How to convert more tours into memberships.
Heya! We’re Flex Workspace Solutions, or FWS for short, and we loOove helping flex space businesses become even more successful.
We’re excited to share our free guide designed specifically for community managers. This resource is packed with the exact questions to ask during tours, helping you uncover key insights about prospective members and close deals faster – while creating a personalized experience they’ll love.
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✊ Coworking impact.
🎗️ Brand launches global nonprofit support program #
Industrious has announced Powering Purpose, a new global initiative offering free workspace and resources to nonprofit organizations across its network of 65 cities.
The two-year program, valued at over $12,000 annually per recipient, provides eligible nonprofits with options including private offices, meeting room hours, and coworking passes, along with community engagement opportunities. The program is open to registered charities with annual budgets under $5 million in the US, Canada, and UK where Industrious has locations.
👉 Read this.
📰 Coworking news & views.
💳 Renter-rewards platform expands into neighborhood commerce #
Kenneth I. Chenault shares how Bilt Rewards, a platform initially focused on earning rewards on rent payments, has evolved to connect housing payments with neighborhood commerce. They’re now processing over $36 billion in annual rent payments and $5 billion in local commerce spend. The company works with 70% of top multifamily owners and has built a network of 24,000 local merchants, leveraging insights about housing payments and local consumer spending patterns. Bilt plans to expand its services in 2025 to include mortgages and enhanced neighborhood benefits.
You might be asking yourself why this is in This Week in Coworking. Think of how many coworking spaces are local merchants, and how you might be able to better attract renters (a great target market for coworking spaces).
👉 Read this.
🆘 4 signs your Google Ads are in trouble #
Struggling with low clicks, high costs, or disappointing ROI? Reuben Lau from Spacefully shares four signs that might reveal why your Google Ads aren’t working as they should (and what to do about them).
ICYMI: Reuben recently joined fellow coworking marketing experts Cat Johnson and Taylor Mason to discuss the biggest Coworking Marketing Trends to think about going into 2025.
👉 Read this.
🧑🏻🍳 The secret sauce behind shared workspaces for teams #
Workbar CEO Sarah Travers, shared a post where she outlines how their brand has "cracked the code" on coworking for teams.
If you’re interested in learning more about Workbar and Sarah, be sure to check out our interview with her on a recent episode of the TWIC Podcast.
👉 Read this.
🏢 Texas operator blends private offices with coworking amenities #
Flip Howard, CEO of Lucid Private Offices sat down for an interview detailing how they have developed a hybrid workspace model that combines the flexibility of coworking with the professionalism of traditional offices, emphasizing white-label branding and sophisticated design elements.
The company’s approach focuses on creating unbranded, professional environments while maintaining coworking benefits like flexible terms and community amenities. The strategy appears to be successful, with Lucid Private Offices expanding to four new locations in 2024 across Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, and Scottsdale.
👉 Read this.
🌱 Can you attract more members with a sustainability focus? #
Recently, OfficeRnD gathered a panel of experts to explore how sustainability could be leveraged to attract more members and drive success in flex spaces.
The webinar "Attract More Members by Focusing on Workplace Sustainability", provided actionable insights you can employ to meet evolving corporate and societal demands for environmentally friendly workspaces.
👉 Read this.
🔥 Aggregator market heating up and heading for consolidation #
Mike LaRosa shares his observations on an increasingly competitive flex workspace aggregator market and draws some comparisons to a surprising 90s tech partnership where competitors (Apple and Microsoft) partnered up together.
👉 Read this.
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💻 Coworking technology.
🤖 How a community manager automated 1300+ actions #
How Denna Hoy, a community manager at Q Space, uses automations from Optix to nurture leads, launch new marketing initiatives, and save herself a lot of time and headache while managing 150+ members.
Whether you’re using this software solution or not, 2025 should be the year you focus on leveraging more automations in your coworking business.
👉 Read this.
🇵🇹 Portuguese space launches AI workspace assistant #
Avila Spaces has introduced Aly, an AI-based virtual assistant specifically designed for coworking and hybrid work environments.
The assistant, initially launched during Web Summit 2024, has now expanded to serve all Avila members across its three Lisbon locations. Aly provides multilingual support for various workspace services, local business information, and tourist recommendations, with plans to add video calls, WhatsApp messaging, and automated email responses in future updates.
👉 Read this.
