Flex space UK Research | 4


It’s not (all) about co-working…


With the continued expansion of the flex space sector, providers have become increasingly diversified in their product offering. First came the serviced office in the mid-1980s, while co-working took off after the financial crisis and offered a completely new style of working designed to encourage collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation in an open and creative space.


Co-working essentially became fashionable and many operators have frequently used the term to suggest a sense of modernity to their offer. However, true co-working brands are few and far between and generally have a relatively small footprint. JLL estimates that co-working operators make up just 8% of the UK’s total flexible office stock.


While recognising the benefit that co-working spaces bring to a centre, most operators are essentially operating a hybrid model, which offers both private offices and open co-working spaces. The rapid expansion of the hybrid model has meant that it already accounts for 48% of all flex space in the UK with nearly half of this added in 2017 and 2018 alone. Co-working has increased as a proportion of the offering of most hybrid operators, but this has been balanced with an increase in centre size. The new wave of facilities are generally larger, making it easier to incorporate larger communal and event spaces.


Amenity space now tends to account for around 15-20% of the net internal space. But co-working is not where operators make money and is often used as a marketing tool; a trend that was confirmed by our interviews. Essentially demand is still focused on private office space, but customers want the added benefit of communal and collaboration space in the centre.


Take-up by size band - Central London


1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000


500 0


5,000-9,999 10,000-24,999 25,000-49,999 50,000-99,999 Over 100,000 2009 - 2013 2014 - 2018


Total number of transactions Source: JLL


0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160


“ We make sure the 15% is very good but the other 85% is fabulous because that is where you spend nearly all of your time.”


National flex operator


“ It is very difficult to control the income from co-working.”


Local flex space operator


Take-up sq ſt thousands -


Number of transactions


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