Oh yes, GCUC London is back on Thursday 8th and Friday 9th October at a brand new venue: Together, an event space built around a sense of belonging.

GCUC Director Emilie Lashmar joined the Together team last year as Creative Director, so it’ll be exciting to see how that collaboration comes together for this year’s event.

I won’t be attending GCUC London next week as I’m currently on maternity leave and spending time with my two-month old. But if you’re still on the fence about attending, I’m offering you 10% off tickets with the code: INCLUSIVE10.

Let’s see what this year’s juicy lineup looks like.

Epic panels on the coworking movement

The GCUC panel discussions are worth paying attention to. They bring together people working across the coworking and flex space industry, and offer an early glimpse of the shifts impacting the market in the months ahead.

Koral Ibrahim’s talk was an absolute standout last year, and attendees didn’t stop talking about it for a long time after. Speaking about building future-ready flex brands, Koral’s work focusses on how spaces can create a sense of belonging by engaging with the communities around them.

At New Acres in Wandsworth, for example, the team used local data to identify potential collaborators and align with its target audience. This turned the space into something that could play a role in the wider neighbourhood.

This time around, the following talks look particularly interesting:

• Places People Thrive In | 10.30am

A conversation about what makes people want to spend time in a space, and the partnerships that help bring those spaces to life. The session explores what good design and collaboration look like in practice.

• Same Playbook, Different Space: Membership, Flexibility and Community Beyond Coworking | 1.50pm

What happens when the ideas behind coworking are applied somewhere completely different? This session brings together three business owners who took very different approaches to shared space and membership, niching down on wellbeing, music production, and coworking with childcare.

One of the speakers is Shazia Mustafa, award-winning founder of Third Door — a family-friendly coworking space with an onsite Ofsted registered nursery.

• Think Tank | 3.30pm

A more interactive session built around discussion rather than presentation. Participants explore a single topic together, and the contributions are captured and then worked through using The Beautiful Truth’s frameworks.

Emilie Lashmar and Claire Carpenter will host this session. Claire has been at the heart of the coworking movement for over two decades, launching The Melting Pot, one of Europe’s first coworking hubs, in Edinburgh back in 2005.

Make the most of networking

One of the things I like most about GCUC is how easy it is to meet people. For instance, I got chatting to two workspace managers from a regional flexible workspace up north a couple of years ago. We had a great conversation during one of the breaks, then ended up on the coworking tours together the following day. I’ve loved reconnecting with them at GCUC ever since.

That’s what I think makes GCUC particularly enjoyable. You never quite know who you’ll end up talking to, or where that conversation might lead.

This year looks particularly exciting as coworking celeb Cat Johnson is coming to town. She’s organising a Coworking Creators London Meetup on Wednesday 7th with Caleb Parker. Afterwards, there’s the option to go on to the FLOC (Future Leaders of Coworking) party. These are two unmissable events to get you hyped before the event officially begins.

Don’t skip the after-party

GCUC isn’t all panels, note-taking and talking about the future of flex. The after-party is a chance to put the business cards away for a bit, catch up with people you’ve met during the day and see a coworking space in a completely different light.

In June 2024, technologywithin organised an unforgettable after-party at Clockwise Manchester — aka FlexFest. The theme was a 90s festival, complete with fancy dress, face painting and, even silver bunnies roaming the dance floor.

This year, technologywithin is bringing everyone together again at Clays in Soho for an evening of games, food, drinks and a little friendly competition. It’s a chance to relax after a full day of talks, catch up with familiar faces and meet a few new ones outside the conference setting.

See the spaces for yourself

The second day of GCUC takes the conversation out of the conference room and into the spaces themselves, with a morning of coworking tours.

After spending the first day hearing about the ideas, trends and projects shaping the industry, the tours are a chance to see how some of those ideas translate into real spaces. They’re useful whether you’re looking for inspiration or curious about the city’s coworking scene.

Two years ago, I joined the GCUC tours around Canary Wharf. We started at Type SQB in South Quays, where the community team welcomed us with coffee and pastries before showing us around the workspace.

From there, we walked to One Canada Square, taking the lift right to the top of the building for a tour of L39 — a workspace focused specifically on technology startups and SMEs. Our final stop was FORA in One Canada Square. I loved the interiors, particularly the earthy tones and mid-century-inspired design.

A few of us stayed afterwards to continue our conversations and ended up spending some time coworking at FORA. It was a fitting way to finish the tour.

Thinking of going to GCUC London?

There’s a lot more to GCUC than sitting through a day of panels. Between the discussions, roundtables, networking breaks, coworking tours and after-party, there are plenty of opportunities to meet people and get a feel for what’s happening across the industry.

If you’re going this year, my advice is to get involved. Ask questions, strike up conversations, take the tours and make the most of the time between sessions. Some of the most memorable parts of GCUC for me have happened outside the main programme.

If you haven’t got your ticket yet, you can use my 10% discount code: INCLUSIVE10. Grab yours here.

If you’re going, I hope you have a brilliant time. I’d love to hear what you thought of it afterwards.

Until next time,

Lucy

Yet when coworking operators talk about creating inclusive workspaces, the conversation usually centres on community, hospitality or sustainability. Neurodiversity is rarely mentioned.

For me, this came to light during a recent People Make Coworking interview. A coworking operator mentioned giving a free desk to a neurodivergent member as a part of their social values but then questioned whether this was even relevant to our conversation.

It absolutely was.

With up to 25% of the global population being neurodivergent, designing for neurodiversity influences how a significant proportion of your members experience your workspace, and whether they choose to come back.

Let’s look at how you can improve the experience of your coworking space, and accommodate more inclusive needs.

Quiet space isn’t a luxury

One of the biggest misconceptions about workspace design in coworking and flexible workspaces is that everyone wants to work in the same kind of environment: a loud, bustling, open-plan space.

But we’re all different. Some people thrive surrounded by conversation and energy while others require long periods of uninterrupted focus. The best coworking spaces recognise that both ways of working deserve equal space.

A few months ago, I spent a coworking day at Good Space in Islington where the workspace is organised across different floors, with dedicated zones for different types of work.

Alongside the open-plan areas was a focus room where calls and conversations were discouraged. It’s a simple design decision but it made the space feel immediately more accessible.

Ironically, I discovered how much I needed something like a focus room after becoming a member at another coworking space in Islington. Although I loved the people there and very much experienced a sense of belonging as part of the community, the space itself was often distracting for me, especially as I grew closer to the community.

All the workstations were in one room where, if you stepped into the workspace, it was immediately noticeable. There wasn’t a single quiet room or phone booth to retreat to for deep focus, which often meant that I’d be chatting to people regularly and for long periods rather than working.

I found myself constantly choosing between two needs: deep focus or not feeling lonely; working from home on days where I had a looming deadline rather than coming into a professional workspace.

I’d rather work in a social coworking space than from home, but couldn’t face the interruptions.

In part, I recognise my own limitations here. But I’ve spoken to other coworkers who also struggle to focus in certain workspaces, exposing the wider link between workspace design and how we behave in a space.

More importantly, the real risk for operators is when your workspace stops members from doing their best work, and they end up leaving.

Your lighting could be costing you memberships

It’s not just the workspace layout that can impact someone’s coworking experience. Design elements, such as lighting, also influence whether someone thrives or not in a space.

For neurodivergent people, the stakes can be even higher as light sensitivity is associated with neurodiverse conditions, making a workspace with certain lighting decisions genuinely difficult to use.

LED lighting, for instance, produces a subtle flickering which although isn’t noticeable to the naked eye, can cause headaches and even trigger migraines. That’s why harsh white lighting might seem particularly uncomfortable.

I’ve experienced this firsthand. Last year I hosted a series of freelancer breakfasts in a coworking space with harsh, white LED lighting. Several attendees commented on how uncomfortable the space felt, and by the end of the morning I’d developed a migraine myself.

It became such a significant issue that we decided not to host the events there again.

In Dr Louise Suckley’s recent research into what makes a ‘good vibe’ in coworking spaces, coworking users rated lighting as the most important factor. Members consistently preferred workstations beside windows over spaces relying on artificial light, associating daylight with openness, wellbeing and comfort.

Designing for different ways of working

So what does inclusive workspace design look like in practice?

Laundry Studios in London Fields is a good example of how different design choices can work together to accommodate more inclusive ways of working.

There, an open-plan hot desk area sits beneath a huge light well that brings plenty of natural light into the room. You’re immediately drawn towards this workstation where you can sit alongside other members, naturally creating opportunities for conversation.

But there are other options if you need to concentrate, such as a monitor room that offers a quieter place to work, several phone booths for private calls, and a basement space that, when it isn’t being used for events, becomes another place to work away from the main space.

The material choices also make a difference. Laundry Studios uses lots of natural materials and neutral tones: wooden floors and workstations, softer textured seating areas, and white walls filled with evocative artwork.

These are all elements of what’s known as sensory design — creating an environment that feels calmer and more comfortable through the use of light, materials, texture and sound.

What I like about the coworking space is that none of these choices feel like they’ve been added specifically to make it a neurodivergent-friendly coworking space. Instead, they give members more choice over how they experience the workspace.

They can sit at the centre of the action, work alongside others at the shared table, or retreat somewhere quieter when they need to focus.

Inclusive design benefits everyone

One thing I find interesting about neurodiversity is that the solutions rarely benefit only neurodivergent people.

A quiet focus room can help the freelancer working on a deadline or the parent returning to work after maternity leave. Natural light improves wellbeing across the board. Different seating options acknowledge that people don’t all work in the same way, or even in the same way every day.

Perhaps that’s the real lesson for coworking operators.

We often think inclusive design means adding specialist features for a small group of members. In reality, it’s about creating enough choice that more people can thrive in your workspace.

The most welcoming coworking spaces aren’t the ones with the trendiest interiors but they do recognise that there’s no such thing as a typical member.

This is what we must consider when we make our coworking spaces more inclusive; that we’re not designing for one way of working, but making space for many.

Until next time,

Lucy

Starting a business at that moment was a bold decision, but Olga saw a different possibility, inspired by spending three years immersed in the early coworking movement in the Netherlands. Olga identified an opportunity to create a community where people could support one another, and build something together. This became the foundation for Stone Soup coworking space.

The name comes from an old folk tale about three strangers who bring a struggling village back together by convincing its residents to contribute what they have to create something greater than any one person could make alone. This story became the philosophy behind how Olga approached building a business; over a decade later, it continues to influence the way she thinks about coworking.

In this conversation, Olga shares why contribution sits at the heart of a lasting community, and what it takes to create a workspace where people feel they truly belong.

1. How did Stone Soup come about?

Olga: We started Stone Soup in 2013, amidst the challenging economic crisis in Greece. It was a difficult time to start a business and do innovative things, with many people being unemployed or leaving the country.

I left Greece in 2010 to go to the Netherlands, and was introduced to coworking while living there. The Netherlands had technology startups, innovation, and community events, and I was in the centre of it all. I loved creating communities, running and attending events, and seeing how people contribute in their own way.

I got close with Seats2meet – a coworking operator in the Netherlands – with a very strong ethical view of coworking and of how people should help one another. Their founders wrote the book Society 2.0.

Back then, coworking was viewed more like a movement, rather than occupying a space and it being an investment. Coworking was about people; so that’s why, when I came back to Greece, I was determined to enable things for me and others.

We first started as a digital agency, but at the back of my mind, I had the idea of turning the business into a coworking space for people looking for work, jobs, and projects. As I’d built quite an extensive network in the Netherlands over three years, I brought projects over, and from the U.S., and the U.K.

These founders and CEOs were attracted to the idea of coming to Greece to build a prototype, as they could find affordable talent, and they enjoyed the Athenian weather and culture. It’s how we self-financed Stone Soup.

We’re one of the oldest coworking spaces in Athens, located in a central office building that was built in the 1950s. My business partner (who is from the Netherlands) provided me with an understanding of business; the Dutch have an amazing way of doing things. In the early days, we were painting and doing everything ourselves, including repairing and furnishing the space.

Slowly, we started becoming a team of people here in Athens who were contributing, and building something for us all, not just from themselves.

Stone Soup’s story wasn’t about starting a coworking space; it was more about seeing what the needs were and how the team that began forming could contribute, and seeing where we could all go together.

2. Athens has become an increasingly popular destination for entrepreneurs, remote workers, and international communities. How has the city influenced the way you’ve built Stone Soup?

Olga: When we started in 2013, we were the only international community in Athens before expats started coming to Greece between 2017 - 2019.

Back then, Stone Soup was full of expats because living in the centre was affordable. Recently, we’ve seen more digital nomads in Athens, and it’s become more of a destination although Athens isn’t as affordable now, and many are moving further away.

At Stone Soup, we focus on the expat community, as they’ve selected Athens to be their home (a bit like how I chose to live in the Netherlands). I know firsthand that coworking helped me feel more connected with the local community.

That’s why we want to offer something more local to people coming to Athens, by hosting events where expats can meet one another, learn Greek, and get to know more about the local culture, such as the food, where to go, and what to do.

We want to give locals an affordable space where they can come for work. Here in Athens, there are some expensive workspaces in new developments. They’re luxurious and design-focussed, but are for big firms, so the prices are out of reach for a solopreneur or smaller company. We want to attract individuals, and be an approachable solution.

There are lots of Greek startups and international companies in our community. The majority of people come to work here, build their company or team rather than just booking a meeting space for a client meeting.

3. How did the name Stone Soup come about?

Olga: Stone Soup is a folk tale about three strangers who enter a village experiencing hardship. The villagers don’t talk to one another, because they’re simply trying to make ends meet; so they keep everything they have in their houses, and they’re not trusting or open towards others.

Nobody welcomed the strangers, so they went to the centre of the village and started a fire, found a pot, and pretended they were cooking. They threw some stones into the water, and said to anyone curious about what they were doing: “Come and join us, we’re making stone soup.”

One by one, the villagers approached the strangers and started contributing to the pot; they made a delicious meal that they all enjoyed, and danced and sang together. Eventually, the villagers remembered what it’s like to be a community.

The stone soup story is about reminding people about the goodness of sharing, and acknowledging that you can achieve more when you’re part of a community than by yourself. When we had to find a name for the business, the stone soup story resonated with us.

We’ve actually cooked stone soup here, and asked people to bring what they want to share to create a meal that we ate together.

4. Do you think people come to Stone Soup primarily looking for a workspace, or are they looking for connection — and how do you activate that?

Olga: Workspace is important, and how you feel when you come to the office. At Stone Soup, we want to offer different entry points for everyone to come here: community gatherings, informal conversations, events, and connection with our neighbourhood.

This isn’t just about Stone Soup, but we want to be about our whole neighbourhood. For instance, we recently planned an evening neighbourhood walk – some people would rather a quiet walk than a social setup.

It’s easy for everyone to be isolated, even though you’re in a coworking space, so we’re finding ways to break that pattern. Flexibility is key for connection and communication. For example, we set up a Google group to foster early connections with our members, but transitioned to a newsletter to communicate our news and events more effectively, spotlight individual members and deliver curated value.

We also changed the way we communicated about Stone Soup, exposing more of our rich history and longstanding business relationships, as well as highlighting our diverse member businesses on our website. This ensures we remain a visible, trusted, and adaptable home for our members.

Our members like to know that we have a community manager instead of a receptionist, who we invest in to spend their time thinking about the community.

We hire locally, but we’ve had international community managers in the past, such as one from the UK who’d lived here for eight years and had a good understanding of the language and culture. Expats felt closer to her, as they could relate. A person like that can really work, and have very good results and be a great fit in the community.

5. After more than a decade of running Stone Soup, what do you think people need most from workspaces today?

Olga: Everyone is different, which is a good thing, but it also makes running a coworking space harder. You have to find different categories or patterns of people, and what they’re expecting, what they need, and how those needs change over time.

The same person can join a coworking space for one reason, and stay for completely different reasons. The only way to keep track of what those needs are is by being close to the community: observing, understanding, adapting. I miss things every time I stop observing. You need to devote a lot of time in doing this if you want to understand what people want.

There are some things you can offer to everyone, like the physical space and the first experience. A lot of people that come here say that they feel it’s very personal when they enter the space; it’s not like entering a store where you speak to a receptionist, it’s more like chatting to a coworker or a colleague, who’s interested in what you do and what you need.

From what I’ve noticed, most of the people who come here want a more personalised approach. They want to be able to speak with our core team — Giorgos, Christina and myself — and feel they can come to us if they need something.

It’s a full time job; I’m not going to say that you just tap into everybody’s needs. Sometimes it’s impossible to keep track. But the only way to know about them is by staying close to them, and recognising the patterns. It’s very different for every community.

About People Make Coworking

There are many incredible people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement. People Make Coworking spotlights coworking space founders and community builders as they share their journeys of how they bring people together.

Edition #34 of People Make Coworking interviews Olga Paraskevopoulou, co-founder of Stone Soup, a coworking space in Athens.

Read more coworking stories and get in touch if you’d like to be featured in this series.

But what does that actually mean?

Is it the friendly people? The buzz and energy in a space? The aesthetically pleasing workspace design? Or is ‘vibe’ one of those feelings you simply know when you experience it but can’t necessarily define it.

Dr. Louise Suckley, Senior Lecturer in Strategy, Enterprise, Innovation and Research Methods at Sheffield Hallam University, has spent years researching what constitutes a ‘good vibe’ in coworking spaces.

I connected with Louise after hearing her present this work at the Research Group on Collaborative Spaces (RGCS) Symposium in Milan at the start of last year.

A few days ago, Louise released an academic paper exploring the social and spatial ingredients that contribute towards a ‘good vibe’ in coworking spaces.

This research is essential to determining the success of a workspace. So, let’s get into some of its groundbreaking insights around ‘vibe’ for coworking operators and community managers.

Natural lighting matters more than you think

Although a ‘good vibe’ can be difficult to define, it’s something many of us will use to describe our experience of a space. But it’s importance in coworking spaces is even greater than this, as a positive experience of a place leads people to spend longer there, to work effectively and “build a sense of belonging.”

