A reminder to share you lead-gen stats.
A quick reminder that I’m busy building a report on where flex spaces were getting their best converting leads from.
If you’ve got an idea, whether accurate from data or a guesstimate, take the flex space lead-gen survey today.
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✊ Coworking impact.
🇵🇷 A reminder to support local vetted orgs #
Mari Rosa reminds us that if you want to support those affected by Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico, please make sure to contribute to local vetted orgs who are directing their funds to make a real impact.
👉 Read this.
🌱 New index tracks the sustainability of flex space locations #
The Instant Group have launched their “Sustainability Index”. The linked press release (behind a soft paywall) notes that over 3k workspaces are already included on the index, including 30 UK properties from Landmark who is one of the founding partners.
I like this idea, having supported a number of eco-focussed certifications and ratings over the years, and am watching to see if it’ll catch on. Now, because I know the Instant team read this… I do hope they take an open API approach to the results and rankings (if that’s a tech challenge, I know some creative data integrators who could hop in to help. Just saying).
👉 Read this.
Coworking news & views.
☀️ Why one provider believe our future is so bright #
Charlotte Kirby shares why The Village Hive Coworking think the future is so bright for coworking and how they are staying on top of the needs of this larger remote and hybrid workforce.
👉 Read this.
🤔 Is the future of coworking to move away from the ‘base’? #
The always insightful Annie Draper shares how a future trend in CRE may be the incorporation of coworking-based elements (think community managers, amenities, programming, flexibility) into buildings in new and creative ways, creating new models and offerings.
👉 Read this.
📦 Mailroom co launched kiosk for self-serve postage #
Matt Going from Anytime Mailbox has announced Anytime Kiosk, which lets members and guests of flex spaces self-ship packages up to 33lbs (15kg).
The kiosks ran through pilots at IWG locations in the US and Singapore, can drive new revenue for space operators and can be positioned as an automated amenity for members who need to ship items out.
👉 Read this.
🇦🇺 Australian network adds podcast services to offering #
Tobi Skovron shares how CreativeCubes are now offering podcast editing and other services to both their members and non-members. The service is in partnership with a local video and audio editing firm, and leverages existing meeting rooms across the network.
With the growing popularity of podcasting, many spaces have invested into providing podcast studio or recording space, but few have really dug into offering services around that.
👉 Read this.
🇧🇬 How one building in Bulgaria was built from the ground up for coworking #
Forbes Bulgaria shares an interesting Q&A with Tony Alexandrov about Work Better. The space went from a hole in the ground to a custom-built coworking building in 1.5 years, and has aspirations to become fully automated as soon as possible.
👉 Read this.
🔩 Flex-for-landlord team announces their first ground-up space #
JLL Flex have announced that they’ve leased 15,407 sqft to build their own flex space from the ground up.
👉 Read this.
🏨 Hotels get hospitality, but do they get coworking? #
Ian Minor explores the notion that “Hotels should develop coworking brands because they get hospitality”, and notes that there’s more it than that.
Ian shares 6 points that hotels should consider before contemplating launching their own coworking brand, and how it differs from ‘Lobby Culture’ that some hotels like The Hoxton and Ace Hotel had popularized.
👉 Read this.
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💻 Coworking technology.
💙 When getting setup with a software system sparks joy. #
Precious Martin shares their experience onboarding Pursuit Coworking with a workspace technology company.
When was the last time you loved an onboarding session & chat so much you shared about it on your social channels?
👉 Read this.
🕸️ Yardi Kube gets a new set of tools and integrations #
Syncaroo shares that 1000+ locations using Yardi Kube can now activate time-saving tools, data-syncing integrations and more.
This brings the total number of management systems with access to Syncaroo tools like Assistant, Portal, Advantage and Widgets to 6, alongside spaces powered by andcards, cobot, Deskworks, Nexudus and officernd.
👉 Read this.
💰 Modular management system raises €2.1M #
Thomas Celen shares the news that Zapfloor have closed a ~$2M funding round for their modular platform for managing workspaces and buildings.
👉 Read this.
🤖 Platform pulls in AI suite to help operators… operate. #
Nexudus share how they’ve sprinkled some clever bits of AI across 4 areas of their workspace management platform. From helping to project demand, to dynamic pricing, to improving members’ engagement. to mapping utilization of space and energy – they’re offering a growing set of interesting tools for sure.
Expect more and more of your apps to give you data-led tools. But keep in mind, any app or AI tool is just as good as the data you share (and should share).
👉 Read this.
💰 Workspace management app raises $13M #
Ivan Cossu shares that deskbird (a platform for employees to book space and plan their hybrid schedules in 2 clicks) have closed a $13M funding round led by ALSTIN Capital and AVP (AXA Venture Partners).
