Ben Newton

On the GCUC podcast Liz Elam hosts Ben Newton from PATCH and the open-source OpenOps Project to discuss how very often its the people, the systems, and the intentional operations happening behind the scenes that make certain workspaces unforgettable.

Patch ops director Ben Newton shared how (after spending an hour trying to figure out if they were overpaying for cleaning) is building benchmark of what operators should be paying per square foot for support services.

"The OpenOps Project is a free, open cost benchmarking tool for coworking operators. Cost per square foot, grouped by size bracket, named operators. No paywall. No sign-up. No catch."

Ben Newton shares why Patch doesn’t want "free revenue" (aka the gym model, where people sign up but never come in or use the space).

As an ops leader, he gives 3 fantastic points to think about, and some advice for operators on how to get members idling in the ‘Red Zone’ into either ‘clean churn’ or back into the community.

"In an automated world, being missed is a powerful emotion." Yes Ben!

Emilie Lashmar shared a thorough recap of GCUC UK’s last Manchester event, which she co-hosted with Georgia-Kaye Berry (from Colony).

The recap runs over the data shared by Jordan Saleh (CBRE), Ryan Jans (WeWork), and Tanya Grady (Allied London); what makes a workspace stand out by Nicola Jones (GPE), Lucy Pickavance (Phoenix Resourcing), Ana Bernardo (Work.Life), and Ben Newton (Patch); some indie-vs-big-pocket insights from Lisa Cations (JCR Advisors), Shannon Burke (managed.), Tom Almas (Wizu), Rebekah Lloyd-Beere (Landsec), and Gareth I. Jones (TownSq). Alongside workshops led by Samuel Warren (technologywithin), Manuel Conti (PONT), Claire Carpenter and George Tilbury; Lisa Quait ran the Women in Flex Luncheon. The event was then rounded out with sessions from Nicholas Drew (urbanbubble) and Sammy Dukes (Yardi) on operational intelligence and Pauline Roussel (Coworkies) and Jonathan O’Byrne on community.

Why did we highlight all the speakers above? To elevate the (many new) voices who took the stage in Manchester.