Sociomateriality is identified as one of the core aspects that influences ‘vibe’ in coworking spaces — where social practices and material objects are fundamentally inseparable and deeply entangled.

Interestingly, coworking space users rate natural lighting as the most important element of spatial design in coworking spaces. Workstations next to windows are preferred over those relying on artificial light, strengthening connections beyond the interior space and providing a sense of openness. Access to nature is also highly rated.

What’s interesting is how often I’ve heard this echoed by coworking operators.

For instance, when I interviewed Darren Epstein, founder of Roamwork in Cape Town, he admitted that the only offices they initially struggled to rent were those in the centre of the building.

Members overwhelmingly chose the window offices first, leaving the darker internal spaces vacant until every naturally lit office had been taken. When Roamwork expanded, Darren deliberately designed the central core as open-plan hot desking and breakout space, rather than having offices.

This example shows how the physical characteristics of a coworking space can influence how people choose to use it. Lighting is just one of the many influencing factors over how someone feels and experiences a space.

A ‘good vibe’ is more than the space itself

But while the physical environment clearly plays a role in the experience of a coworking space, it isn’t the whole story.

I learnt this myself a few years ago, when I moved to London and was looking to join a coworking space. I visited a workspace in Whitechapel for an industry event, and immediately fell in love with the beautiful workspace design, friendly atmosphere, and amazing scents (thanks to the diffusers dotted around the space).

So I signed up as a member. Except, when I returned for my first proper day of coworking, the experience couldn’t have been more different.

The space was quiet and everyone was heads-down at their desks, many wearing headphones. The open-plan layout, which had felt buzzy and exciting at the party, suddenly felt strangely empty. I went back a few more times, but gradually stopped going altogether and terminated my membership.

Looking back, I realised I hadn’t fallen in love with the workspace at all. It was the people who happened to be in that space on the evening of the event who created such a great atmosphere, and when they disappeared, the space lost its spark.

This is exactly what the research paper gets at. A ‘good vibe’ isn’t purely a design feature, nor is it purely about the people. It emerges through the relationship between the two: the space creates the conditions, while the people bring the atmosphere to life.

Spaces where people gather

That’s why workspace design matters too. Looking back on my experience, there are two design elements that led to a lack of ‘vibe’ in the space: a communal area within the workspace, and no shared workstations encouraging social interaction.

After natural lighting, communal areas, such as a kitchen and coffee areas, are rated as the second most important contributor to the ‘vibe’ in coworking spaces. Communal areas are typically a workspace design decision, but they can hugely impact behaviour as people need a reason to leave their desks:

The Whitechapel space didn’t have a separate communal area, and instead had a kitchen that looked part of the workspace. So, it ended up feeling more like a fancy café than a workspace. The lack of separate zones also didn’t encourage coworkers to take a moment and linger in the kitchen, perhaps because it was so exposed to the entire workspace community. Instead, coworkers would just grab a drink and head back to their desk.

However, I’ve been fortunate to experience coworking spaces where the communal area or kitchen has designed as a natural meeting point – where people connect, chat and end up getting to know one another. It’s the water cooler moment in today’s workspaces.

I’ve also heard of coworking operators intentionally installing fiddly coffee machines so that a new member will ask someone else how it works, sparking a serendipitous interaction. Once the ice is broken, that bond only strengthens as those individuals continue to interact within the space.

Secondly, the research talks about the importance of the shared desk – you know the one – the large table where coworkers gather.

Although this can be an efficient design tool for hot desk members, the large shared table also encourages conversations between coworkers due to your close proximity with one another. After all, it would be rude not to smile or say hello to someone sat opposite you.

That same design principle sits at the heart of many coworking spaces, such as Laundry Studios in London Fields. It’s a space I often rave about because it has such great energy.

Now connecting my experience to the research paper, I wonder whether the shared table at Laundry Studios perhaps contributes to the ‘good vibe’ in that space.

Community is the key

One of the most powerful findings in the research paper is about the importance of community and social interaction in coworking spaces. We all know that a coworking community isn’t built by magic, but there are certain factors that help strengthen it.

The community host plays an important role. Their community-building strategy includes organising coworking space users to come together in the space and bond through social and work-related events.

But in turn, coworking members must contribute to the ‘vibe’ by becoming active participants. This is why the research defines coworking users as “community member[s] rather than a consumer of a service.” This is one of the main differentiations of the coworking movement from traditional offices.

It’s also something I can appreciate first-hand. After leaving the Whitechapel coworking space, I joined another workspace in Islington, where I had a completely different experience and became so much more involved with the community.

This was mostly down to our incredibly welcoming community manager, who would encourage members to meet one another and connect, through small social gatherings.

‘Sangria Fridays,’ for example, happened in the kitchen area at 4pm every week. It was the perfect opportunity to wind down and chat with others to finish off the working week. Knowing this small moment would happen each week made me come into the coworking space almost every Friday.

Likewise, I’ve heard of another London coworking space organise coffee and cake every Wednesday morning — it’s become their most popular social gathering.

These small rituals bring everyone closer together, even for just a few minutes. Over time, the community get more and more involved with each other; in our case, we were organising social events for the rest of the community: a Murder Mystery night, Christmas quiz, and dinners and activities out in the local area.

With our community manager, I set up a monthly breakfast event for freelancers. The research paper suggests that work-related socials, like freelancer events, “can support a collective experience.” This only strengthens the ‘vibe’ in a workspace.

From my experience, that’s probably the clearest example of this research in practice. The community manager created the opportunity, but it was the members who carried it forward. The ‘good vibe’ was the feeling that everyone had a role in shaping the community together.

Can you design a ‘good vibe’ in coworking spaces?

Before learning about Dr. Louise’s research, I thought a ‘good vibe’ was one of those intangible things you either felt or you didn’t.

But what I love about this research is that it suggests the atmosphere isn’t accidental, and that it emerges from the relationship between people and place. Natural light helps us stay and feel comfortable in a space, communal areas encourage interaction with others, and community hosts create opportunities for people to bond.

None of these factors manufacture belonging on their own. A beautifully designed workspace without a community can still feel empty, just as the friendliest communities will struggle in a space that doesn’t support people’s needs.

A ‘good vibe’ isn’t something you decorate into a coworking space but something you intentionally design for people to create together.

I can’t wait to see how coworking operators take this research and apply it to their own spaces.

Until next time,

Lucy

P.S. If you enjoy digging into the research behind coworking, I’d love to know: what gives a workspace a ‘good vibe’ for you?

Drawing on a background in residential property, where Andy and his wife, Vashti, built community-focused shared housing in Bicester, Oxfordshire, they saw an opportunity to create something new in the office market. That became the foundation for Point of Difference — spaces that feel welcoming, personal, and somewhere people want to spend time in.

Since its launch in 2017, Point of Difference has grown from two locations into a network of 10 flexible workspaces across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Northamptonshire. Last year, Point of Difference won the Flexible Space Association Customer Service Award, which just goes to show how its reputation has been built around the idea that people make the coworking experience memorable.

Andy shares how to scale a regional coworking business, build a culture of exceptional customer service (with technology and people), and why creating spaces people care about is ultimately a point of difference.

1. What was the original “point of difference” you felt was missing in the office market when you launched the workspace?

Andy: My background was working as a consultant in the corporate space, and I worked in a lot of offices. We felt there were a lot of what I’d call soulless, not particularly attractive, or just very corporate offices out there.

The second I walked through the front door, I could see the difference between the workspaces that were really well-kitted out and the ones that weren’t. It was an emotional reaction, where you felt comfortable and productive in some but not in others.

With my wife, Vashti, we first started in residential property ten years ago. We’ve got a portfolio of 10 high-quality HMOs in Bicester, targeting people aged between 25 to 35. Many other houses don’t have attractive living areas, nor a community, so we built one in Bicester by hosting pizza and quiz nights, and just getting everybody together.

We do a Christmas night out and we’ll introduce new people to others and match them to the right house. For example, if we know somebody’s looking for something low-key, we tend to introduce them to the quieter houses in our portfolio. If they’re looking for something more sociable, then we have those too.

The selection process helps you find the house that’s more attuned to you, and therefore you’re more likely to be happy. This works for us, because you stay, and meet new people.

It’s a similar concept to coworking. We were determined to do something a bit special, so that when you walk into our workspaces, it makes you feel like somewhere you want to be, rather than just another bland corporate office. That was the point of difference, really.

In 2017, we launched our first workspace, Perch Coworking, in an empty high street unit in Bicester town centre and in parallel, opened a serviced office in Aylesbury. Those were two small units of about 3,000 square feet.

In Bicester, we’ve since taken on the unit next door to expand the space and provide more private offices. The Aylesbury space has no pure coworking, however, people can rent an office of dedicated desks on a regular basis.

Over the years, we’ve grown out from those two spaces to a network of 10 locations across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Northamptonshire.

2. How do you maintain consistency as a brand while ensuring each workspace feels unique?

Andy: The business itself is run on values underpinning what we do, with a personal approach being one of our core values.

At some sites, we have a dedicated person looking after the site but even when we don’t have somebody on-site every day, we have a high touch approach. We’re tech enabled, so we can always get hold of someone via WhatsApp groups, and we use call and web answering services for current and potential clients to contact us quickly.

We pride ourselves in being accessible. Clients are welcome to my personal phone number — there was a time when someone called me and I managed to let them back into their office remotely from a ski slope!

The serious side to that is you have to have the technology and back-up that enables that. If somebody loses a key, we’ve also got a key safe as we’ll try and have something in place as a failsafe, especially as we’re not always on site. In some ways that makes us more responsive.

We recruit based on our values, and our team jumps on any issues and resolve them quickly. In fact, for any issues, I have two questions: do our clients notice, and do they care. If they notice something and care about it, we need to resolve it quickly.

The other side to running the business is that we have watermarks running through each space. We tend to tailor the decor to each building, so we don’t have a standard colour palette, but we do lean towards using similar colours and tones, and use quirky and unique signage.

Biophilia also runs through our workspace design — we have natural looking surfaces and use natural materials. Even if we can’t have real wood, we use realistic wood effect materials that create the same natural feel. Quality materials can produce the right effect.

There’s also the way we select and design a building, that means that some buildings never even get past gate one. Although they might work financially, they just don’t work in terms of the look and feel of a building that we’d want to have.

3. Have you seen examples where the network effect has created real business outcomes for members?

Andy: Our team is really good at knowing who our clients are, what they’re looking for, and connecting them to one another, particularly at Perch Coworking in Bicester.

For example, one client was looking for a bonded warehouse in Germany. As we’re a UK business, we couldn’t really help, but we connected them to someone in our network who directed them. It’s an obscure example but shows how valuable these connections can be.

We also had a photographer based at one of our sites who did headshots for one of the marketing companies here. They then started working together to run a campaign.

I put together a spider diagram to map out some of the connections that people have made here – it’s really quite a connected network of people that all work together. For instance, we have an accountant and IT partners who are contracted to some of our other clients. Informally, some of our members just help each other out and meet at the coffee machine.

Across the portfolio, we’ve got meeting rooms that our members have access to, and we’ll support people wherever they want to be. If we’ve got a spare office, we’ll sometimes use that as an office for a day or a meeting suite, and then people can access that.

Quite a lot of our office moves are internal, where people want something bigger or smaller, such as a built-in meeting room, or to switch locations. If our clients are looking for an office of a certain size and there’s not one available, we’ll get them into something within the portfolio and, as soon as the right thing comes up, we’ll allocate that to them.

We put a lot of time into catering for where people want to be.

4. Point of Difference won the Flexible Space Association Customer Service Award in 2025. What does “great service” mean in coworking and how do you deliver that?

Andy: Delivering great service is about high touch and care. Like any business, we’re not perfect 100% of the time, but the intent to give a really good quality personal service is always there.

When we recruit, for instance, I never have to train our hires on customer service, and I haven’t run one customer service training programme, because they care anyway.

Their working hours are 8am until 4pm, but they all know that if a meeting room is booked from 8o’clock, people are going to start turning up before that, they’d like a tea or a coffee, and want to settle in the space first. I never have to tell anybody to look out for that, they just do it, because we recruited great people that think that way.

If you can hire people who naturally want to deliver a great service, then you’ve won most of the battle anyway, because they’ll deliver that to the best they possibly can. They take pride in a job well done and satisfied clients. That’s the biggest link across the organisation.

Coworking is a great development space for people to work in. We took on an apprentice three years ago, who we hired permanently afterwards. They’ve grown brilliantly within the business.

Our center managers come from a range of different backgrounds – cafes, project management, and retail. What you get is exposure across the full breadth of the business and to a full range of clients.

The thread linking it altogether is the customer service element. If you’ve got the right mindset, coworking is a brilliant development space for people, because you get exposure to different businesses. For young people, it’s such a great sector to grow and learn from.

The other side of it is technology – you should always be able to get through to somebody on the phone. We have a chat function on our website, with a human behind it, so even if we can’t personally get to it at that point in time, somebody will definitely pick it up. As it comes into my inbox, I’ll quite often deal with a query or two over the weekend.

5. How do you see regional coworking evolving over the next few years?

Andy: Regional coworking has become more prevalent, and we’re a good microcosm example of that.

Post-COVID, many people who worked from home came back to the office, but they disconnected the need to jump on a train to London every single day. People aren’t in the office five days a week, even those who have a permanent office are doing two or three days a week.

There’s also a mix on the coworking side. We have quite a lot of teams who might come together one day a week. They can book banks of desks in the coworking space instead of having a full office – that works well for them.

We’ve seen a lot of people who want a regional office rather than a central one, flexibility rather than a long lease, and who want smaller offices over bigger workspaces. You don’t need the company together; you need the regional team together.

That’s going to be true of a lot of regions where there’ll be demand for these drop-in type spaces, such as coworking spaces. However, regional coworking isn’t without its challenges. The size of our sites aren’t typical of most companies, and most would want a bigger footprint than we have.

Although regional coworking isn’t going to replace the big city offices yet, it’s got an established place. As ever, people will see our location and quality. If you’ve got nice spaces that people want to be in and they’re in good locations, then that will help, and it affects the region.

Our spaces in Aylesbury, Banbury, Towcester, and Bicester have all got different profiles. Bicester, for example, is a booming region, and that works really well for us.

Regional hubs are close to transport, rail and car links, business infrastructure, quality support services, and the major banks. These are all factors of regional coworking to consider, but it doesn’t mean to say that a regional coworking space is going to be super popular.

We find that our members come in for more personal connections. Even people who aren’t connectors and who come and plug themselves into their headphones to work, will have a conversation with another member. I had a bit of banter with a member about football recently; it was a little break in the day that you wouldn’t have in the same way at home.

Even for people who don’t necessarily need a lot of personal contact, social interaction is just a nice way to break the day up a little bit. Regional sites fulfill that role.

About People Make Coworking

There are many incredible people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement. People Make Coworking spotlights coworking space founders and community builders as they share their journeys of how they bring people together.

Edition #33 of People Make Coworking interviews Andy Bedwell, co-founder of Point of Difference, a network of 10 flexible workspaces across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Northamptonshire.

Read more coworking stories and get in touch if you’d like to be featured in this series.

But others aren’t so convinced that coworking and hospitality cross over. Instead of it being about the relationships between team members and community members, there’s an argument that coworking should just be about the connections between community members themselves.

Although this might sound like a subtle difference, it raises a significant question around whether hospitality and coworking strive for the same thing, or they stand for two completely different experiences.

So I thought I’d explore why hospitality can be such a divisive topic in the coworking industry.

Questioning hospitality in coworking

A recent conversation questioning whether we should embrace hospitality in coworking laid down the argument that hospitality ultimately serves the relationship between the business and the customer.

Hotels and restaurants are designed around delivering a great service for individual customers, often in high volumes and for one-off experiences. Meanwhile, coworking spaces are for longer-term community members.

This take comes from Angel Kwiatkowski, founder of Cohere Coworking in Fort Collins, Colorado. Her opinion is that the value of coworking should be about the relationships and conversations that happen between members, rather than from the space itself.

Angel joined the coworking movement back in 2009, when she began hosting weekly meet ups in a reception space. The meet ups got so popular that five weeks later, she found a commercial lease on a building down the road and launched Cohere Coworking. Angel’s been operating Cohere ever since.

As an industry OG, Angel’s take on hospitality in coworking goes way back to its origins, when coworking was more of a self-organised concept, where people chose to come together in third spaces to work and connect.

However, coworking has come a long way since then. What began as a grassroots movement has evolved into a more mainstream real estate segment, and coworking operators are intentionally designing spaces, experiences, and environments that help people connect.

Today, people aren’t just looking for a desk and reliable Wi-Fi. They’re choosing spaces based on the value they provide beyond the physical workspace.

Inevitably, it involves elements of hospitality to welcome members, nurture communities, and create opportunities for connection.

A good cup of coffee doesn’t build a community

That being said, a coworking space can’t be completely reliable on the hospitality principles that are plucked from restaurants and hotels alone, because they serve different types of customers.

When we eat at a restaurant or stay at a hotel, we’re not there to meet other people. When we enter a café, we might have a quick chat with the person serving us, but we don’t typically sit down and start talking to the person on the table next to us.

This argument makes me think about when I was working from a coworking café in Bermondsey, a space on the ground floor of an aparthotel. There’s vibey music, beanbags, and delicious coffee. But the community? Practically non-existent.

Going into the workspace, I hardly saw the same person twice and although I got chatting to the person next to me on occasion, I never bumped into them again. Those conversations were typically with transient coworkers who were staying there for business.

This isn’t to slate that space. You can’t deny its convenience for people like myself who were dropping by for a few hours before a gym class, or someone who needed a social space with reliable Wi-Fi on a business trip.

The coworking café provides decent customer service and a useful space for productive work. It just isn’t coworking in the traditional sense.