I’m calling it, one of their next additions will be bookable 3rd party spaces from operators like you. I’ve been pretty on-the-money with these bets so far.
👉 Read this.
🎨 Dubai-based space booking platform rebrands #
Letswork, who bill themselves as ‘a subscription platform and marketplace for places to work, meet and create, on-demand’ (and who I’ve covered before) have rolled out a rebrand and new app as they aim to scale globally.
👉 Read this.
Coworking data.
2022 Global Size & Capacity Report released #
The folks over at (deep breath in) coworking insights slash coworker slash the instant group slash the first of their name (and breathe out) have released an interested report in the average sizes and number of desks based on the 19,500 listings on the discovery and workspace reviews platform.
They concluded that the global capacity is 98 workstations on average for all the coworking spaces listed as of August 2022. They also determined that the global average square footage is approximately 7,244 sqft for the regions of Asia-Pacific, Central America, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and North America. Of these regions, workspaces in North America have the largest average square footage at 9,548 sqft.
👉 Read this.
🇦🇺 Demand in APAC up 16%, but supply only up 3% #
Bobby Sodeiri shares the key findings of the Instant 2023 APAC Flex Market Review.
Compared to the second half of 2022, demand is up 16% with supply growing slower at just 3%. Interestingly 42% of requests through the platform in the region are for 25+ desk requirements and the most searched for amenity is 24-hour access.
👉 Read this.
🌍 European flex space take-up drops since H1 #
Kim Hogan shares data from Savills and Workthere that notes that “European flex office take-up accounted for 4% of total office take-up in H1 2023, down from the 8% peak recorded during 2019 and from the 7% level recorded in H1 2022.”
The slower take-up (ie how much of office space was taken by flex space providers) wasn’t attributed to a slow in demand for flex space, but instead noted limitations on the availability of good quality space, more management agreements vs traditional leases, and aiming for higher occupancy first as the main dragnets on growth.
👉 Read this.
🇺🇸 Where is remote work thriving, or dwindling, across the US? #
Axios analyses new Census figures about who’s working from home, and who’s not.
Whilst 15% of the US worked from home in 2022, the numbers are higher in large metro areas and on both coasts. Boulder (CO) had the highest share at 32%, San Francisco and San Jose were both in the top 10, Austin (TX) was higher, and over 25% of the workforce in Washington D.C. area was remote. Mississippi led the other side with just 5.5% working remotely.
Threat or opportunity? Did you hear the one about the two travelling shoe makers who stumbled upon a barefoot village? No? Reply and let me know.
👉 Read this.
🌓 Average UK lease length now half of what it was in 2002. #
Matthew Blair highlights just how significant the drop in lease length in the UK has been since 2002, and why more and more landlords are ramping up their flex offerings through management agreements, partnerships, in-house brands and more.
👉 Read this.
Coworking market moves.
💻 Management platform and marketplace announce co-branded offering #
Miro Miroslavov shared the announcement that officernd and Liquidspace are partnering up to offer hybrid companies a combined workforce and workspace management solution.
An interesting move that could drive more demand towards spaces, and sits tightly within the trend we’ve been seeing in previous newsletters about coworking bookings being driven deeper into corporate ops/hr team solutions.
👉 Read this.
🔑 Network makes another acquisition #
THRIVE Coworking have acquired Coworking Station in NC
👉 Read this.
🆕 North American network launches product offering with coworking partners #
Preferred Office Network (PON) announced the launch of “Preferred Suites”, a new creative solution designed to satisfy the growing demand of corporate clients seeking larger footprints of space.
The offering combines traditional leases with management/support services and amenity access from PON’s partner space within the same building. It’s an interesting move in the landlord + coworking space for sure, I’m watching it closely for sure.
👉 Read this.
🤺 Is BGO’s MIMO a flex space play, or just rebranded spec suites? #
Michael Abrams shares a fiery post about whether a new offering from BGO (an $83B asset manager with 28 offices) is an innovative move from a large landlord or just spec suites with a new set of descriptors.
Michael leans to the latter, and many of the comments agree. But Robert D. Naso, a managing partner at BGO, argues that their MIRO (Move In Ready Offices) is a larger play to offer flexible solutions for SMBs within and alongside their traditional offerings.
👉 Read this.
🇳🇱 infinitSpace to create flexible workspaces in Amsterdam’s new Republica development #
infinitSpace, a provider of white-label, tech-enabled flexible workspaces, has entered into a management agreement with landlord and real estate developers Banlieu BV to launch a 21.5k sqft flexible workspace location in Amsterdam’s new Republica development.
The flex space offering, under the ‘beyond’ brand, will be spread across 3 of the project’s 6 buildings which includes multifunctional office space, traditional office space, a hot, and 55 residential apartments.
