides a free office search across 7,000 locations in over 120 countries.