Hospitality unlocks the door to community

A friendly welcome, good coffee, and a beautifully designed space won’t automatically make people connect with one another. But these small moments of care can break the ice for interaction.

So on one hand, coworking perhaps shouldn’t be placed in the same box as restaurants and hotels. However, I know many coworking operators have lifted the principles shared in restauranteur Will Guidara’s bestselling book Unreasonable Hospitality.

Having read this book myself last year, one of my favourite examples of unreasonable hospitality was when Guidara identified that the podium where the maître d’ typically greets customers often acts as a physical barrier between the host and guests, and it shapes their first impression of the experience.

By removing the podium in his own restaurant, Guidara reduced the transactional interaction on arrival to feel more like entering a friend’s house for dinner. He compared it to when someone would “throw open the door, look you directly in the eyes, and welcome you by name.”

Guidara’s underlying principle is relevant to coworking: providing above and beyond service, or in his words, unreasonable hospitality, helps make people feel seen, valued, and cared for.

The community manager as the connector

In the coworking world, our maître d’ is the community manager. They wear many hats — welcoming new members, answering questions, organising community events, making introductions, solving day-to-day problems, and helping the workspace run smoothly on a day-to-day basis.

Above all, the community manager is responsible for creating an environment where people feel comfortable enough to connect with one another.

At the last coworking space I joined, we had an incredible community manager who didn’t hide behind a reception desk (the podium in coworking spaces) but who chose to work alongside us, was visible, and got to know members personally. She understood her role in bringing people together.

So, when a visitor walked into the workspace, she immediately noticed them, introduced herself, offered them a drink, and started creating those small moments of connection within the community.

Those interactions built up over time, and without any of us really noticing, we formed a coworking community that had a strong sense of belonging.

I was part of that workspace for two years before the space sadly shut down. But the community still exists today four years after meeting one another. We all keep in touch and celebrate one another’s wins.

So while coworking spaces are more about the connections between members, it’s often the community manager who encourages those member-to-member bonds to form.

For me, this is where hospitality and coworking meet. Hospitality is the invitation; community is what follows, especially if you become an active participant in the coworking experience.

Coworking is about belonging

So, is coworking hospitality? Perhaps the answer is much more nuanced than this, from space to space, and from community to community.

Hospitality creates the conditions for people to feel welcome. It removes friction, builds trust, and gives people a reason to return. But community happens when those people start forming relationships with one another.

A community manager can introduce two members, but they can’t force a friendship. A beautiful space can encourage connection, but it can’t manufacture belonging.

The magic of coworking happens in those in between moments, such as the serendipitous conversation that starts at the coffee machine, or the introductions that lead to a collaboration.

Perhaps the future of coworking isn’t about choosing between hospitality and community, but understanding the role each plays.

Hospitality opens the door. Community invites people to stay.

What do you think – do you agree that hospitality plays a key role in coworking operations, or do you believe the two are dissimilar? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time,

Lucy

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It’s often one about how someone stumbled upon coworking and fell in love with it, or they realised that coworking could solve a challenge they were personally experiencing. Others wanted to bring coworking to their local town or city.

Through my blog series, People Make Coworking, I’ve had the privilege of speaking to over 30 coworking founders and community builders across the world about their journeys in coworking.

So, I thought what better time to reflect on some of those conversations than in the lead up to International Coworking Day this Sunday.

The origins of International Coworking Day

On 9th August 2005, U.S. programmer Brad Neuberg published a blog post announcing that he was setting up coworking.

He invited creatives and “free spirits” to connect at Spiral Muse, a feminist collective in San Francisco’s Mission District. Neuberg’s intention was to bring people together and embrace community.

However, it’s disputed whether Neuberg actually did set coworking up, because several industry OGs were around long before Neuberg’s blog post, and had already began making waves for the coworking movement.

What we do know is that over the last 20 years, coworking has grown from a little-known concept of people working together to a major real estate segment. Coworking has firmly entered the mainstream.

On 9th August each year, many global workspaces celebrate coworking’s beginnings by opening their doors to give more people the coworking experience, or hosting community events with their community.

Back in 2023, I hosted a Bake Off competition at the workspace I was a part of. We welcomed new people into the space, and it became such a fun day.

This International Coworking Day 2026, my situation is a little different — I’m waiting for my baby to enter the world! So, I won’t be coworking nor organising any coworking events for the time being.

However, I’ve taken this opportunity to look back at ten conversations I’ve had with international coworking leaders as part of my blog series: People Make Coworking. Let’s go!

Michael Sternberg, Green Room JBay (Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa)

Growing up near Jeffrey’s Bay (JBay) along South Africa’s famous Garden Route, surfing and the ocean were central to Michael Sternberg’s life. After moving abroad for work and launching Angola’s first coworking space in 2015, Michael found himself back in Jeffrey’s Bay during lockdown.

It was then that, quite serendipitously, he stumbled across a huge building facing the ocean that can only be described as a surfer’s utopia.

Michael founded Green Room JBay — a coworking space for digital nomads, tech entrepreneurs, ocean conservationists, and creatives who all share a passion for surfing, sustainability, and the ocean. This influences everything the space does, from being surfer-friendly with all the amenities you could ask for, to supporting initiatives that protect the ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Michael shares his story of starting Green Room JBay, what an “ocean-minded” culture looks like in practice, and how the workspace gives back to the local community.

Suzanne Murdock, The Hub Newry (Northern Ireland)

After moving to Northern Ireland in 2009, Suzanne Murdock co-founded a network of award-winning, flexible office workspaces in Newry on the border between Dublin and Belfast.

Since launching The Hub Newry in 2011, Suzanne has watched coworking evolve from an unfamiliar concept into a vital part of regional communities. As a great believer in building relationships, belongingness, and inclusivity, Suzanne advocates for the role of smaller operators, local ecosystems, and the relationships that make coworking meaningful.

In this conversation, Suzanne shares why community can’t be built by operators alone, how regional coworking spaces are woven into the fabric of their towns, and why finding your own “tribe” is just as important as creating one.

Michael Korn, Blue Garage (Lewisham, London)

After graduating from the Royal College of Art, Michael Korn built and spun out a hardware company. While designing and selling it was assumed to be the hardest part of running the business, the real challenge was manufacturing in the UK.

Looking around, Michael saw countless other inventors and innovators struggling with the same barriers: brilliant ideas constrained not by creativity, but by infrastructure. That became the foundation for Blue Garage, an affordable makerspace houses in a rare industrial building on Lewisham high street.

In this interview, Michael shares how Blue Garage flips the traditional coworking model on its head, supports companies that struggle to access affordable manufacturing facilities, and the exciting opportunities the makerspace brings to Lewisham.

Charlotte Kirby, The Village Hive (Canada)

Charlotte Kirby is the entrepreneur behind The Village Hive, a community-focused coworking space that Charlotte launched after a chance encounter with a coworking space ten years ago.

While attending a TEDx event in Toronto, she found herself watching the talks from the Center for Social Innovation (one of the city’s first coworking spaces) and discovered a completely different way of working. Now, Charlotte is managing three coworking locations in Canada and partnering with landlords to bring vibrant coworking spaces into communities where people crave connection.

In this article, Charlotte shares The Village Hive’s growth journey, her outlook on hospitality (and the importance of hiring the right community manager), and what she finds most rewarding in running a coworking business.

John Preece, Hub Australia

Before John Preece joined Hub Australia, he built a career in traditional real estate and was one of the early voices researching and writing about the emerging coworking movement. This laid the foundations for his eventual move in 2018 into an industry he became passionate about.

As Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Hub, Australia’s leading flexible workspace operator, John’s focus is on scaling nationwide as a hospitality-first model that blends premium design, thoughtful amenities, hospitality-led service, and a strong sense of community and brand. While the buildings and services are important, John is clear on what makes Hub thrive: their people.

In this interview, John shares how Hub scaled nationally without losing the essence of hospitality and community, implements important environmental and social impact initiatives, and what’s next as the workplace continues to evolve.

Cristina González Fernández, Fento Coworking (Vigo, Spain)

Community comes first at Fento Coworking, a workspace in Vigo, Spain. It was founded in 2020 by Cristina Fernández González and Rubén Zapata Fernández to satiate their own need for a coworking space.

Fento Coworking doesn’t just serve its coworking community. Its built a symbiotic bond with its local neighbourhood, operating within a thriving ecosystem of independent businesses and people of different generations in its village-style surroundings on the outskirts of the city of Vigo.

In this interview, Cristina shares her journey of building a coworking space from the ground up, the unique ways Fento integrates with its local environment, and the key to nurturing community.

Alistair Starling, Fraqmented (Tallinn, Estonia)

Alistair Starling’s career has taken him from academia to diplomacy and into the people-first coworking industry. He’s worked for the University of Cambridge, served as a British diplomat with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and built a strong foundation in international relations.

From his own experience of navigating a new city in Tallinn, Estonia, Alistair recognised a common challenge among expats around finding meaningful connections in a quieter society. In response, Alistair started hosting informal networking sessions at a trendy cafe every Friday.

For two years, these sessions brought together business, academic, and government people before it became clear that the community needed a more permanent home. That new home became Fraqmented, a coworking space in Tallinn that Alistair set up with two entrepreneurs, Cagatay and Markus, whom he met through his networking sessions.

Alistair’s journey reflects a consistent thread: connecting people across boundaries. Fraqmented is a space where meaningful relationships and impactful ideas can flourish. This conversation shares how the coworking space came to be.

Melissa Richards, Buick Mackane (Newbury, UK)

When Melissa Richards was craving more than kitchen-table isolation and uninspiring office options, she set out to build a workspace that worked for her. Buick Mackane, based in Newbury, Berkshire, was founded four and a half years ago, as an extension of Melissa’s personality and creative spirit.

What began with just one member has since grown. Last January, Melissa opened a new site dedicated to longer-term offices and meeting rooms in a historic building infused with a bold, creative touch and brought to life by a vibrant community of local professionals – plus Rey, Melissa’s much-loved dog, and Buick’s official mascot.

In this interview, Melissa reflects on her coworking journey, the inspiration behind Buick Mackane’s distinctive branding (any guesses where the name comes from?), and what Melissa believes is the best part about coworking.

Jerome Chang, BLANKSPACES (Los Angeles)

Jerome Chang has been part of the coworking movement since its inception. He opened BLANKSPACES in 2008, when fewer than a dozen coworking spaces existed in the U.S.

From those early days of exchanging tips online with fellow coworking space founders, Jerome has influenced the coworking movement into what it is today. BLANKSPACES is now one of the oldest coworking brands in the U.S.

With a background in architecture, Jerome brings a unique design sensibility to coworking, blending functionality with user experience. BLANKSPACES cater to a wide range of members; entrepreneurs, freelancers, and corporate teams seeking flexibility. This embodies Jerome’s ethos: “Work for yourself, not by yourself.”

In this interview, Jerome shares his journey from architect to coworking founder, the evolution of BLANKSPACES, and insights into the future of coworking for community, choice, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Claire Carpenter, The Melting Pot (Edinburgh, UK)

Before coworking became a global industry, Claire Carpenter was already exploring what happens when physical spaces and communities come together. In 2005, she launched one of Europe’s first coworking hubs in Edinburgh: The Melting Pot, Scotland’s Centre for Social Innovation.

Claire has been at the heart of the coworking movement for twenty years, witnessing its evolution from humble beginnings, through to the model’s wider adoption and mass expansion, first in international cities, before its hybridisation into coliving, then the turmoil and refresh of the COVID years, and currently the mass adoption of hybrid and flexible workspaces.

In this conversation, Claire reflects on the early days of the coworking movement, why community has always been at the heart of the sector, and how coworking spaces can become more than workplaces – becoming important parts of the ecosystems and places they serve.

Spotlight your coworking space

Are you building a coworking space, community, or project that’s changing the way people work?

I’d love to hear your story. I’m always looking to feature inspiring people and ideas through the People Make Coworking series – get in touch if you’d like to be part of it.

And do let me know your plans for International Coworking Day - it’s such a joyful time for the global coworking community to come together!

Until next time,

Lucy

Having experienced the challenges of working from home herself, Sandie recognised that the future of work needed something different: spaces that offered flexibility, but didn’t lose the human connection. She combined her expertise in events management with her sister’s interior design skills to open LIME TREE WORK SHOP in 2022 – a beautiful, design-led coworking space in the commuter town of Sevenoaks, Kent.

Four years on, LIME TREE WORK SHOP has become a hub for local business owners, establishing itself as a place of care through life’s ups and downs. LIME TREE WORK SHOP proves that the future of coworking isn’t just in city centres, but much closer to home.

In this conversation, Sandie reflects on bringing an abandoned warehouse back to life, the role of local coworking spaces on regional ecosystems, and how the everyday conversations and connections in workspaces can be just as valuable as the work itself.

1. What inspired you both to open LIME TREE WORK SHOP, and why did you feel Sevenoaks needed a coworking space?

Sandie: My sister, Cathy, and I have always talked about whether or not we could and should work together, but our lives took us in different directions. I worked for an events agency, while she ran an interior design practice.

When COVID came about, the meetings and events industry wasn’t the place to be, so I took voluntary redundancy, and my sister was on a sabbatical. We felt we should do something together, and brainstormed a number of ideas.

We settled on coworking after I struggled to work from home during COVID, especially while having calls that lacked the casual conversation you were used to in-person. The world of work had fundamentally changed, and we saw local coworking as a positive outcome of COVID.

Sevenoaks is a prime commuter town, and it was crying out for a local coworking space. We grew up here, so it made sense that this is where we would start. I still live here, and have a lovely 15-minute walk to work.

We started doing our homework to find out who we would be competing with. There was a tiny independent coworking facility here for about eight people, but it wasn’t about building a community – that was really important for us. We also discovered that the council was opening a facility, but it had a different price point and offering.

At LIME TREE WORK SHOP, we have hot desks, dedicated desks, and private offices. Across all three, we have some people who work for larger organisations with London offices, but they don’t have to go in five days a week, though that doesn’t mean that they want to work from home the rest of the time.

2. You’ve breathed new life into a former warehouse. How important was it to preserve the character of the building while designing a workspace that people enjoy spending time in?

Sandie: When we started our journey, we didn’t necessarily know what we were looking for because we were quite new to coworking. We started looking for anything that was available on the local market, but most of it was traditional office space that needed a big transformation.

We’d seen the warehouse we’re in now back in 2020, but it was derelict and we didn’t know who owned it. There were no signs it was for sale, but from a timing perspective, we were fortunate that our commercial agent happened to know who bought the property in early 2021. We were introduced to our landlord in July 2021 and opened in April 2022.

The building was filthy, had bricked up windows, and there were pigeons living in it. But we could see the bones of the building were stunning, as it had high ceilings and the potential to flood natural light in. I knew that my sister would create something wonderful because it was such a lovely building in the first place.

Working as an account director with FTSE100 clients previously, I was going to lots of offices where you could see the potential. It made me realise that our workspace needed kitchen facilities, meeting space, and a social point to interact. Our furniture is flexible so we can move it for events.

We’re a design led, beautiful town centre offering. Being in a creative space makes such a difference; we’ve gained members who tried other coworking spaces in the area, even as far as Tunbridge Wells, a twenty minute drive away. Those members work in a creative industry, and didn’t feel inspired.

Over four years later, I’ll still walk into our space and feel proud that we did this – we created a beautiful space that everyone is complimentary about.

3. What was one of your biggest challenges when you set up LIME TREE WORK SHOP?

Sandie: In the early days, our biggest hurdle was our landlord who never came across the coworking concept before and couldn’t get his head around it.

We sent him our business plan, and he wanted to see some of Cathy’s previous work, and then he came back to us with a link to FORA.

Our building is across two floors, with a main space and side section. Our landlord’s original plan was to have the whole side section as residential, and just the ground floor central space as commercial. But by the end of COVID, he realised that people didn’t want to live in flats without outside space. Our vision was to have the whole building, and he let us have it.

Timing played a big part in this, along with my sister’s design skills and me winning it with a spreadsheet to get the funding together. But starting out was a tough journey. We didn’t know week by week if we would get there, and whether we’d be able to raise enough money.

A lot of people understand coworking now, but we still have people knocking on our door asking what we’re doing, and whether they need to pay for it. Now we’re four years in, we’ve noticed that coworking is talked about much more.

4. Many people crave the flexibility of working remotely, but it can also be isolating. What differences have you seen in people once they start working around others?

Sandie: People tell us that they’re lonely or unproductive at home, distracted by the fridge, the dog, the doorbell and the washing piling up. But when you’re paying to be in a space, you’re not doing your online shopping – you’re there to work and focus.

We also know what our members are going through, some of them having challenges at home and they just can’t be there.

We’re a friendly face; we know what their coffee order is when they come through the door, and we’re making their first one for them, getting them settled, and asking them how their weekend was. We might be the only people they talk to, but they’re talking to somebody when they might not have that option at home.

Not everyone has a job that involves social interaction either. We have some authors in the community, who can go for days without having a conversation with anyone. Cathy and I provide a friendly welcome – you’re hearing the buzz and chat around you, and that counts for so much. It’s not coffee shop buzz or children. You’re hearing professional work conversation.

We’ve made recommendations to introduce people to each other, and a couple of peoples’ teenage kids have done work experience for other members. Somebody got permanent employment with one member through another.

A few of our members’ kids are at the same school, so they see each other outside of work. Two members who ended up sitting opposite each other on dedicated desks have formed a business partnership together. Those connections are marvellous.

LIME TREE WORK SHOP is more than just a workspace. It’s a way to grow your business and connections, both professionally and personally, with the benefit of staying closer to home.

5. Do you think coworking spaces have a role to play in supporting local high streets and independent businesses, and what impact does LIME TREE WORK SHOP have on the Sevenoaks community?

Sandie: It’s not something that we can formally measure. But, despite us providing lovely tea and coffee, we have many members who come in with something they’ve bought in a local coffee shop. Many people here support the town’s food and beverage scene.