📈 Dubai startup Hotdesk surpasses 2,000 global coworking locations #
Mohamed Khaled shares that Dubai-based Hotdesk, has expanded its network to over 2,000 locations across 73 countries and 380 cities worldwide since launching in 2021.
Beyond its booking platform, Hotdesk offers workspace management software for operators and hybrid work management solutions for businesses.
👉 Read this.
🤝 Coworking market moves.
🆕 Chicago brand expands to downtown Pittsburgh location #
Workbox has announced its expansion to Pittsburgh with a new location on the 31st floor of One PPG Place in the city’s downtown area.
The company’s CEO John Wallace cited Pittsburgh’s collaborative business community and strong professional services industry as key factors in choosing the location. The new space, set to open in January 2025, will aim to provide local entrepreneurs and businesses with access to Workbox’s coworking community.
👉 Read this.
🇫🇷 US brand closes last 3 locations in France #
Industrious has announced that they’ve closed their last 3 locations in Paris, France and dissolved their French entity quoting over saturation of the market and difficulties maintaining sufficient profitability.
👉 Read this.
🇬🇧 London operator to open Leeds workspace in 2025 #
x+why has announced its expansion to Leeds with a new location in Bridgewater Place, featuring nearly 34k sqft of workspace and extensive amenities including a 5k sqft roof terrace and 150-capacity event space.
👉 Read this.
🇳🇱 White-label operator opens 3rd Amsterdam location #
beyond (one of infinitSpace’s brands) has announced the upcoming February opening of its third Amsterdam workspace, located in a historic listed building at Herengracht 471 in the city’s Canal District.
The new location, Beyond Gouden Bocht, will offer both coworking spaces and private offices accommodating teams of up to 45 people, featuring an inner courtyard and meeting rooms. The workspace emphasizes its prime location near transportation hubs and entertainment venues, while providing members access to Beyond’s global network through their app.
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🇫🇷 French utility giant launches hybrid living workspace brand #
VINCI, a major French utility company, has introduced Bikube, a new brand combining co-living and coworking spaces, with its first location opening in Lyon. The concept offers complimentary coworking facilities for residents while providing day passes for non-guests, along with meeting rooms and event spaces for rent.
The company plans to expand the Bikube network across major French cities, with upcoming locations in Montpellier (2025) and Suresnes, Paris region (2026), targeting business travelers, young professionals, and those seeking alternatives to traditional accommodations.
👉 Read this.
🇸🇬 Lendlease partners with Singaporean firm #
Lendlease has formed a partnership with Singapore-based coworking operator The Great Room to convert two floors (2,356 square meters) of its One O’Connell Street building in Sydney into flexible workspace.
ICYMI: The Great Room, which was acquired by Industrious in 2022, entered the Australian market earlier this year at 85 Castlereagh Street and has achieved over 70% occupancy within its first few months. The expansion comes as Sydney’s CBD sees increasing demand for flexible workspace solutions, with The Great Room planning to focus on further Sydney expansion before considering other Australian cities.
👉 Read this.
🇪🇸 Spanish coworking firm sells majority stake in expansion bid #
Monday Working Spaces, a Spanish coworking operator with 12 locations across Spain, Portugal, and Andorra, has been acquired by an Andorran private equity firm in a deal valuing the company at €30 million.
The company, previously controlled by real estate firm Urbania, aims to double its footprint in the coming years while retaining CEO Xavi Bassons. The operator currently manages 31.7l sqm of space accommodating 4,300 people across its locations in Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Andorra, and Lisbon.
👉 Read this.
🎙 Coworking conversations.
Tashi Dorjee, who heads Flex Space Solutions in APAC for JLL, joined Hector Kolonas on the TWIC Podcast to discuss his journey from coworking space startup to building creating landlord-flex deals – including sharing an opportunity for more coworking spaces to drive up even more revenue from across entire buildings (not just their floors).
Patrick Hemus, from Maggie O’Neill Center joins Gio and Jamie on the Flex Uncensored podcast to chat about how a derelict church in Liverpool, UK became a vibrant coworking and event space.
Tamara Payne joins the Everything Coworking podcast and discusses her transition from marketing business to launching Ensemble Coworking, and how her team runs the space – pretty much without her.
Elliot Gold, Co-Founder and CEO of UK coworking operator, Work.Life, joins Caleb Parker to discuss the launch of the WIN – Workspace Intelligence Network. They also explore the importance of data collection in the coworking sector, the need for trust and integrity in data sharing, and the potential for collaboration over competition, as well as how investors and landlords will benefit from a more reliable data set.