👉 Read this.
⬇️ How low-rise conversions could become great coworking spaces #
Craig Baute shares a case study about how Broadway Collective launched in a two-story mid-century brick building, whose floor plan and overall look was guided by Denswap data.
I think we’ll be seeing more and more of these kinds of conversions in urban and rural markets, alongside more bank conversions and other Main Street flex space offerings.
👉 Read this.
✈️ The market for drop-in workspace at airports heats up #
The WSJ digs into the trend about PAYG or app-based workspace access in airports. Although we’ve been following this topic for a while here on TWIC, there is one chain I hadn’t covered yet, and that may be because their PAYG office setup is kind of a secondary ‘thing’.
Minute Suites started as a chain of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) places to sleep at 10 US airports. However through a partnership with the Priority Pass network, they’re now pivoting to focus on letting their members work at PAYG locations.
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 YardNine and Partners Group tap JLL for EightyFen project #
Ben Munn shares that Flex by JLL will provide three self-contained & pre-fitted office suites at EightyyFen covering over 10,000 sqft.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Cat Johnson talks with Anne Kirby from The Candy Factory coworking space in Lancaster, PA about marketing a coworking space, being intentional about building community in your workspace, challenges of remote workers who would rather not be working remotely and more
Giovanni Palavicini and Jamie Russo chat with Amy King on bringing her LEED and WELL Expertise to the coworking industry.
Bernie J Mitchell introduces Alycia Levels-Moore and POLARIS, a community-centered coworking space nestled in Birmingham, AL in this Visionaries series episode of the Coworking Values Podcast.
Freddie Fforde dives into why and how they’re building Patch with Iyas AlQasem on the Karmic Capitalist podcast.
Ebbie Wisecarver (Head of Global Design & Development at WeWork) & Melanie Jones chat about design, sustainability, and flexibility along with the Furniture-as-a-Service model on the CORT Workplace Talks podcast.
Jamie Russo chats with Tim Hasse about how/why General Provision identifies as a “work club,” not as an office or even a coworking space.
Ryan Fogelman chats with Jamie and Gio about COhatch, their business model, customizing their offer for each local market and supporting non-profits on the Flex Uncensored podcast.
Chelsea Perino shares her unique journey from member to MD of global marketing and comms at 180-location The Executive Center with Jamie and Gio on the Flex Uncensored podcast.
Kenny Kane dives into Firmspace’s ideal customers, how he approaches being CEO, demountable walls and more with Gio and Jamie on the Flex Uncensored podcast.
📆 Coworking events.
👋 TWIC meetup IRL #
23 September: After a year or so of Clubhouse discussions a bunch of ThisWeekInCoworking subscribers, contributors and supporters are meeting in-person, at Ascension Coffee – The Star – in Frisco Texas, to chat about the newsletter and its contents. In real life. So excited!
👉 Read this.
♿️ September IDEA Challenge: Making Inclusion Accessible #
28 September: This month’s Coworking IDEA Challenge is all about accessibility. Join our facilitator Devon Persing for this free monthly IDEA conversation.
👉 Read this.
🇩🇪 Virtual Cowork2022 (German) #
29-30 Sept: A 2-day virtual gathering of the German coworking movement organized by the German Coworking Federation.
👉 Read this.
🎯 Convo: Attract Perfect-Fit Members to Your Community #
Sept 29: How do you attract perfect-fit members to your community? Let’s chat about it.
👉 Read this.
👋 Coworking Canada Unconference #
12 October: Not just for Canadians! This annual Unconference is a favourite within the international coworking movement. Use the code ‘TWIC2022‘ for $25 OFF your ticket!
👉 Read this.
👋 Coworking Canada Unconference #
12 October: Not just for Canadians! This annual Unconference is a favourite within the international coworking movement. Use the code ‘TWIC2022‘ for $25 OFF your ticket!
👉 Read this.
🇨🇦 Coworking Canada heads to Calgary & Banff #
October 10-15: The 9th annual Coworking Canada Unconference heads to Calgary, October 10th-12th, with a leadership retreat in Banff, October 12th-15th, 2023. It’s a coworking community favorite! Scholarship tickets available.
Use the code “TWIC2023′ for $50.00 OFF any ticket.
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 GCUC UK returns to London #
November 2-3: Join us for 2 days of learning, sharing and visiting.
Use TWIC10 for a 10% discount AND to enter a draw for an exclusive POWER HOUR of expert insights and guidance from Hector Kolonas and Emilie Lashmar to help you overcome challenges and optimise your coworking space. (See more details on the POWER HOUR on the GCUC UK social channels soon)
👉 Read this.