At local coworking spaces, you also have the opportunity to do your life admin. You can nip to the post office, or go out for drinks after work. A lot of working parents will go to one of the local shops to pick up a football kit or school uniform at lunchtime, for example.

We know we’re making a positive impact. We’re potentially bringing at least 30 people into Sevenoaks town centre everyday who would otherwise be in London or working from home.

Our impact goes much wider than just supporting the high street. We make local introductions, and connect our members to accountants, solicitors, or web designers in the building. We make recommendations for local business owners who don’t have a physical high street presence.

We’ll do anything we can to raise a member’s profile. We use socials, such as LinkedIn and our newsletter, to spotlight our members and highlight what people are doing. If you want to give our members a benefit, we’ll promote your business on our app.

There’s so much we do to keep it local. This was one of our original aims when we wrote our business plan: to support the high street and the town that we grew up in and love as much as we possibly could.

Following the London Coworking Assembly event that I attended back in May, we put a post out on socials that we wanted to help a local startup, charity, student, or someone running a positive impact company as part of a social value project.

We’ve just given a free desk for three months to a local business owner who is building a consultancy around neurodiversity in adults who’ve been diagnosed later in life to help them discover different ways they can navigate their diagnosis, whether that’s ADHD or something similar.

We were supported to attend the London Coworking Assembly event by our technology partner, so we’re paying it forward. Those discussions at the event led us to consider what we could do to help people who perhaps aren’t in a position to afford a coworking space. We’re super pleased that we can give something back.

6. What do you think people want most from a local coworking space today that they couldn’t get five years ago?

Sandie: COVID taught us we can work remotely, but as it went on for a long time, we also discovered that we don’t all love working remotely.

Working from home doesn’t mean you have a fully functioning office at home. You might be working on a stool at the kitchen worktop – that’s not sustainable every day.

Before, people were commuting to London, or any big city, for coworking. It wasn’t in the local towns or local communities. But if an hour’s journey each way can be saved, that’s huge. You’re home for the kids going to bed or you can get a sense of life balance back.

We don’t stay open late; we close at 6.30pm which means you’re shutting your laptop down and leaving the space. This reduces your desire to log back in when you get home, compared with when you’re working from home at the kitchen table. Discovering those benefits have made a huge difference to us.

About People Make Coworking

There are many incredible people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement. People Make Coworking spotlights coworking space founders and community builders as they share their journeys of how they bring people together.

Edition #32 of People Make Coworking interviews Sandie Johnston, co-founder of LIME TREE WORK SHOP, a beautiful, design-led town centre coworking space in Sevenoaks, Kent.

Read more coworking stories and get in touch if you’d like to be featured in this series.

The UK market is the first location Airbnb is testing this new feature, with flexible workspace brands Oneder and Work.Life participating in a pilot. Airbnb users can book day passes and meeting rooms through its platform.

On the surface, this makes perfect sense. Airbnb has always been about helping people experience a place, and coworking is another way to enhance that experience.

But the caveat is: if coworking becomes easier to access, does it become less valuable?

Let’s dive into what Airbnb adding coworking means for your workspace business.

Airbnb was built on the idea of sharing space

Today, Airbnb is a household name, and many of us use the platform to book apartments and homes from our holidays. Yet, the company has very grassroot beginnings.

In 2007, San Francisco-based roommates, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, were struggling to afford their extortionate rent in the city. A major design conference was coming to San Francisco, and with all local hotels booked, the founders decided to inflate air beds in their living room and rent them out.

Three strangers booked to stay in their home…and that was the seed for Airbnb.

Of course, the company grew to what we know as Airbnb today. But the founding story shows that the intent behind Airbnb was about sharing space, trust, and hospitality (the founders even cooked their guests breakfast).

The overlap between Airbnb and coworking is clear, both built around the idea that you can make better use of a space while creating experiences that bring people together.

That’s why Airbnb expanding into services makes sense. Adding coworking is another way for people to experience a city, whether they’re travelling, working remotely, or simply looking for somewhere different to spend the day.

A new way for people to discover coworking

Coworking is still a slightly undiscovered segment. People who don’t really understand coworking either associate it with WeWork, or a big, noisy social space where you can’t get any work done.

The good news is that Airbnb adding coworking to its list of services means that more people will develop this understanding, and experience coworking for themselves.

A comment from Work.Life, published in a Coworking Europe article about the news, shared:

“It’s an exciting new way for more travellers, remote workers and digital nomads to discover our spaces and experience the community and energy that make us different.”

Work.Life and Oneder’s participation in the pilot makes sense, especially if the coworking operators are planning for further expansion. Work.Life, for example, operates 11 spaces across London and Manchester, while Oneder has three sites in London: Old Street, White City, and Kings Cross.

Both coworking providers have top-of-the-range meeting rooms. These types of bookings have become a lucrative revenue stream in a hybrid working age.

As Airbnb experiences are for anyone to use, not just travellers and guests staying in Airbnb accommodation, this move positions the platform as more of a marketplace for discovering flexible workspaces, similar to existing coworking aggregators.

Discovery isn’t the same as belonging

While this move may help more people discover and understand coworking, the downside is that Airbnb users may just associate coworking with office space and meeting rooms, consuming workspaces as services, and missing out on that sense of belonging because they don’t see coworking in that way.

This is the bigger challenge for the industry, and it’s why some coworking operators aren’t in favour of providing day passes or ad-hoc bookings, particularly the smaller, more independent coworking spaces.

The difference between a larger coworking brand and a small independent space often comes down to capacity and business model.

Larger operators can often absorb more day-pass users across multiple locations. For example, someone books a Work.Life space in London one week might then book a location in Manchester the next.

Meanwhile, smaller spaces rely more heavily on a consistent membership base and local relationships. Again, Airbnb’s move could result in the deeper meaning of coworking being missed. After all, coworking has never just been about access to a workspace, but about community.

The interactions you have with others over weeks and months, the conversations over coffee, the introductions that lead to collaborations, and the familiarity of walking into a place where someone knows your name.

Sharing the announcement on its Instagram channel, Flockhere (@flockhere) put this into words:

“Finding somewhere to work is important. Finding people to work with can make all the difference.”

That’s not something you can experience in a single afternoon, but it’s when people return to a space again and again.

A day pass becomes a doorway

For coworking spaces in tourist destinations or major cities, partnering with the likes of Airbnb could be a valuable route to discovery. A traveller needing somewhere to take a meeting, or a spot with a reliable Wi-Fi connection, might never find your workspace otherwise.

When I spoke to Justin Powers, the founder of Kernville Cowork, he highlighted that destination coworking spaces often experience seasonal demand. For example, the Kern River Valley has excellent whitewater rafting rivers between mid-April and July – the region’s peak tourist season.

Justin opened Kernville Cowork for the local community, but it’s also a productive workspace for remote workers and travellers during tourist season. Justin’s intention is that the workspace will give a visitors a reason to keep coming back to Kernville. Eventually, they may even lay down roots there.

This follows a shift where people are no longer needing to live where they work but instead being able to work where they want to live. This is actually what brought Justin back to his hometown of Kernville in the first place.

Airbnb’s role will become interesting, as it could help people discover destinations where they’ll eventually spend more time in.

When coworking becomes easier to access, belonging matters more

Airbnb’s partnership with the coworking sector is ultimately a sign that flexible workspace is becoming part of the mainstream way people think about work and travel.

For operators, this presents an opportunity: more people may discover coworking spaces who would never have considered them before.

But discovery is only the first step. The challenge is making sure those people understand that coworking is not just somewhere to sit with a laptop but a place to connect, collaborate, and feel part of something.

What are your views on this move? I’d love to hear what you think.

Until next time,

Lucy

Mathias has continued to establish a community-led model at Locus, while gradually refining how the space operates. Central to this approach is a belief that coworking should be highly productive and deeply social, and that community works best when it’s self-regulated.

Rather than relying on top-down programming, Locus members are active creators of community life, supported by simple systems, such as WhatsApp groups and recurring weekly touchpoints. This philosophy allows the coworking space to scale its sense of community without losing intimacy.

In this interview, Mathias shares how Locus balances productivity with community and how its member-led structure helps members form connections within the space.

1. What’s the story behind Locus Workspace?

Mathias: Locus Workspace started 16 years ago in 2010, and was one of the first coworking spaces in Prague.

It was founded by an American academic who struggled to work productively. He wanted to be surrounded by people, so he formed a group here in Prague and then eventually opened his own coworking space.

Running a coworking space takes quite some work. The founder was always juggling operations with his academic work, so in 2020, ten years after Locus opened doors, he began looking for someone to take it over.

I joined the space in 2016 as a member while working as a marketing freelancer. When I heard the founder was moving on from the business, I made a decision to take over it from him. I knew the story behind the space, which gave me a lot of confidence to run it, with COVID being a driving factor.

The founder really wanted someone who knew the space and who could continue this place in the same kind of way as he originally started it. So when we came together, he was very happy for me to continue running the coworking space.

2. Community is at the heart of Locus. How do you create a coworking space where people genuinely connect and collaborate?

Mathias: There’s always been a good community here at Locus. The founder set up lots of regular weekly events, including a coffee break on Tuesday afternoons, and lunch at a nearby restaurant on Wednesdays. Everyone in the space is welcome to join.

I was part of that before I took it over, although I had two small children and didn’t have much time to join extra events. When I took over the space, we continued those events. Events are crucial to form connections and friendships. Many great relationships have been formed in our space.

Now we have over ten events per week that our team or members organise. Those self-regulated events give members a little more responsibility and the freedom to do their own things. We also have a WhatsApp community with lots of groups based on different interests, making it possible for everyone to join something they’re interested in.

The yoga group, for example, is running completely independently from us. Every week, they meet up to do yoga with a lead volunteer member.

Language lunches came about because we had more German-speaking people joining the space, and we knew that some of our other members wanted to improve their German speaking. So, we asked whether anyone would be interested in a German language group, and pushed it into our members’ hands to organise it.

These events are organised for and by the community, and they can join if they want to, but we’re not forcing it. We’re just creating friendly ways for everybody to join in, whatever interests them.

Our professional events include one where we invite a speaker or someone to lead a monthly workshop. The rest of our events are very casual; members can simply join the events that speak to them the most. By creating an atmosphere where socialising with others is easy, we hope to contribute to their happiness and general well-being.

We’re also working to improve the space bit by bit, like changing its design, features, and focusing even more on community. It’s still very important that our community has a good space where they can focus on their work, because their work pays the bills. At the same time, our casual events encourage them to stay after work, or they stay to get to know one another better.

3. How important is workspace design in shaping the way people work, interact, and feel day-to-day?

Mathias: Our community must have a productive place to work. We generally try to keep the main space quiet, which means asking members to drop out of the main space when they have calls.

When I first took the space over, we only had one phone booth. Now we have four. We could have some more, but it’s quite expensive. We recently changed our big meeting room and use a dynamic display to show when it’s available or not, opening it up for people who have calls where they only need to chip in occasionally, as they can sit with other people.

We also changed the kitchen area, and designed it around one big, round table to make it more open, focused, and community-driven. We put a small table near the window to show off the amazing view from our space. We’re also live-streaming our pigeon nest from this spot.

Workspace design is very important. We’re lucky, as we’re located in the attic of a building where we have lots of natural wood and plants scattered around the space. Our members have told us that they enjoy working amongst wood, plants, and natural sunlight.

In fact, that’s why I chose this coworking space. Across Prague, there are some great and beautiful spaces, and many are focused on flexible offices, so we have a nice playground to offer where individuals and community come first.

We don’t have any flexible offices, although we’re looking to open a second location soon, because we understand that when our members grow, they have to leave Locus, even though they really want to stay here to be with our community. Our goal is to create more workspace for small teams and keep it limited, remaining focussed on individuals over large companies.

4. Locus attracts people from a wide range of backgrounds and industries. How do you make the space feel inclusive and welcoming to everyone?

Mathias: Our workspace is really set up for individuals and freelancers, but our community also includes entrepreneurs, architects, and writers. A few years ago, we brought in lots of digital nomads, but Prague has become too expensive for them now, so in the last couple of years, we’ve seen more remote workers join the space.

We’re also a very international coworking space with almost 30 different nationalities here. Czech people make up 30% of our community, but everyone is internationally minded. Often, they’ve lived abroad, and the international element attracts them to Locus.

We try to be as inclusive as possible and incorporate as many people and members as possible into our events. Some people are shy and don’t want to join any events, but we try to give them opportunities.

For instance, we’ll connect members from a similar background. By connecting two or more people in a casual way, they’ll have at least one person that they get to know in their first week as members.

Despite being in the Czech Republic, all our communication is in English. That’s a slight dilemma we’re facing right now, and we’re questioning whether we should open it up more in the future. Before, we communicated in both Czech and English, but it was difficult, especially because when I took it over, my Czech wasn’t sufficient.

Our main Community Manager, Eva, is Spanish, and we often work with other international interns. But that being said, we’ve had more Czech people than before, even though we were communicating in the Czech language.

I’m very grateful for the things that Bernie Mitchell and the European Coworking Assembly organise, and we’ve been involved in the alliances over the last couple of years.

It’s important for different coworking spaces to help each other out – we have so much to learn and be inspired by each other. At Locus, we’re open to contributing to that mindset by connecting with similarly minded coworking spaces.

We recently started partnering with other coworking spaces, the first being The Living Room in Malaga. The space is very similar to us, it’s very internationally minded and community-focused. Our partnership means that our members can go there for five days every quarter under our membership. We have a nice exchange with them.

5. What do you think people want most from a workspace today, and how is Locus evolving to meet those expectations?

Mathias: We often see new members who’ve come from working from home or a coffee shop. Although they see a lot of people, they don’t speak to them, so eventually, they decide to try out our workspace.

It’s really important that our community can use a focus zone to have a productive day. Then there are the small interactions between members, because everybody’s very open. We make sure that they have a better day when they work at Locus. They feel happier here than working from home, at the kitchen table, or in a coffee shop.

There’s something very powerful about seeing the same people regularly. Very often, you’ll see the same people here; even if you don’t talk the first two or three times, eventually, you start a conversation and, bit by bit, get to know other people.

People start building a supportive network and community, and because we have so many groups here, you can become part of a sub-community as well and take leadership. We try to give our members the tools they need to do that.

When people search for a good place to work, it’s the community that helps them the most. It’s so important to provide that network to people, and it’s something we’re focussing on all the time, even as we grow. It’s a game-changer for our members, providing an incredible experience.

About People Make Coworking

Celebrating the people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement, People Make Coworking interviews coworking space founders and community builders who share their journeys of bringing people together.

Edition #31 of People Make Coworking interviews Mathias Vanluchene, Owner of Locus Workspace, an independent coworking space in Prague, Czech.

What stood out most to me was the mix of people who came along to celebrate: members, local business owners, and visitors who were simply curious about what the workspace has to offer.

Someone commented that it was fantastic to have a hub in the community where local business owners could meet and connect. It’s a real pleasure to witness Queens House becoming the kind of place where those connections can naturally happen.

However, the real test of coworking isn’t filling a room for one evening. Seeing familiar faces return last week, alongside people discovering the space for the first time, indicates that the strongest coworking communities are constantly renewing themselves.

Let’s look at how Queens House is maintaining its relevancy as a coworking space serving a regional community in more detail.

The Queens House story

I always love a space that has a story to tell, and Queens House has exactly that.

Located right in the heart of St Albans, between the high street and train station, Queens House is in the old Crown Prosecution Service offices, which was originally a hat factory.

Having undergone a complete transformation before opening in 2025, the 20,000 sq ft building now boasts a ground floor coworking space, with comfortable sofas, state-of-the-art phone booths and the most innovative coffee straight-from-the-tap machine I’ve ever seen in its extremely well-stocked kitchen.

Private offices occupy the upper floors, with the top floor being home to MrQ — an online casino business and the company behind Queens House. Savvas Fellas is MrQ’s founder and CEO, who’s vision was to open a flexible workspace for the local community, while moving his company into the building.

Stepping into Mr Q’s office feels like walking into someone’s loft apartment. It’s comfortable, bright, and airy, with a party atmosphere, complete with a bar in the centre of the space, a rooftop terrace, and when I went in for the first time, the speaker was blasting Jamiroqui. Quite the vibe!

The rest of the workspace has a gorgeous design aesthetic: concrete floors, soft comfortable furnishings and an earthy colour palette of mustard yellows, forest greens, and peach tones. Impressive plants act as dividers, adding a certain peacefulness to the space (it’s something I don’t see very often in workspaces but it absolutely works).

It’s easy to see why Queens House made such a strong first impression. But a year on, it wasn’t the design people were talking about but the community that has grown inside it.

Community is the key

I met Danielle Wallington at Queens House last year. She’s the founder of FlockHere — a platform for women and non-binary individuals, which hosts coworking meets up in restaurants and coworking spaces. The platform encourages people to work away from home, and build stronger communities.

Queens House is one of FlockHere’s host venues, and at last week’s event, I was introduced to a couple of inspiring female founders who regularly cowork together there.

While they aren’t necessarily members of the workspace itself, they demonstrate something I think coworking operators sometimes overlook: communities don’t exist in isolation.

Some coworking spaces talk about their membership base as one big community, but meaningful relationships rarely happen at that scale. Anthropologist Robin Dunbar’s research suggests there’s a limit to the number of relationships humans can maintain, with deeper connections forming in much smaller groups.

This is why the strongest coworking spaces aren’t building one huge, perfectly connected community. Instead, they create the environment for smaller groups to emerge: founders working together, wellness communities, or shared-interest meetups.

This brought to mind something author Peter Block said at the Coworking Alliance Summit last month:

It’s worth thinking about your space as a home for several micro-communities, who arrive with their own relationships, interests, and shared experiences, enriching the wider culture of the space.

Seeing familiar faces indicates that belonging isn’t created overnight. It grows through repeat encounters, shared conversations, and the gradual weaving together of different networks. Perhaps that’s one of the main reasons that a coworking space remains relevant beyond its first year.

