Sofia Stolberg from PilotoMail penned a fantastic piece in Forbes EQ about how some coworking and flex space brands (and people) are kicking butt with their branding, and how it could drive the hospitality-driven future of work.

Also featured in the piece are Arian Lewis (Kiln), Sibila Lantzy (Shift Workspaces), Liz Elam (GCUC), Jamie Hodari (Industrious), Brad Krauskopf (Hub Australia), and Caleb Parker (Brave Corp).

The exec team at Hub Australia, namely CEO Brad Krauskopf, CXO Rebekah Murphy and CPO John Preece, reflect on the year so far and what changes could be coming to the flex space industry.

To summarize Brad’s notes: demand wants to consume as a service, landlords in Aus deploying fantastic amenities, to balance risks and costs more management agreements being signed, growth in suburbs actually balanced with CBD return in popularity, groups of brands under one ownership with loyalty programs linking them, and maybe shared resources between boutique firms.

John’s notes include ESC being prioritized and more integration of hospitality-driven addons. Whilst Rebekah’s notes cover continual evolution to adapt to changing worker behaviour and expectations, relaunching of Day Offices, renewed focus on workplace wellness with a new program, responding to dip in Work Near Home demand, and blurring the lines between 5-star hotels and premium workspaces.

Hub Australia share some reflections from their B Corp adventure since 2013, as they prepare for their fourth recertification.

Tracey Prisk from Mortgage Professionals Australia shares insights from Hub Australia’s chief property officer John Preece around what’s changing in Australia’s office market. It’s an interesting look at some numbers we’ve seen before.

For example, if Sydney’s office occupancy stabilizing at 65% and Melbourne at 50% against pre-pandemic levels, and those levels were at a relatively low 50-60% in real terms – that means actual occupancy of offices are sitting around 25-30% in Australia.

With continued downsizing, Australian firms are showing more demand for hospitality spaces, albeit with HQ spaces still within core CBDs for major organizations. In a surprise to nobody, valuers and financiers are still slow to adapt.

John Preece reminds purpose-driven businesses that Hub Australia’s Flexi-impact Program provides a set number of free memberships each year. We saw something similar from Workbar in the US last week.