MOBILE WORKSPACE BY MARK FRARY
The meeting space that comes to you
DESIGN CONSULTANCY IDEO, as part of its Future of Automobility project, has come up with a concept vehicle called Work on Wheels (WOW), which will facilitate what it calls the ‘inverse commute’ – “where working spaces come closer to where people live instead of commuters heading to pre- determined workplaces”. WOW is essentially a mobile meeting pod that comes to where you need it rather than you travelling to the meeting. One advantage is that the vehicle could use off-peak electricity. It is clearly some way off: the WOW has no driver and would rely on GPS, object-avoidance and lane-keeping technology, similar to that which Google is currently testing with its driverless car.
Chris Ward says the privacy issue does not bother him. “There is so much informa- tion out there. Who is actually interested in what I am talking about?” He says that in a world of sharing, privacy is increasingly illusory and elusive. Others are recognising the potential in
all their users promoting the UN’s Global Goals. “One of the big ones was getting Telenor,” says Ward. “We had a conference call, and I could tell there were four or five people sitting in a room in their suits. I was halfway through a bike ride and had stopped in a coffee shop in a Surrey village. If they had known I was dressed in Lycra, I wonder if they would have taken me so seriously.”
PUBLIC vs PRIVATE
One of the main concerns about coffee shop meetings is privacy. Nicola Spence, travel category manager at Balfour Beatty UK, uses public areas for meetings, but only when the discussions have no commercial sensitivity, such as introduction meetings with suppliers. “But this is only when I’m unable to secure meeting space, and it’s not my preferred approach,” she says.
Five key takeaways
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The number of coffee shops in the UK is growing fast and they are seen as a convenient place for informal meetings.
Coffee shops offer free space, but the cost of buying drinks and snacks can be considerable.
Starbucks is the number one location for out-of-office meetings, according to Concur. Lack of privacy can be seen as the biggest downside of coffee shop culture. Suppliers offering flexible workspace include Neardesk, Bird Office and Regus.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
non-traditional work and meeting places. At the end of 2014, Regus launched the Workpod, as part of its Regus Express concept of meeting spaces outside its tra- ditional business centres. The Workpod is an enclosed space just larger than a photo booth with a desk, computer, wifi and power sockets. Usage is charged at £10 plus VAT for half-an-hour, and they have been installed in a range of high footfall locations, such as airside at Gatwick airport and motorway service stations. Other players in the mobile working market include Neardesk, which offers flexible, by-the-hour online booking of work stations and meeting rooms. Sharedesk offers a similar service, while French start-up Bird Office has been described as the Airbnb of meeting space bookings. MWB Business Exchange offers a range of pay-as-you-go serviced offices and meeting spaces across the UK. Regus CEO Richard Morris says: “The
growth in demand for flexible workspace will continue – we believe people will want to consume office space as a service rather than sign up to long-term, inflex- ible lease arrangements.” Regus is also looking at extending its Express services to universities and public libraries. “It’s about expanding our network, turning it into a public utility in the same way you think about broadband,” says Morris.
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