Rooted in local community

Micro-communities give people a sense of belonging within a larger ecosystem. They provide the familiarity and connection that makes a workspace feel less like a building full of strangers and more like a place where people know they belong.

The workspace is extremely rooted in the St Albans community. For instance, last week’s food was supplied by a local pizza company (who are back at the space this week to cater Mr Q’s summer party).

Last year, the event was catered by another local restaurant and drinks companies, and I remember chatting to a couple who had literally stepped into the workspace as they were passing by on an evening walk. They were getting married, and the restaurant catering the event was one of their chosen venues. This was a complete coincidence.

This example shows the value of being embedded in a local community. The relationships formed around a coworking space aren’t always transactional, but they create a sense of place and connection that makes a coworking space feel like a natural part of the neighbourhood.

As a commuter town, with trains reaching London in 20–30 minutes, St Albans may have traditionally been seen as a challenging market for coworking. But in the post-COVID era, the rise of the work near home movement has changed that dynamic.

Proximity to the city is no longer the deciding factor; instead, more people are looking for high-quality workspaces closer to where they live.

Working near home is a term penned by Freddie Fforde, the founder of Patch coworking spaces. It’s a way of life, supported by local, neighbourhood workspaces and third places. Freddie explains how this works:

In fact, many companies are basing themselves beyond the capital, while hybrid workers and freelancers enjoy days where the commute looks like a 15-minute walk or cycle.

For Queens House, staying relevant isn’t just about attracting people away from their home offices or coffee shops. It’s about becoming a place that St Albans itself values.

This is how coworking spaces in regional towns provide unique opportunities. They don’t need to compete with central London offices on location; they offer something different. By becoming part of the local fabric, they provide more than just a place to work, as hubs where businesses, freelancers, and the wider community can connect.

The value of co

As a coworking space matures, the focus naturally shifts from introducing people to the space to understanding which parts of the experience make them want to stay.

At last year’s launch party, stacks of free coworking day passes were given out to guests on arrival. It’s a smart idea following a new opening, however, coworking day passes are a challenging offer to uphold.

On the one hand, the offer removes barriers to enter workspaces, providing people with a taste of what coworking is like. But in reality, many workspace operators want conversion, and freebies don’t always do that because people exploit the offer to the point where the workspace loses its value. They won’t pay for a membership when they associate a coworking space with being free.

This year’s decision not to offer freebies signals that the business has matured, shifting the focus from generating awareness to attracting people who want to become part of the workspace.

From what I saw last week, that’s really working. While members and those familiar with the space were outside chatting and basking in the evening sunshine, the team were giving visitors tours of the space. This gave them an opportunity to look around and get a sense of its vibe without any commitment.

There’s an important distinction between creating awareness and creating belonging. In the early days, getting people through the door is essential. But as a workspace matures, the goal shifts from convincing people to visit to giving them a reason to stay.

A real measure of success

A year on, Queens House feels more confident in what it offers. It’s no longer just introducing people to a new workspace; it’s inviting them into a community that already exists.

Opening a coworking space might create a moment but staying relevant means becoming part of people’s routines, relationships, and the wider community around it.

And that’s when a coworking space becomes more than somewhere people work, more about creating a sense of belonging and finding its place in the local community.

Thank you to Zoe and the team at Spaces to Places for the invite to last week’s event. I can’t wait to see where the next year takes Queens House!

Until next time,

Lucy

In the 1990s, Robert co-founded Reflex Managed Offices after struggling to find the kind of workspace his property development company needed. Rather than choosing a conventional lease or a serviced office, Robert saw an opportunity to create something in between — a flexible, fully managed office space designed around the needs of small businesses.

That occupier-first philosophy has remained central throughout Robert’s career. After selling Reflex in 2015, he co-founded MetSpace three years later, a premium managed office company for larger SMEs. Since then, MetSpace has experienced rapid growth, reaching 93% occupancy across more than 100 floors across Central London.

As the workspace market continues to shift away from long-term leases, Robert explains why packaging everything businesses need into a simplified managed office space works.

1. Can you tell me about your background in commercial property and the journey that led you to co-found MetSpace?

Robert: I started working in commercial property in the mid-80s for a firm of general practice surveyors in the commercial investment department. We were advising clients on the sale and acquisition of commercial properties nationwide.

It was back when you’d find a job in the local newspaper. I started fetching teas and coffees, getting sandwiches, and taking dry cleaning for my bosses, and worked my way up in the department.

I stayed there for about seven or eight years before jumping ship to work for a client and buying buildings. I always maintained good relationships with the people I’d worked with before, but I enjoyed the excitement of developing and buying buildings on the agency side.

In the 90s, I set up my own property development company with an old school friend of mine, David Cluer, who’s been my business partner ever since (David’s taken a similar route to me, but in residential property).

At the time, we were looking for office space, but we couldn’t find what we needed. You’d usually take a lease on a property from a landlord through an instructed solicitor, but we only wanted a few hundred square feet, so it was either that, a serviced office or a business centre.

Instead, we found a building of about 2,500 square feet and took a long lease on it, with the idea that we’d take an office for ourselves, and fit it out with the bare necessities that we needed, before renting out the rest of the building. We’d then have an office for free, with a bit of income left over.

When we opened doors, we put out a newspaper advert, saying: “Offices to rent,” and filled the space very quickly. That was the start of our company: Reflex Managed Offices.

It became evident to us that we weren’t the only ones who wanted this concept sitting between a conventional office and a serviced office. That was the beginning of the journey to where MetSpace is now.

2. How would you define the term “managed office”, and what role have you played in introducing the concept to the UK market?

Robert: Our view is that all offices are managed. If you own a building and look after it yourself, you’re managing it yourself. But it’s different if you take a lease on a building managed by an agent with a service charge.

People are obsessed with defining something in a particular way and calling it something that makes sense. But it was never about trying to redefine the market; we just recognised that companies wanted something that wasn’t out there.

The commercial office market is steeped in tradition. Up until late, there’s only ever really been one way to offer office space to occupiers: giving the keys to an agent as an owner of a building, asking them to find an occupier for my space, signing them up on a lease, and getting them to pay rent and service charges. The landlord can wash their hands of the building until it comes up for rent again.

But what’s changed now is the way occupiers consume office space, in the same way they consume most things in life now. It’s a bit like Netflix subscriptions; everything is packaged up because they don’t want the complications or hassle of dissecting everything in such a granular way. They’re focused on running their businesses.

Occupiers don’t want to instruct a lawyer, pay surveyors, measure the building, do a fit out, deal with rates companies or the local authority, or clean it. The way an occupier wants the space managed for themselves has changed, as opposed to the other way around.

We’re reinventing managed offices for companies that want to occupy space differently. Fewer of them are taking a lease on a building in the traditional, conventional way, and more occupiers will go for managed space, where there’s more variety, which is fantastic.

3. How are you applying the same core principles to managed offices and designing around how SMEs work that you did 25 years ago?

Robert: Reflex offered companies an office space. The company acquired spaces in period buildings, and then we repackaged and resold that space to SMEs in an all-inclusive way. In 90s, we were giving them a desk, chair, and telephone in a self-contained office space.

We were going to expand Reflex before we sold it in 2015, because our clients were asking whether we had spaces bigger than 1,000 square feet. We didn’t, because we were in period buildings, and our largest occupier had no more than 10 desks.

It felt like we were missing this opportunity to cater to another section of the market. But then an opportunity came along to sell Reflex, and, after our non-compete expired, we set up MetSpace in 2018 to cater to this section of the market.

At MetSpace, we’ve got larger spaces full of breakout areas and meeting rooms. Companies have their own reception areas, kitchens, boardrooms, and phone booths. MetSpace is just a bigger version of Reflex, in terms of the SME size we cater for.

What’s changed are things like bigger broadband requirements. It’s now standard that someone needs a 100 megabyte line in their office, as opposed to a two megabyte line, and they want IP phones.

Early on, we recognised that there are more companies than landlords. So, rather than landlords dictating what’s out there, occupiers are the ones who should get more choice. We never consciously set up our business to disrupt the market. The shift is where the demand is; that comes from the occupier, and landlords must cater to that demand.

4. MetSpace has experienced significant growth in recent years. What’s driven that momentum?

Robert: We set up MetSpace a couple of years before COVID. The pandemic accelerated the market as occupiers didn’t have as much money to spend, and they started thinking about how to invest their capital.

For occupiers, it didn’t make sense to spend money on fitting out an office space, with the uncertainty of what they’d be doing in two or three years down the line. But many landlords were digging their heels in to get them on a long-term lease.

Even today, occupiers don’t want to spend thousands on fitouts. I see landlords starting to come around to the idea that we’re not going back to the old days of rent reduction to find an occupier.

With MetSpace, we saw a massive gap in the market to convince landlords to invest in their spaces. We’ve created a premium product: a refurbished, aspirational space that a company wouldn’t normally be able to afford, and packaged everything up. Occupiers will pay you a premium for providing all of that.

Over the past four years, MetSpace has experienced a 78% average annual increase in operator agreements and is now at 93% occupancy over 100 floors in central London. Our team have also grown.

Our growth has come about because we’ve been effectively offering the same thing Reflex offered since the 90s. Having run MetSpace since 2018, and through COVID, we’ve now got a good track record.

Once we sign up with a landlord and they trust us, we can deliver on what we say we’re delivering. They give us more space after we’ve proved ourselves. We started partnering with landlords on one floor, and have grown to 10 floors in different buildings. Relationships with landlords are very important to us.

5. How does MetSpace approach sustainability, and why do you see it as a form of commercial foresight?

Robert: This isn’t about trying to spot trends in the market or plant our flag somewhere; our commitment to sustainability has involved looking at what felt right.

At Reflex, we spent good money on quality furniture and didn’t change it for 15 years. They were cleaned and moved around. Back then, we were conscious, but the term “sustainability” didn’t exist. We were just thinking about how to invest properly in the space.

We also installed the best broadband and door entry systems; we’re doing similar things now. If we’re rebuilding a meeting room, we’ll recycle glass, upcycling it from other sites, and spend good money on furniture.

We’ve always been conscious about spending money in the right way on the space. That’s not about buying gold taps; we don’t want to waste money. You now have green investment opportunities with banks, where they’ll lend money to buildings with strong sustainability and EPC ratings, because it’s good for the environment.

Our newest Crafts Council building in Angel is a good example. We’ve improved the Grade II listed building’s EPC rating significantly, from a D to a B after the landlord refurbished it.

Some occupiers ask about our sustainability credentials, but more often, it comes from landlords. This is all about saying to landlords that if you invest properly now, you won’t have to spend money again for another five to 10 years.

6. Relationships are central to your approach. How do you build and maintain them across the business?

Robert: Everyone we deal with — landlords, occupiers, and suppliers — is a client; always has been.

Landlords want to let out their spaces and make as much money as they can with as little aggravation and as small a void as possible. Although they want to generate the highest revenue from the space, you can’t do that by squeezing the life out of the occupier. There’s a balance to be had.

To make the occupier happy, you have to deliver service as best as possible, which means making sure they’re satisfied with the financial terms, how you treat them as human beings, and how you make their lives easier in terms of accessing the space.

That filters back up to the landlord. A happy client in the space stays, and the landlord gets continuous revenue. A managed workspace is about having trust in each other, including the landlord, clients in the building, and occupiers.

7. How do you stay ahead of market trends, and what excites you most about the future of the flex industry?

Robert: The flex industry is becoming an established part of the occupational market.

But what’s really tough at the moment is that occupiers are slightly confused about what’s being offered. I recognise that everyone’s trying to bring workspace under one flex banner; however, that term could be better explained and made clearer to the occupier. I’m excited about that.

If somebody says they’re looking for flex space, to me, that says they want something they can get in and out of in a very short period of time. Whereas with coworking, you get a monthly pass, or sign up for a longer-term serviced office.

On the flip side, managed and flex is the number one trending topic in the property market, so explaining it to landlords is easy, because they’re all talking about it. Flex is an established part of the office and occupational market trends. But when things are trendy, they can fall out of fashion. Despite that, listening to occupiers and what they want is the key to figuring it out.

Flex has created a lot of conversation, but I’m not sure where it will end up. The leasing market is dying, but it’s trying to keep itself alive by boxing everything into a flex and managed market.

Managed sits above everything; that’s what we are, a function of the managed office product. It’s a space looked after by a third party. That’s why we’ve used those terms to describe Reflex and MetSpace from the beginning.

About People Make Coworking

Celebrating the people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement, People Make Coworking interviews coworking space founders and community builders who share their journeys of bringing people together.

Edition #30 of People Make Coworking interviews Robert Schogger, co-founder of MetSpace, a premium managed office company for larger SMEs based in Central London.

Read more coworking stories.

The main issue is that the majority of UK homes aren’t built for the intense heat. Which means that when a heatwave strikes, those who typically work from home, such as remote and hybrid workers and freelancers, start looking for a place to work that’s cool, comfortable, and productive.

We all know coworking brings incredible benefits to peoples’ lives but the ability to help us stay cool during the hotter months? This shouldn’t be underestimated.

The question is whether your workspace is equipped with what coworkers are looking for most during the summer months. Let’s get into it.

Why air-con is a game-changer

Although some would love to sack off work and spend time outdoors during the summer months, firstly, we can’t always match our time off with the good weather, and secondly, it’s far too hot this week. Staying indoors is a must right now.

Most of us are probably keeping the windows open and using fans this week to cope in the heat, but we all know that air conditioning is the only way we can stay cool in these temperatures!

Surprisingly, not all spaces have air conditioning. For example, the coworking space I was once part of moved to a brand new building on the ground floor of a residential tower in Islington two years ago. Despite being in a new development, it wasn’t equipped with AC.

So, when the city got warm two summers ago, the space was pretty unbearable. Although the community manager brought fans in to manage the heat, there’s only so much a fan can do to help you stay cool, especially when it’s shared between 20-30 members.

It actually got to the point where some members decided to cowork elsewhere, and picked up day passes at neighbouring workspaces with AC.

Although no-one left the workspace permanently because of the lack of AC, this example really shows the consequence of not having a sufficient cooling system in your space. Sadly, it might mean you’ll lose business.

What else can you do to keep your community cool?

With the summers continuing to heat up in the years to come, installing an air conditioning system in your space might be the differentiator that coworkers and companies will look for when shopping around for a coworking space.

However, installation can be hugely expensive. A recent article published by Money Week indicates that installing a wall-mounted split-system AC costs between £1,580 and £2,300, including the system and labour costs during installation. That’s before adding the increased utility bills when using AC.

As an alternative, portable air conditioners typically cost a few hundred pounds rather than the thousands required for a fixed installation, making them a useful stopgap during periods of extreme heat.

However, portable units do have caveats, such as:

• Increased noise levels: Unlike a fixed split-system AC, where the compressor sits outside, a portable unit has most of the machinery inside the room. In a coworking space, the constant hum can be distracting.

• They need a window vent: Hot air has to be exhausted outside through a hose, which usually means sacrificing a window or using a window kit. In some buildings, this isn’t practical.

• Reduced energy efficiency: Portable units generally use more electricity to cool the same area than a properly installed split-system AC.

• They’re only effective for smaller areas: One unit might work well in a meeting room or a small coworking zone, but it won’t comfortably cool a large open-plan space.

• Taking up floor space: In a coworking environment, where every square metre counts, a bulky unit can be awkward to position.

When I spoke to Sarah Greene and Phil Fisk, the founders of Buro Coworking in Brockley last year, they shared how they initially rented an AC unit during heatwaves. Although a great short-term solution, Sarah explained how it would lead to higher running costs.

After realising it was getting difficult for members to work in hot conditions, and that they needed a permanent AC unit, Buro was given a small green grant from Lewisham Council to install one last year.

Now, the AC at Buro is viewed as a key selling point for the coworking space, especially in the summer. I’m loving all their Instagram marketing, where they mention having it!

The energy efficiency question

AC units do, however, have quite considerable environmental impacts, as they use a significant amount of electricity and contribute to emitting greenhouse gasses.

Yet, when more people purchase an AC unit for their homes, it contributes to the ‘urban heat island’ effect – the phenomenon where cities become noticeably warmer than the surrounding countryside, especially during the evening and at night. It’s a vicious cycle when we all feel we need AC to feel comfortable in the higher temperatures.

This makes a huge case for coworking because, as we know, coworking encourages the sharing of resources. Instead of everyone purchasing an AC unit, we can all share one in a workplace.

Another way to manage your AC’s energy efficiency is to only turn it on when necessary. Perhaps that’s when it reaches a certain temperature outside, or you have a large number of coworkers in your space.

If you’re having a quiet morning or day, turning on a fan as an alternative may suffice, although check with whoever is in that they’re happy with this, because they might have expected AC.

When I was travelling around Southeast Asia a couple of years ago, for example, I visited a coworking space called The Desk in Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos. The temperature there frequently exceeds 30 degrees (making AC a must in any workspace in those regions).

However, as there was only one other coworker in the space when I arrived, the workspace founder decided not to turn the AC on. It was so hot, but luckily when asked, he did switch it on which made a massive difference, especially for me being not acclimatised to such hot conditions.

For the coworking operator, it was about being smart with his energy usage.

So, how else can you keep your community cool?

Air conditioning might be a solution if you’re city based; whereas a coworking space in the UK countryside might have less of a need for one. If you’re running a rural workspace, temperatures may rarely exceed thirty degrees, and you might have more natural shade or other solutions that keep your community cool.

Still, we all like to be able to cool down when a heatwave arrives. Here are a few additional tips to manage your coworkers’ comfort over the summer:

• Having a freezer and/or the ability to make ice drinks. I’m currently writing this newsletter while sipping on an ice latte. It’s exactly what I need when it gets super hot, and I know other many others feel the same way. Giving coworkers the ability to make an iced drink is a great perk, which they’ll appreciate over the summer months.

• Improving the airflow. Sometimes heat feels worse because the air is stagnant. Opening windows early in the morning, using fans strategically, and creating cross-ventilation can make a surprising difference without the cost and environmental impact of AC.

