C&W Perspectives

TOPICAL Ten years on from when the term coworking was first identified as a trend by Google’s search database, the UK Flexible Workspace market saw its greatest growth year to date in 2017 with the UK’s regional cities being no exception. TheWeWork effect on FlexibleWorkspace in the UK regions A s we head towards the end of the fourth quarter of 2018 we can look back on a year of continued growth (7% of take up in regional CBDs was to Flexible Workspace operators), which also saw the opening of the first two WeWork centres outside of London in Manchester. With both centres now open and fully operational we can take this opportunity to analyse WeWork’s market entry strategy and reflect on the impact this has on the rest of the market. The Cushman & Wakefield Coworking Report 2018 states that around two thirds of UK Flexible Workspace is located outside of the capital. Comparing the amount of Flexible Workspace as a % of total stock across major CBDs Bristol and Leeds (4.35%) are slightly more mature than London (3.9%) and Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle are lagging just behind. (3.1%-3.7%). Cardiff and Edinburgh are the least saturated and most By Emma Swinnerton, International Partner, Head of Flexible Leasing Solutions and Laura Williams, Senior Consultant, Flexible Leasing Solutions PERSPECTIVES 18 TOPICAL