Kim Hogan from Savills shares research from Workthere regarding the Irish market.

In 2025, demand for flex space remained resilient, with a 30% year on year bump in the transacted desk volume. Average occupancy? Holding steady at 82%. Looking ahead, 90% of operators hope to expand their portfolios.

Frank Cottle shares new global data from Workthere and Savills that highlights that meeting rooms are now the most sought-after feature among flex office users.

At the Flexible Space Association conference, Yardi‘s Justin Harley sparked industry debate by suggesting flex workspace operators should "disintermediate the brokers" to improve profit margins, noting that only 46% of flex operators are currently profitable according to Deskmag research. Harley proposed creating a Rightmove-style platform for the flex market, though he acknowledged such development could take up to 10 years.

However, Workthere‘s Tom Leahy countered that intermediaries democratize market access and level the playing field for operators of all sizes through their knowledge and efficient user experience.

The debate reflects growing tension in an industry where nearly 20% of operators aren’t profitable and another 36% barely break even, raising questions about whether direct-to-consumer models are inevitable or if brokers remain essential in the fragmented ecosystem.

Edward Griffin, the CEO of WorkPad shared an interesting take on where we stand overall as it relates to how the general public has adopted flexible workspace. Many in the industry reference a "hockey stick" type of increase in the market, but how can you determine just where we stand? According to the adoption theory, flexible workspace has now crossed "The Chasm" from early adopters to early majority, as evidenced by compelling market indicators. UK flexible workspace enquiries have risen 14% year-on-year and are now 206% higher than pre-pandemic levels according to Savills, while their flex advisory division, Workthere has published research that shows inquiries for larger requirements (20+ desks) have doubled to 24% in the past year. The shift represents a fundamental market evolution, with landlords expecting more than half their portfolios to be flexible by 2030 as businesses of all sizes embrace flex solutions to reduce financial risk while maintaining professional workspace.

Editors note: this was supposed to be in last week’s newsletter and was even discussed on our last Weekly Recap episode – but a tech glitch (they do happen!) prevented it from going out in that email. So here it is, this week instead.

Piers Mallitte at Workthere share that they have created an average desk price map for key cities across the Asia-Pacific region to help businesses considering office space in unfamiliar markets. The resource provides guide prices for private office desk costs in USD, based on market information from Workthere and Savills.