• Offering shaded areas. Whether it’s awnings, umbrellas, pergolas, or simply planting more trees, shade can significantly reduce temperatures and make outdoor spaces usable, even on hot days.

• Rethinking the workspace layout. If certain areas of your building stay naturally cooler, consider creating flexible work zones during hot weather. Not everyone needs to sit at the same desk all year round.

Future-proofing your coworking space

As temperatures continue to rise, keeping your community cool is becoming less of a nice-to-have and more of an expectation.

The good news is that coworking is uniquely positioned to respond. Rather than every remote worker trying to cool their own home, coworking allows us to share resources, create comfortable environments, and provide a place where people can stay productive, even when the weather is working against us.

The coworking spaces that think proactively about comfort are likely to stand out, whether that’s because you invest in air conditioning, improve airflow, serve iced drinks, or make better use of outdoor spaces.

Because when the next heatwave arrives, your members will remember whether your space was somewhere they could actually work.

How is your coworking space preparing for the hotter summers? I’d love to hear what’s working for you.

Until next time,

Lucy

A glow up for The Inclusive Coworker

The Inclusive Coworker has had a little glow-up! While the People Make Coworking blog series has always had its own page, I’ve decided to segment some of my other content pieces on general coworking tips and insights from industry events.

Have a look round the new site, and let me me know what you think.

Check it out!

As marketing manager and general manager, Gerry helps shape one of the company’s largest locations, while maintaining a distinctly local identity. BLOCK first established itself in towns across England’s South West, but Bristol presented a completely different challenge, being a larger city with a different pace and a new kind of coworking community.

Before joining BLOCK, Gerry worked in teaching and events management, roles rooted in bringing people together. That people-first mindset now influences everything from BLOCK’s playful, personality-driven marketing to the way the team supports members professionally and personally.

As BLOCK expands into new cities, including Birmingham and Manchester, Gerry reflects on adapting coworking spaces to local cultures and why storytelling and community care matter more than selling desks.

1. What’s your experience in the coworking industry been like, and what drew you in?

Gerry: I’m completely new to the coworking industry and was drawn in by the job that BLOCK created. What’s great about BLOCK is that they hire people who bring value into the building itself. The job gets created around that person, rather than the other way around.

I’ve always been a people person. I used to be a teacher and worked as an awards manager, which are very people-focused roles. When I moved into events in the coworking industry, I went from looking after children to looking after adults. I was attracted to events and the community side of coworking because I love talking to people and chatting about work.

My role is very much about looking after people. From the job description and the BLOCK values, the role sounded like something I could lean into, shape, and bring alive. In a lot of companies, management teams can be in control of a lot of things, whereas at BLOCK, management lets you run with it, and you bring the ideas.

BLOCK had predominantly been in South West towns like Plymouth and Taunton, which are very different from Bristol (where I’m based). It’s a big city, a big building, and a completely different challenge.

Our Bristol team brings a completely new approach to coworking at BLOCK, because we’re a city mentality. That’s where you have to shape the team around the location, rather than the other way around. We all work and live here, and have been here for a long time. We love the city, so we bring the location background to BLOCK.

I love this balance, being general manager for the coworking community and office spaces, drawing on my event experience, and learning about the coworking industry. There’s still much more to learn.

2. BLOCK is expanding into larger regional cities. How much of its identity is shaped by being rooted in the South West?

Gerry: The expansion is really exciting. BLOCK has become very established in the South West; our founder, Ben, has always had the idea of moving forward and growing.

The Exeter site came first, as a test to see how BLOCK would work and establish itself. Then the second building at Royal William Yard in Plymouth just struck a chord with Ben. Next came Taunton. He intended to build the next premium office space brand in the South West, and he’s done it.

When I first started, we literally had one tenant on one of our floors. And then within that year, we were 100% full. We’ve since taken on another floor shaped around larger companies, with epic views of the city.

They’re all such different locations. Bristol is a big impact city, and the move here came with a whole range of different questions and challenges, but the team is amazing. Even though we’ve planted roots in the South West, BLOCK is ready to explode into other regions.

There’s such a nice synergy between our members helping us and us helping them. That’s what I love about this industry: it’s two-way, where members have a coworking membership or office space, but we’re growing with them, and they’re growing with us.

They might start with coworking before going into an office, and taking half a floor. It’s nice to get to know our members, see them grow, and they see us grow – we all support each other. I feel proud when somebody comes to me saying they’d like to expand. It’s great if we can cater to them.

This year, we received an exciting investment that will bring BLOCK to other regions, including opening new sites in Birmingham and Manchester. We’re very much a South West company, but our values don’t change, and we carry them to new sites. Ben is particularly good at helping everyone understand exactly what BLOCK is and what we represent. That isn’t going to change, even though we’re expanding into different regions. Our core values stay the same.

Our members use all of our buildings. If they’re based in Bristol, they can also enjoy all of the other buildings, even in Birmingham and Manchester. This works for our Bristol members because a few of them have clients in those cities, and it helps them when they’re booking a meeting room, for instance.

3. How do you balance maintaining brand identity with adapting to new city cultures?

Gerry: We hire people who already live in that city. That was really important when BLOCK came to Bristol, because the team and I knew all the restaurants where we could get our community discounts, the people we wanted to reach out to organise pop-up events or support the local community, and the charities to engage with.

We’ve had a few members who moved here weeks before coming to BLOCK, so we’ve not only helped them in a work sense, but also personally. So, if they’ve got family, they want to know where the best child-friendly restaurants are, or they’re looking for some sport to go to watch. It’s not always about work.

Our BLOCK buildings accommodate work-life balance. For example, we’ve got a beautiful yoga studio and gym in Bristol that our members can enjoy for free. We’re tapping into leisure, fitness, and wellbeing, as well as having a desk and community for people to engage with.

We’re also introducing them to people in the coworking space. BLOCK supports individuals who are new to Bristol, and companies from Europe and further afield.

Even though I’m a general manager in Bristol, I still talk to the general managers in Taunton, Plymouth, and Exeter. We’re so close as a team. I really noticed that when I first started. Ruby (who runs the building in Plymouth) gave our team a greater understanding of our roles.

With our expansion to Birmingham, it’s really nice to pass the baton on to their team. I’ve met the new general manager in Birmingham, and she’s going to be fantastic.

4. BLOCK puts out a lot of fun, personality-driven content. How intentional is that as part of your brand strategy?

Gerry: It’d be pretty boring if everybody had the same marketing strategy, so we like our marketing to be a bit more playful, a bit more out there.

Our creative director is amazing; he captures our spaces beautifully and brings a certain edge to them. Our videos are particularly strong and playful, but they’re powerful as well. It’s a team effort.

Our marketing team has grown massively. A marketing contact of mine advised me to tell the BLOCK story about what we represent as a brand. You can talk about selling offices and coworking, but it’s all the other bits that make it special and stand out.

That really resonated with me. The team and I focused on creating a series of posts that reflected the best bits about BLOCK — everything that makes you want to base yourself at one of our sites. It’s about the natural light coming through, or the yoga, gym, or community events. It’s about the charities that we’re supporting, or why we love the city.

I really wanted to focus on when you step into the building: how does it make you feel? It’s quite hard to create that through content, but people seem to enjoy it.

I had to go to jail for one of our recent campaigns. I was approached by Children’s Hospice South West (our charity of the year since September), and Amanda, who runs it, asked me if I’d like to go to prison for charity. So I told my team, and they agreed to bail me out.

I actually got physically arrested by the police in the cafe, which was quite an experience. People thought I really was getting arrested, which was quite funny!

It’s fun to be involved in things like that. Recently, we ran another event with the Children’s Hospice South West around wellbeing and fitness. All our members were running and cycling around the city for charity, and we had a breakfast.

Bristol is phenomenal because all of the events that I’ve been to have really supported us. Even our competitors are just lovely; we’ve been to a few of their spaces, and they’ve been here, and our spaces look incredibly different, but we all have similar approaches to how we want to support Bristol.

The local community are almost as important as our coworking community. People have taken over our spaces for various fundraising events, raffles, or just bringing people together. For instance, we work with Wild Coworking – a coworking community that brings women together in spaces across Bristol.

Everybody that I’ve met in this industry has been so nice, welcoming, and friendly. After going to events, like GCUC UK last year, I came away thinking this is definitely an industry I want to dive into more.

When I’m pulling my stats for a marketing report, I find it fascinating to see a shift in who’s visiting us from different regions across the UK. We had a few people visit us from Northern Ireland the other day.

Everybody wants to keep moving – our tagline is: Rework your work. What Ben has created is really a case of reworking your work. The way the team approaches work-life balance and how everybody is so passionate about BLOCK and the industry helps when you’re trying to make every building a success. Even though I work in Bristol, I want Taunton and Plymouth to be successful.

It’s a very inspiring environment to work in, and we’re all such a mixture. We all get on so well, but we bring completely different experiences, backgrounds, industries, ages, and locations to our roles. There are always exciting things to talk about, and we might go in one direction, and then we’ll suddenly change gear and go in a completely different direction.

I feel honoured to work for BLOCK. The company really values us as individuals. That shows, and it has a domino effect on our members. We care about everybody here, and we want everyone to be happy.

5. Where do you think coworking is heading over the next 3–5 years, and how is BLOCK preparing for these shifts?

Gerry: I’m in two minds about this. In terms of coworking specifically, and with everything that’s going on in the world, there are challenges with taking on new office space due to budget shifts.

In Bristol specifically, we’ve seen an increase in coworking numbers, because it’s a city with lots of people, and more people want to expand rather than shrink. What’s great about BLOCK is that we’re flexible. Whatever happens in the industry in the next three to five years, we support it.

So, if people are struggling, we come up with a plan that works for them. If they want to expand, we can hopefully expand into the buildings and help them take on more space. If they want to do month-to-month, we offer that too.

But it differs in every location. People have different needs in Plymouth and Taunton, and these towns have smaller communities with values that differ from those in Bristol.

In Taunton, the community want to chat to each other more, and support local companies over big corporates. We need to bring more workshops and creativity to the space. Each General Manager recognises what their members like and organises amazing events based on their community, testing new themes each month and sharing things that work.

We’ve got two terraces at our Bristol space, and I had an idea to make them into community gardens and put more plants out there. I spoke to one of our green-fingered members, and she was interested in getting involved, and encouraged me to ask the companies in the building to have a stand and a bed each that could be their garden to do what they want with it.

This building feels like my second home. I want to make it nice for people, and for them to work here and be proud of their space. We encourage opportunities for members to use our in-house gym and yoga studio. Recently, we had a local supplier run a complimentary cocktail pop-up, and people enjoyed a cocktail out on the terrace in the sunshine.

Lots of people have reached out to our Business Development Manager and used Cariad’s huge network of contacts to offer member discounts across the city, in restaurants and hotels, padel and cricket. They love it.

Being marketing and general manager is such a nice mix. It can be intense to have both of those roles running alongside each other. But I’d never give one of them up for the other because I’m such a people person.

I want to be able to chat with people in the morning, have a laugh with them, and celebrate them. I absolutely love our community and that everybody wants to talk to each other. It’s very Bristol.

About People Make Coworking

Celebrating the people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement, People Make Coworking interviews coworking space founders and community builders who share their journeys of bringing people together.

Edition #29 of People Make Coworking interviews Gerry Villiers, marketing manager and general manager at BLOCK in Bristol – a premium flexible workspace originating in the South West.

Read more coworking stories.

We expected a small turnout, especially because we didn’t market the event much. Instead, over 20 London-based freelancers showed up to meet like-minded people and access a shared workspace.

That day, energy filled the room. That’s when it became clear to me that something like this was needed. So, I launched it as an event series that lasted about 18 months.

It was a way for me to build a freelance community. For the workspace, the events demonstrated clear social value: activating the community, creating learning opportunities, providing access to a professional workspace, and creating meaningful connections between people who might not otherwise have met.

Sometimes, the term ‘social value’ can seem a little abstract, despite it being absolutely central to the coworking offering. This came up at last month’s Unreasonable Connection Live! event as we explored how much time operators should spend on social value activities.

But what does social value really mean for coworking spaces, and how can we measure it? Let’s explore this further.

What’s social value?

In a nutshell, social value is the benefits for people, communities, and their local ecosystem beyond just generating profit.

Community breakfasts, networking events, learning opportunities, and informal support systems have long been part of what makes coworking spaces valuable beyond simply providing workspace.

But a few years ago, social value became a major talking point in coworking, with LinkedIn posts celebrating impact initiatives and industry panels exploring how workspaces demonstrate impact. A growing number of spaces pursued B Corp certification and published public-facing social impact reports.

Lately, however, the discussion around this topic has been a little quieter. This was recognised when, at Unreasonable Connection Live! a few weeks ago, it was asked: Do people still care about B Corp? And how can we protect our bottom line and bandwidth when measuring it?

To B Corp or not to B Corp

B Corp certification is one of the most widely recognised ways coworking spaces demonstrate their commitment to social value. Awarded to companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, the small ‘B’ logo is often proudly displayed across workspace websites as a form of social proof.

Completing the B Impact Assessment (BIA) and scoring at least 80 out of 200 points is a core requirement, which is then verified over a call with B Corp. The assessment measures performance across five areas:

• Governance (ethics, transparency, accountability)

• Workers (pay, benefits, wellbeing, culture)

• Community (local impact, hiring, supplier relationships, civic engagement)

• Environment (energy use, waste, sustainability)

• Customers (how your product/service benefits users)

Hub Australia was the country’s first coworking operator and one of the earliest adopters of B Corp, achieving accreditation in 2013. Maintaining this status for 13 years now, its incredible social impact initiatives have included:

• Making every single location carbon neutral since 2020

• Launching a Reconciliation Action Plan, pledging to build meaningful relationships with indigenous-led businesses and communities.

When I spoke to COO John Preece last year, he explained the positive impact of B Corp accreditation on the business:

“[It] provides a really good framework for operating an impact-driven business, and holds you to high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability…that’s something we’ve maintained year on year since 2013.”

The cost of certification

Return on investment is proven, as B Corp certification attracts new members and talent to workspaces. However, the cost of achieving B Corp status can be a barrier for some independent coworking spaces.

If your business revenue is between 0-£149,999, for example, entry pricing includes a one-off submission and verification fee of £560, and an annual certification fee of £1,000. That’s at least a grand every single year to maintain BCorp certification, and more if your annual revenue is higher.

Coworking businesses are currently being squeezed by extortionate overheads and uncertain business rates. So, the cost of going after and renewing B Corp certification might not seem worth it.

The other challenge is time. Application processes for B Corp status are rigorous, requiring annual renewal. For operators doing it all, this could be stretching your bandwidth quite considerably, and you might question whether members truly see it as a differentiator.

However, for a larger workspace brand with multiple sites, the Hub Australia example shows how going after B Corp status makes more sense for your business, leading to positive ROI. You might also hire someone who is specifically focussed on your social impact activities, and who’ll take ownership of accreditation renewals.

B Corp certification may also help secure partnerships with landlords. It demonstrates that you deliver on initiatives, especially environmental-related outcomes that are necessary to future-proof buildings today.

Measuring social value

Much of what happens in a coworking space is relational and long-term, such as confidence built through conversations, collaborations formed over coffee, or opportunities created through informal introductions.

These outcomes can be visible, although not always immediate, but are difficult to quantify neatly in a spreadsheet or annual report. This may explain why some coworking operators feel conflicted about measuring social value.

At last month’s event, we were introduced to a useful toolkit: the Social Value TOM System – the UK standard for measuring social value. It covers six principles:

• Themes, outcomes, and measures: community, work, economy, and planet.

• No double-counting: organisations sometimes accidentally report against the same target twice, which should be avoided when measuring social value.

• Attribution: social value ought to be attributed to something (ie, contract, division, business).

• Relevance: to the core activity or contract.

• Additionality: social value should be achieved in addition to business as usual or legal requirements.

• Transparency: essential to social value reporting.

The Social Value TOM System framework helps organisations think more intentionally about impact, accountability, and outcomes.

But while measurement can provide structure and credibility, it can also risk reducing deeply human community outcomes into metrics alone, which is another aspect of going after accreditations that might be holding operators back.

Does social value still matter?

The bigger question is whether every act of social value needs to be formally measured, accredited, or turned into a report in order to count.

B Corp certification undoubtedly provides a useful framework. For some operators, it creates accountability, strengthens operations, attracts members, and demonstrates impact externally. But for smaller, more independent spaces, the time, cost, and operational bandwidth required can feel difficult to justify.

And yet, social value still exists in those spaces. You might be hosting regular member workshops or events for upskilling opportunities – that’s social value. Or maybe you open up your space for use by a wider community – that’s also social value.

Social value exists in the freelancer who meets a future collaborator at a community breakfast. Or in the founder who gains confidence through a workshop. In the local resident who accesses a professional workspace for the first time, and in the relationships, opportunities, and support systems that coworking spaces facilitate every day.

Perhaps the real challenge facing the coworking industry is how we can recognise everyone’s contributions to social value, without reducing it to a badge alone.

What are your thoughts around this topic – have you gone after BCorp status in the past, only to not renew it later? I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time,

Lucy

In fact, it was a topic I picked up on while attending Unreasonable Connection Live! last week at Space4 in Finsbury Park.

We started discussing how some workspaces are striving for BCorp accreditation or similar to demonstrate their social impact. But the conversation turned into who is responsible for delivering it day to day, and what can community managers do.

One of the themes that kept coming up wasn’t just social value in theory, but something much more operational around bandwidth.

Reflecting on the conversations that took place last week led me to think about a set of questions that sit underneath this:

• Should you have an individual who builds community in your coworking space?

• Or can you do it yourself (as an operator) and rely on your community to self-organise?

• And is there a right time to hire a community manager?

That’s what I’m going to dive into today.

What we mean by “community manager”

I don’t necessarily want to start this newsletter by describing what a community manager is. I’m assuming you already know their important role in coworking operations, of building a sense of community.

