Flexible Offices, Managed Offices, Serviced Offices, Coworking spaces and Innovation Hubs; these are some of the popular terms and offerings available to businesses looking to better their office space in a post pandemic world. What makes these spaces so appealing and successful? The Community Management teams.

Outside of the obvious benefits of flexible rental terms, reduced costs and managed services, there are huge considerations to make when companies look to maximise their time in the office. What has become increasingly obvious in the past 18 months, is that the majority of businesses will adopt a more flexible working pattern, likely including one or two days working from home (dependant on your role and need to be on-site). This means companies must maximise their time in the office by finding a space that will help to build  company culture, connect a likeminded community of businesses and even, provide business support programmes and facilities that accelerate a company’s success. All of these services are curated and provided by the excellent Community Management teams dedicated to going above and beyond for their members.

It’s been a tough year for staff across all hospitality related sectors, including office hospitality. Redundancy, furlough, uncertainty, lack of new vacancies; these have been the fears and reality of many great, highly skilled people over the past year. Equally, a large proportion of people have remained at the office ensuring a COVID safe working environment for their remaining members, as well as innovating their services to predict the future of the office. Thankfully, the past few months have shown great positives for flex space operators and staff alike. Here’s a few positive research highlights:

• · 75% of landlords expect tenants to seek more flexible terms, increasing the demand for flex space (Savills)
• · April to August 2020 figures claim that 89% of businesses are looking for serviced solutions (FreeOfficeFinder)
• · Flex providers seeing a clear increase in foot traffic through buildings across London
• · Flex space market grew by 4% during 2020 despite the pandemic (Instant Offices)
• · Community and Centre Management based vacancies within the sector have increased
• · Provider, Office Space in Town, report viewings are up 30% and deals are up 115% on May 2019

Traffic within flex spaces has massively increased, enquiries are through the roof, expansion plans have restarted and vacancies are becoming far more frequent. Community Management teams have done a great job this year so, let’s take a moment to appreciate the great work achieved by Community teams in the face of a global pandemic!

Working within Community Management and Business Centre Operations is a varied role where no two days are the same. Their skills are broad across hospitality, FM, relationship building, events, business management and much more. It’s an exciting job role that attracts great individuals who love to bring a smile to the faces of their members. It’s also incredibly rewarding to see their community of businesses thrive, especially when they’ve played a part in their achievements by fostering a productive environment that promotes workplace happiness.

Thank you to my network and everyone else within the flexible office sector who make our offices a great place to be. You’re doing an excellent job and I’m excited to continue finding top talent to join your teams.

Cameron MacRae

Head of Flexible Office Recruitment