However, it’s interesting to note that the community manager, as a defined role, is relatively unique to coworking.

In many other industries, elements of the job exist across hospitality, workplace experience, and office management, but coworking has arguably been one of the few sectors to formalise it into a standalone role with its own expectations, salary band, and responsibility for shaping the day-to-day member experience.

Community management exists in many different forms. I’ve joined coworking spaces where the community manager is completely embedded in the community. They float around the space, speaking to everyone, helping to set up events, and going above and beyond as a constant presence in the workspace.

I’ve also joined a coworking space where I have no idea who the community manager is. Possibly, they’re hiding in a back office somewhere, only popping out to take tours (although this is very rare in coworking).

There are also many coworking owner/operators who, along with running every operational aspect in their spaces, are also the community managers.

And, in the first workspace I joined in Edinburgh, the coworking space didn’t actually have a community manager but a community assistant/receptionist, who manned the front desk, greeted people as they walked in, and took enquiries.

The zero-hour contract dilemma

A few months after I joined that workspace, the community assistant left, and a temp agency was used until the workspace found someone more suitable to replace her permanently.

For a time, we were greeted by a different person every day. That made it difficult to connect with them and other community members who joined the workspace during that period.

Last week, I thought about this scenario when a coworking operator brought the following question to the table: could a community manager role be structured as a zero-hour contract?

He’d just spoken to another manager in the room, who is part of a more hospitality-led coworking concept where they hire community managers on zero-hour contracts.

While it’s cheaper to do this, and cost certainly comes into the equation as many coworking spaces face skyrocketing business rates and other eye-watering overheads, zero-hour contracts come with a great deal of nuance beyond finances.

I’ve worked in several retail and hospitality roles on zero-hour contracts. These positions were ideal when I was between studies or looking for more permanent roles. That’s a common situation for someone who signs up for zero-hour roles: they’re more transient.

Like the workspace using a temping agency, you can’t really expect someone to come into a workspace every few days and remember everyone’s name and what they do for work.

Even more, unless you hire through a coworking specialist agency (which I’m not sure many, if any, exist), your zero-hour community managers might not truly understand what coworking is all about.

In this industry, community management is a very delicate role that requires deep knowledge of your space and members, along with a personable nature that fits well with the level of service expected in coworking.

It also relies on continuity. Community management is built through repetition and seeing the same person, and building trust over time. When that continuity is fragmented, it becomes much harder for those relationships to form.

What good community management looks like

A community manager should be more embedded in your business because they literally make the member experience. They often do the tours, send contracts, and create unforgettable member experiences every single day.

At the last workspace I joined, the community manager was an essential part of everyday life. She’d ask us how our day was, encourage us to join and organise events that would benefit our personal development, and was very active in after-work events.

She also sat with us in the space, or at least at one of the workstations with another coworker. There wasn’t a front desk, which, although it’s a traditional welcome point in public spaces, can be a source of friction.

In Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality, he explains that when there’s a physical object between a customer (or member) and the team member, it can restrict connection. Remove that barrier, and the experience instantly feels more personal.

The last workspace I joined was one of several coworking spaces under a coworking brand. It meant that the founder was never present in the space or took on the community manager role himself; he was focussed on scaling the coworking brand.

This is when hiring a community manager for your space makes sense. You can offload tasks, such as splitting the physical presence in the space, managing members, doing tours, and sending communications, including sales emails and newsletters.

Community management burnout

A community manager can really help you run your space, but there’s a risk when the role becomes too broad. In some spaces, it expands to cover marketing, events, reception, member support, and general “keeping everything together,” all while maintaining a constant physical presence in the workspace.

That combination is exactly what makes it so demanding. Burnout in community management often doesn’t come from one big issue, but from the accumulation of constant context switching.

Community managers are expected to be on all the time: available to members, reactive to problems, and proactive in shaping the community experience, often without much separation between operational and emotional labour.

It’s quite ironic, given that coworking literally supports the hybrid and remote work lifestyles many people have stepped into, that community managers are expected to be in the same space every single day.

I’m not entirely sure what the alternative is, but it’s something to consider. For instance, at the last workspace I joined, the community manager lived right around the corner, making physical presence a good fit.

Community management is also a role where success is hard to quantify. When things are going well, it can look invisible. But when something goes wrong, it’s immediately felt by members.

And it’s not just burnout that leads to turnover. Community managers often leave when there’s no clear progression path, either within the space or beyond it.

In smaller independent coworking spaces, that can be especially difficult, because there may not be another role for them to grow into. That can create a knock-on effect for operators too. If you’ve been through that cycle before, you may be hesitant to hire again.

Equally, community is often something very personal. Handing that over to someone else can feel like losing a direct connection to members, even if operationally it makes complete sense.

But when it works well, a community manager creates space for operators to step back from day-to-day delivery and focus on growth, while still ensuring the member experience is actively held.

When community becomes infrastructure

The conversation around community managers is less about job titles and more about how coworking spaces function day to day.

Community is often talked about as something that naturally emerges in coworking spaces. But in reality, it usually relies on quite intentional design, and someone consistently holding it together day to day.

Perhaps that’s been you since the day you opened the doors. That’s an impressive undertaking.

But maybe, you’re starting to think about whether now is the right time to take someone else on, and focus on something else, without disrupting your community.

What have your experiences been with community managers? I’d love to know!

Until next time,

Lucy

See you at the Coworking Alliance Summit next week!

I’m conscious that many of the coworking events I share tend to be London-based, so I’m really pleased to say that the Coworking Alliance Summit is happening online on Wednesday 3rd June.

Organised by coworking leaders Ashley, Hector, and Bernie, the Summit brings together coworking alliances, community leaders, collaborative organisations, and industry professionals from around the world.

I’ve attended in previous years and always come away full of ideas and inspiration. I can’t wait to attend, and hope to see you if you’re going too.

Grab your ticket now. If the cost of a ticket is holding you back, please reach out, and I’ll see what I can do.

While encountering complexities that made securing office space difficult, Michael recognised a gap in the market. He set up Launchpad (the country’s first coworking space) in the capital city of Luanda in 2015. But what followed was far from straightforward.

The workspace opened just as Angola’s economy entered a severe downturn, and Michael was forced to rethink almost everything about the business. That was until a chance visit from a prospective member changed its trajectory, giving Launchpad the footing it needed to survive.

Five years after Michael started Launchpad, he founded a second coworking space – Green Room JBay – in South Africa. While Green Room reflects Michael’s connection to the coast and a community’s love of surfing, Launchpad serves as an urban hub, connecting startups, multinational companies, and local talent.

A few months after Michael shared his story of starting Green Room JBay, he reflects on how launching his first coworking space in Luanda became an unexpected engine for connection and opportunity for businesses in Angola’s capital.

1. What inspired you to start Launchpad Angola, and what was the original vision?

Michael: I first came to Angola in 2007 as a tourist when, with a couple of friends, we drove from Cape Town to London in an old Land Cruiser on a surf trip. Of all the countries that I saw, Angola was the one that really stood out to me, and I wanted to go back.

When we arrived in London, I miraculously managed to find a job at a British company looking to expand into Angola. At the time, Angola had been out of the Civil War (1975 - 2002) for just a few years. No one else was really interested in going there, so I happily put my hand up.

Starting a company in Angola came with many challenges. One of the main challenges was registering a company, as you needed a physical premises. I started looking for office space, but quality was extremely variable; everywhere required long lease terms, was hugely expensive, with big upfront payments.

The leases were in Portuguese, with a different legal and accounting system from what I was used to. I needed a more flexible solution with a simplified contracting process.

I’d worked in coworking spaces in other countries, so I knew that the coworking concept existed. I began searching for a flexible office here in Angola to solve my problem, but I couldn’t find one. That’s how the idea first sparked.

I knew other people were going through the same process, with the same challenges, and wanted to chat with them to compare notes beyond just solving the premises problem.

I wished there was a place in Luanda where people launching projects could meet and exchange notes and experiences. I thought that would make everything a lot easier. That was the vision of Launchpad: to create a space that makes it easier for projects to come to life in Angola.

At the time, property was extremely expensive. Luanda was at the top of the “most expensive cities in the world” list for several years. But I managed to pitch the idea, first to the advisor I’d been working with, then to a developer who had a new building with an available floor. They both believed in the idea and joined the business as co-investors. That’s how the Launchpad started.

2. What’s the experience of launching the very first coworking space in Angola been like?

Michael: I’ll confess I really blundered through this, and did everything you shouldn’t do when starting a new project in a new country for the first time.

The first mistake we made was underestimating the volatility of an emerging economy. Angola is one of the biggest oil producers in Sub-Saharan Africa (the economy was 95% oil at the time). While oil was booming when we came up with the idea, as we opened the coworking space doors, the oil price fell from $130/barrel…to $30/barrel.

Almost overnight, it became impossible to exchange the local currency, and commerce ground to a halt. Companies closed their doors, people left town, the traffic jams disappeared, and new projects dried up. Demand was suddenly a fraction of what we’d anticipated.

The second mistake was naively applying a concept from another country and expecting it to work. I’d been inspired by a coworking space I’d previously been a member of in Cape Town, and used it as a template in designing the space, with open workspaces and generous common areas.

After opening, a few people came to tour the space, but the feedback was always the same: “We love the bright airy office, fresh design, and beautiful views… but the work we do is very confidential, we can’t work in an open space”. I soon realised that one of the legacies of the long civil war was strong sensitivity around privacy, and we had built a space with no private offices.

After six months, and without a single desk occupied, we decided to mothball the project. I got on a plane and flew back to Cape Town to reassess my life. But when I touched down, I opened my phone to a message from my business partner: Whilst I was in the air, he’d opened the space for someone to visit. They wanted to rent one of the meeting rooms as an office.

We agreed to turn a meeting room into an office and restart the project. A couple of weeks later, I was back in Luanda. This newfound cash flow gave us a bit of breathing room on our pricing. We could start to be more flexible and consider exchanges – this made all the difference.

3. How did you scale up from one client to becoming fully occupied?

Michael: When we first opened, the Angolan tech startup community was very nascent. Founders were usually Angolans who had studied or worked abroad before returning to Angola to make a difference. They were often already familiar with coworking spaces, but as startup founders, they were all bootstrapping and couldn’t justify paying our original list prices.

They were smart and ambitious folk with a very positive mindset about the country – exactly the type of person you want in your work environment! We started doing exchanges with founders who were working on interesting projects to get them into the space. It wasn’t long until bigger companies started noticing this startup ecosystem and reaching out to us.

Meanwhile, the economic crisis stemming from the oil price had another side effect: many service-providers who maintained office buildings in Luanda left town, as did professional estate agents and any potential competition.

Microsoft was one of the first major companies contacting us. They were working in a beautiful building in Luanda that was suddenly no longer being maintained, and needed to move; they also wanted to be close to our startup ecosystem. We got talking, and eventually managed to close a deal to host the Microsoft Angola office in the same building as the coworking space. That was our first expansion.

With a bit more cash flow coming in, we were also able to start expanding our coworking space. Of course, the first thing we built was private offices.

We’re 12 years old now, and the space is 100% full, even the open spaces! We’ve got a long waiting list. Meanwhile, the coworking concept has taken off in Luanda – there are now several coworking spaces in town.

4. Does the unique cultural and economic landscape of Luanda shape the daily dynamics inside your coworking space?

Michael: When we first conceptualised the project 14 years ago, Luanda was a chaotic place to do business. Fresh out of the Civil War, it was difficult to find information, even online. There was a high variability in education and services, nothing was very well organised, and data was often conflicting (even from supposedly reliable sources).

In this environment, I think the most noticeable dynamic was that our members became a bridge of trust and information.

When you start filling a coworking space with people who see each other every day, and you host community events, members start to understand what everyone else does, and they slowly build trust. Once you have trust, everything is possible.

I saw a huge amount of member collaboration. Members were constantly being invited to other members’ meetings, and many problems were solved in this way. Our members’ WhatsApp group was often just people looking for basic things or services. Coming from this trusted network, it made all the difference.

The second noticeable dynamic is the omnipresent hunger to learn and grow. You see it everywhere in Luanda, but it’s especially present in our team and our members – it’s refreshing to work with, and inspires us to curate good-quality sharing and learning experiences in the space. Members really appreciate our Thursday afternoon speaker sessions!

Finally, we serve unique snacks in the space. Angolan street food is usually cassava-based treats prepared in various ways, grilled plantain, and occasionally my personal favourite, kitaba — a spicy snack made from peanuts and the local chilli peppers, which are delicious.

5. How is Launchpad Angola promoting inclusivity and supporting the local entrepreneurial ecosystem?

Michael: When we opened 12 years ago, Luanda didn’t have reliable power, water, or internet. An office with a presentable meeting room was prohibitively expensive for most. In the beginning, simply providing basic work infrastructure at an accessible price made a huge difference to our entrepreneur members.

Over time, it became apparent that we had a diverse mix of members: small startups and big multinationals, local Angolans and foreign expatriates — people across the full socio-economic spectrum, all under the same roof.

Angolan entrepreneurs gained exposure to international organisations, leading to interesting opportunities. For example, after a French development agency moved into our offices, they began to understand the local startup ecosystem and launched a programme around it. Several of our members even travelled to France for events.

Expats who join our space connect with a community of local Angolans. Their experience of the country is much richer for it; they’ve been able to join local sports clubs, learn about cultural events, find interesting places to visit for weekend adventures and discover local restaurants.

A few international companies have even recruited employees within the space, which is great for both the companies and our members and staff who receive these opportunities.

6. Have any other businesses evolved out of Launchpad Angola since it started as a coworking space?

Michael: Expats starting projects in Angola would come to the coworking space initially looking for flexible premises. Once here, they’d share other problems they were having while setting up their companies. Through our own experience of starting companies in Angola, we’d often help them solve these challenges.

That’s how our services division started. It’s actually bigger than our coworking business now. Our main customers are foreign-led projects in the first 1-2 years of operation. We provide advisory services around incorporating new businesses in Angola, concierge services, labour/recruitment solutions, translation and procurement.

The coworking space and service division work very well together. Many of our services clients find us by first encountering the coworking space. Then, we often find ourselves calling on our local Angolan members to help fulfil requests from our service clients.

The concierge service is my personal favourite to work on. If someone from abroad tells us what they’re looking to start or accomplish in the country, we’ll arrange everything to make this happen – picking them up at the airport, setting them up with meetings at all levels, arranging research and tours, and whatever else they need. We’ve had all sorts of weird and wonderful requests over the years; there’s never a dull moment.

It all takes us back to the original reason why we started the Launchpad: to make it easier to bring projects to life in Angola.

About People Make Coworking

Celebrating the people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement, People Make Coworking interviews coworking space founders and community builders who share their journeys of bringing people together.

Edition #28 of People Make Coworking interviews Michael Sternberg, co-founder of Launchpad coworking space in Luanda, Angola.

Read more coworking stories.

I’ve been stretched with client work and other personal situations, and I haven’t spent much time at my desk. This also meant I didn’t get a chance to celebrate European Coworking Day yesterday (6th May); however, I’ve absolutely loved seeing all the updates from the coworking spaces in my network – keep them coming!

Despite the busyness of this week, I did attend a thought-provoking panel breakfast event on why members stay in flexible workspaces, hosted by technologywithin and NORNORM at Uncommon Holborn on Tuesday.

After reflecting on the panel discussion takeaways, I realised that some of the insights were too important not to share with you…

Member retention is perhaps the most essential aspect of running a coworking space. But why members stay — or leave — can be due to a combination of factors, some that keep cropping up, others that are unique for each member.

Landing on what impacts member retention can really help operators focus on the right things when running a workspace.

Tuesday’s panellists, whose job titles ranged from managing directors to heads of sales at some of the big flex players, including JLL, Huckletree, and x+why, shared various anecdotes from their own experiences.

As ever, these insights made me reflect on my coworking experiences. So, let’s get into it.

Why do people leave coworking spaces?

No matter how much work you put into delivering the best possible member experience, people terminate their coworking membership for a variety of reasons that may be beyond your control. These range from financial challenges to simply outgrowing a workspace.

If one of your members grows their business beyond the scale of your workspace, see this as a positive reason for their departure. It shows that your workspace did its bit in supporting an entrepreneur and/or business.

But if a member needs more space, and if you have your own growth plans, then perhaps forming a partnership can help retain that member and grow your coworking business.

This is exactly what happened at Mantle Space. When I spoke to CEO Guy Baker, he shared how one of their members only started with four desks the month the workspace launched. Soon after, the company needed two rooms and then upgraded to an entire floor.

Mantle Space even converted a 3,500 square feet office, which their member occupied for six years, before having a 9,000 square feet purpose-built office that the company have recently signed for a new 10-year lease.

One of Guy’s secrets to retaining coworking members was around engagement. Even though he’s the CEO, he wouldn’t hesitate to pick up the phone to a loyal member, and prides his team on their active engagement with members.

This was also discussed at the event. You can get ahead of your members’ growth plans by asking them regularly how their business is doing. That way, you can forecast whether they’ll likely stay, leave, or need something that requires more investment, such as a purpose-built office or floor.

Members may also leave when small frustrations build up over time. Often these issues are fixable, such as an unreliable internet connection. Catching issues early makes all the difference.

The last workspace I was a member of was an open-plan space. Everyone needed to respect one another during phone conversations; however, one particular member took multiple phone calls throughout the day and was extremely loud.

Eventually, we vocalised our frustrations to the community manager. She took the feedback on board, quietly taking said member aside to speak about the issue, which he received well, and we didn’t have many problems after that.

Of course, the reason this issue cropped up in the first place was that the space didn’t have any private areas, such as phone booths, for taking calls. Identifying issues early on can avoid friction points. In this case, that would involve purchasing a few phone booths for the space early on.

The essential role of community managers

In the example I just shared, the situation was handled really well, mainly due to our relationships with the community manager. We felt comfortable enough to share our frustrations with her; equally, the member causing the issue received feedback well. Essentially, no one left the space.

The event also highlighted the essential role of community managers in maintaining member satisfaction. It’s often the people closest to your members who truly understand what’s going on in the space. Community managers are typically in the workspace every day — they’re the ones nurturing and building relationships.

Meanwhile, general managers, operators, and owners might maintain a distance between members (although I’ve spoken to many operators/owners who are extremely close to their members).

One recommendation included: establishing an open-door policy to encourage members to come and talk about anything they need. Having regular check-ins with members helps the team learn what’s working and what needs improving in the space.

Community managers are usually on the ground, but in some cases, they also operate as receptionists and are therefore tied to a front desk. This means they can’t be as personable with members or see everything going on.

Although the recommendation was to have both a community manager on the ground and a host at reception, sitting behind a front desk can actually create a physical barrier between a team member and a customer, which isn’t the most welcoming first impression.

It’s something that Will Guidara wrote about in his bestselling book, Unreasonable Hospitality – the idea that these interactions come across as transactional.

When you ditch the front desk, podium, or the physical barrier between your team member and community member, you can provide a more personal and welcoming experience.

Remember: that’s the welcome your customers receive every time they walk into your space.

Does cost matter?

Workspace design impacts member experience, but when the audience was asked what they felt was the most important factor influencing member experience, the answers were split between two factors that arguably matter more: team and price.

In terms of price point, managers are sometimes in danger of prioritising new leads over retaining existing members. They create exceptional introductory offers while neglecting members who’d been part of the space for years.

It made me think back to the same coworking space I joined, where, only a year and a half into my membership, we were informed of a membership price increase in the coming months. This news wasn’t received well, and some of our group started looking for a new workspace.

The problem was that there was nothing to justify that pricing. It wasn’t a significant amount (something like £25 extra per month), but we didn’t feel like we were getting any additional value from the space, which was actually due to relocate up the road, to somewhere less desirable, in a building that wasn’t being managed in the same way. The space was becoming less premium, yet we were expected to pay more.

The coworking space also continued to offer incredible discounts to new members, including a free trial day and a ‘5 for £5’ offer, inviting non-members to work from the space for five consecutive days for only £5.

Although it was sold as an introductory offer, it cheapened the space. People would come and go, trialling it without sticking around. Transient ‘clients’ can be challenging, but it’s because of freebies and low-cost offers that don’t convert them into longer-term members.

At the event, it was discussed that the same discounts for new leads could be applied to existing members, but why offer a discount in the first place? If you know your pricing and you understand what members are prepared to pay, stick with that and increase pricing for new members as your overheads rise.

That way, you hopefully won’t run out of money and make panicky decisions, causing members to leave en masse.

What makes a coworking member stay — or leave

Ultimately, the panel reinforced something I’ve believed about coworking for a long time: members rarely stay because of one headline feature, such as internet connectivity or workspace design. It’s because of how a space makes them feel over time.

Members stay in spaces where they feel listened to, looked after, and understood. They stay where problems are addressed early, where teams notice when something feels “off”, and where operators build genuine relationships instead of transactional ones.

Perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway from this week’s discussion. Retention isn’t really about convincing people not to leave, but about consistently giving them reasons to stay.

The operators who do this best aren’t necessarily the ones with the fanciest fit-outs or the biggest discounts. They’re the ones who keep talking to their members, adapting as their needs evolve, and understanding that community experience is shaped in hundreds of small interactions every single day.

Until next time,

Lucy

Following a 20-year career in commercial property as a Director at JLL, Zoe worked across the hotel, retail, industrial, and logistics sectors before launching Spaces to Places in 2019 to support flex operators and landlords with research, placemaking, and marketing services. At its core, Spaces to Places is about defining what a place actually is and making flexible working work better for everybody.

Building on that mission, Zoe launched a new venture earlier this year: Office Tier List — after identifying a lack of clarity and end-user focus in the coworking market. Office Tier List brings greater transparency to the flexible workspace sector, helping end users understand and compare different workspaces.

In this conversation, Zoe shares what people are actually looking for in their workspaces and how truly understanding end-user needs, rather than just second-guessing them, is the greatest flex of all for coworking operators.

1. What first pulled you into the flexible workspace industry?

Zoe: What first pulled me in was a few different projects I was working on. I left JLL after a 20-year career in commercial property, working across all sectors: hotels, retail, industrial, and logistics. Lots of different things were happening, and having my son suddenly changed my perspective. I wanted to have some work-life balance and work closer to home.

The flex office sector was really changing the market; it was becoming more consumer-oriented and appealing. Having worked in hotels and retail, the office industry matched my skill set, and I started picking up contracts with large corporations. It was grassroots; that’s how Spaces to Places started.

Originally, Spaces to Places was going to focus on all property sectors, before I narrowed it down to the Build To Rent (BTR) and coworking industries. Everybody says the flex sector just draws you in; it’s fascinating. You start looking at the sector and understand the dynamics more and more.

My experience has always been place-making. That’s why my company is called Spaces to Places; I see spaces as empty and soulless in some ways. But a place has people, purpose, and meaning. It’s the difference between a house and a home. That’s where the big difference lies.

2. What problem were you seeing in the flex industry that made launching the Office Tier List feel necessary?

Zoe: In the commercial property industry, there’s a lot of ‘hope marketing’ (where time and money are invested in random marketing tactics in the hope that they bring in customers, with no underlying understanding of the location and demand drivers, and not enough focus on end-users).

I was constantly telling people you can’t just do ‘hope marketing,’ you need to understand your target market: who they are and their location. That’s coming from a much more end-user-centric perspective, and it’s exactly what we’re doing with the Office Tier List. We’re flipping it on its head.

Sometimes, I feel like the industry has been set up more for the property industry, not for end users. We’ve done quite a lot of research reports, including four last year, the last one being the ‘Voice of the Customer,’ which opened my mind up to the fact that we’re doing end users such a disservice.

There are so many wonderful workspaces, some are more industrial, others are more corporate — but there’s a flavour for everyone. Office Tier List is a matchmaking service connecting people with the right workspace for them.

We’re still using the same intelligence and know-how with Spaces to Places that we use with our clients’ workspace brands. But with Office Tier List, we’re targeting a different audience: end users.

Tier lists came from the gaming industry. You can decide who’s the fastest character or the strongest character. You can then put them in different tiers and decide which players you want when you’re gaming. Loads of people use tier lists, for example, children, to ascertain which is their favourite chocolate bar.

The whole purpose of Office Tier List is to celebrate the diversity of the market and help end users find great workspaces. We want everyone to be able to find the right workspace and understand the industry better.

3. What are some of the key metrics or signals you look at when assessing a workspace?

Zoe: It comes back to what the end user wants from their workspace. They need to know their needs, whether they’re looking for other businesses and energy, community and support, or access to training programmes.

Some businesses want greater productivity; they’re looking for head-down space and time efficiency, but in other cases, they’re looking at CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) factors.

We do a lot of work with brands. If you want productivity and control, and to access workplaces between regions, then maybe Regus is the place for you. Or maybe it’s WeWork — if you’re looking for a busy place. For fun and enjoyment, try Runway East. Meanwhile, Spacemade has a fashion and health business cluster, and Techspace is a tech-focused space, where you’ll meet other ambitious businesses in that sector.

To understand workspaces better, the easiest way to think about them is with a four-stage model:

You look at physical properties first: the building and location. That’s the key one, because you’re always going to want to work out the location. But what type of location – is it city centre or out of town? They all have different nuances.

Then you look at the intangibles of the service element, such as the people, processes and placemaking. That’s always our second level.

The third level is much more about your perception – is the price high or low, compared to what value it’s offering you? Pricing is always subjective because it comes down to customer value.

The final one is analysing workplace performance – is it constantly evolving? Are they looking after their assets? Who are their property partners? Who are they working with? Sometimes we see brand-new, shiny office buildings come up, but after five years, some still look brand-new, while others look tired.

Our ‘Voice of the Customer’ report uncovered that people and businesses are searching for Wi-Fi and meeting rooms. While we might assume they’re looking for gyms and other amenities, it turns out most people are thinking about the basics.

The other thing people are searching for is whether a workspace is furnished. That’s where the end customer doesn’t realise some of that is a given in coworking, although there are spaces where you take an empty shell.

Partly, that’s because they don’t understand this industry. We’re all constantly trying to educate, but it’s not always landing. That’s when we find people asking what’s included in the cost of coworking. We tend to overthink things in this industry, so we’ve got to go back to the basics.

Once people get into this sector and understand it, they’re blown away by these places. We want to get people to spend more than a day or a week, to really ingrain themselves in a community, and see what it means.

Overall, we make too many assumptions about what people want. That’s what the ‘Voice of the Customer’ research really showed us. Most people have worked in an office and have expectations, but as operators, we don’t do the research to find out what those expectations are; we think we know already.

Recently, I went to a student accommodation conference. That sector spends a lot of time understanding their end customers, like what students want in their accommodation, and their expectations. They’ve got phenomenal data and didn’t assume anything.

4. How do you factor in the human side of a workspace: community, belonging, or day-to-day experience?

Zoe: It depends on the end user. Neighbourhood workspaces are for people looking for a sense of belonging, especially the sole entrepreneur, who we’ve seen a rise in recently.

But the only thing about community is it’s two-sided, and you have to work at it. I see some amazing places, but you need the right culture to keep on inviting people, even if they say no.

Our research revealed that people want to feel like they’re a member – they want to be invited and know they could go to events even if they don’t attend. It’s nice to be invited and feel included. It’s the same with gym memberships. People like being part of a gym and knowing it’s there, even though they might not use it that much.

Sometimes, I find community is a trade-off. People are really drawn in by a community, but don’t necessarily get involved. For example, larger businesses tend to have their own culture, meeting rooms, and office space, but they try to get the best of both worlds by joining a coworking community. Having their own company culture makes it harder, though.

Meanwhile, other companies choose more managed space to meet their size requirements. They’re not looking for community beyond that. And some people’s prime need is head-down space. If it’s noisy at home, or they’re constantly out and about selling, they need a quiet space for work. That’s a different need.

Other people with a competitive nature like to see others working around them. Or businesses in growth mode have a work culture where everyone comes in and works late or on different hours. They need micro moments more than community – rather than having long conversations, it’s more about seeing other people working, and feeling part of something bigger, so you don’t feel lonely.

When people look at workspaces, a good question to ask is: What are the other businesses in the building? Generally, the people coming to the community are the ones who can go up and ask others what they think, who are open and transparent.

5. Which coworking trends are you excited about, and which ones make you a bit sceptical?

Zoe: I’m excited about the industry maturing. Today, brands are focusing on their customer and doing persona work — knowing who they’re for and who’s not right for their community.

That’s where we really see the big players in the market grow their locations. Those brands are tuning into the right buildings, locations, and attracting the right people. Some offer coworking, serviced offices, enterprise suites, or virtual memberships exclusively; others provide the full spectrum — supporting businesses from one desk to 100. That’s where I’m seeing much more diversity coming into the industry.

We’ve also got more niche coworking spaces: maker spaces, health tech centres, a vibrant mix of creatives, or people in the music industry. That’s where we’re seeing these specialists coming together and evolving their models.

The brands with more locations know what works for them and who they connect with. They’ve built tribes. What excites me is seeing the evolution of elevated standards in flex.

The industry has been constantly progressing since COVID, but it’s always disheartening to see the other side when spaces close down. They’ve built up a community and want to get that mix going, but haven’t been financially viable. Creating a great end-user customer experience is one thing, but it must be commercially viable.

The misconception is that you can set up a workspace and make huge amounts of money, but there’s more to it than that. The service element is particularly hard work.

This industry has been around for a long time now — 50 years for the serviced office sector. But it’s only starting to really mature, that’s the joy of it. As the industry progresses, I’m seeing more people benefit, which brings more investment to the industry and helps it evolve even further.

In the UK, over 70% of workspaces have one to three locations. While it’s always been quite fragmented and location-oriented, we’re now seeing some bigger brands with greater size and scale. We also still have the small independents. That’s where I’m celebrating diversity across the board.

About People Make Coworking

Celebrating the people who make up the fabric of the global coworking movement, People Make Coworking interviews coworking space founders and community builders who share their journeys of bringing people together.

Edition #27 of People Make Coworking interviews Zoe Ellis-Moore, CEO and founder at Spaces to Places and Office Tier List.

Read more coworking stories.

On my very first day, I was introduced to two people in the community, who came up and just started chatting to me. In the first week, I went for lunch with someone. By the end of my first month, I’d been going to the workspace several times a week and felt a true sense of belonging.

But when that coworking space sadly closed down, I decided not to join another workspace straight away. Instead, I started working regularly from a coworking café in Bermondsey.

Although it was conveniently located close to my gym, with fast WiFI and a bit of a buzz, and was perfectly fine for getting work done, it was completely different from the coworking space. And despite calling itself a coworking café, it wasn’t really “coworking” in the traditional sense.

While I had the odd conversation with someone sitting next to me, I never saw that person again, nor did I ever get invited to a social or get properly friendly with someone.

It felt like a distanced version of coworking where people shared space, rather than time. Not only that, but the coworking café didn’t provide the conditions for people to flourish. There weren’t the same opportunities offered at my coworking space, yet I still went along.

I’m now starting to unpack why.

In fact, this situation raises a bigger question for coworking operators: What are people choosing when they decide not to join a coworking space?

Let’s dive into this.

The real choice isn’t coworking vs coworking

When we talk about competition in coworking, it’s easy to assume that workspaces are competing with other spaces opening nearby. Another operator launches down the road, or a new workspace enters your area, and you worry about the impact on your space.

But the new workspace down the road isn’t the real competition, because people are still choosing between their local cafe, library, or hotel lobby. In some cases, they’re not leaving their homes at all, preferring the comforts of working from home rather than being out all day.

This is in part due to the large number of people who still don’t know what coworking is, or don’t understand its value. I’ve heard people misunderstand coworking as a private office, or on the other end of the spectrum, an expensive, noisy café.

But the true power of coworking is a place where connections form, businesses develop, ideas spread, and new opportunities happen.

Without stepping into a coworking space first, many people won’t understand its value. So they continue to pop into cafes and lobbies, thinking that’s the best place to get their work done.

Making your coworking space truly welcoming

How do we go about spreading awareness of coworking so that people not only learn that your coworking space exists, but that they understand the power of coworking?

I’m not suggesting that you offer a free day pass. Although some spaces choose to provide day passes, it can devalue a workspace as community managers spend valuable time with prospects who never return again.

But don’t discount (pun intended) giving people ways to access your space. You could host out-of-hour events at your space in the evenings or on weekends, or offer a short free session that just opens the doors on a quiet morning.

When I recently spoke to coworking expert Maggie Terhune, she told me about Baltimore Coworking Week – an incredible programme she co-created, where the local workspaces will open their doors across one week in August.

They also hosted events, with one on the topic of how those coworking spaces were supporting people’s businesses. The inaugural event was such a success that Maggie and her team ran it again last year, coinciding with International Coworking Day.

Baltimore Coworking Week reflects the industry’s collaboration over competition mindset; the Baltimore coworking spaces came together to provide workspace for the same prospects.

We must remember that we don’t compete with other spaces, but appreciate that every player adds something special to the ecosystem. A neighbourhood workspace may be best suited for a creative or a parent with fragmented time, whereas a branded workspace in the city centre attracts start-ups and business owners.

Each coworking space brings something different to the table.

The true power of coworking

When people choose third spaces (cafés, hotel lobbies etc.) over a dedicated workspace, or they don’t discover coworking spaces, they’re missing out on the power of coworking.

I’ve seen a really great example of this from the workspace I joined, where two members have just launched a brand new cafe in Chingford together. Their launch party was last weekend.

Without the coworking space, they wouldn’t have met. But it goes deeper than that, because there were certain conditions in the space that deepened our connections, such as:

• The community manager facilitated connections between members

• Regular workshops and social events held at the space brought the community together to share ideas (and have fun)

• The design of the workspace enabled serendipitous connections, such as the kitchen area in the middle of the space

• Community members were awesome, extremely friendly, and welcoming to everyone

This is where coworking spaces totally differ from third spaces. Though ideal for short bursts of activity, third spaces don’t facilitate the conditions for development beyond that.

You wouldn’t really move around a cafe quite so freely, or be introduced to someone without building a relationship first. Some cafes run events (my ex-coworkers are doing that), but most people are coming into a third space to work, and won’t necessarily participate or be aware that those events exist.

That’s not how a community is built.

In coworking, your core service is the service (or hospitality). That’s what brings people back into your space day after day, signing up for membership, a desk or a private office.

The more people show up and engage with a space, the stronger those connections are — building a true sense of belonging. It’s such a powerful differentiator for coworking spaces.

Why belonging is the real competitive advantage

More often than not, people are deciding between paying for a coworking space or defaulting to something that’s already available to them for free: a café, a library or even their kitchen table.

All of these places offer somewhere to sit and work, but they don’t create the same outcomes, and that’s where coworking is fundamentally different from other spaces you can cowork. It creates the conditions for people to return, recognise one another, build relationships, and, over time, to feel part of something.

Those moments of connection, the conversations, and the collaborations rarely happen by accident but are shaped by the environment, people, and the way a space is run day to day.

For operators, your task isn’t simply to compete on space, price, or amenities. It’s to think more deliberately about how welcoming your space actually is in practice, rather than how it looks or feels at first glance, but what happens after someone walks through the door.

To get started, ask these questions:

• Do you introduce new members and visitors to someone when they first come in?

• Do they then go and speak to people of their own accord?

• Have you seen any serendipitous moments, events, or workshop requests coming out of member interactions?

• What feedback are you getting from members when they move on to somewhere else about the level of hospitality in your space?

I’d love to know what you find out! Don’t hesitate to reach out.

The true power of coworking is no longer just about finding somewhere to go. It becomes about finding somewhere to belong.

Until next time,

Lucy