My Ins and Outs for Coworking in 2025
This blog post was initially going to be a trends piece, but when I started thinking about what to cover, I realised this piece would be more personal than that.
Hello 2025, I can’t believe you’re quite here. 2024 was a whirlwind year and probably went a little too fast for my liking, can we all agree?
In the UK coworking world, we enjoyed some awesome events – GCUC hosted its first regional conference in Manchester, placing the UK’s second city firmly at the forefront of the CRE sector, the London Coworking Assembly crossed over at the Workspace Design Show for another year running (featuring a bonus tour at Peckham Levels), and FlexSA organised a super Women in Flex event.
Source: Ashley Ford, GCUC UK Manchester.
These exciting events proved an opportunity for connecting and sharing industry knowledge. So, what’s in store for the year ahead? Without further ado, these are my ins and outs for the year ahead in coworking:
IN:
Make 2025 the year of circularity. This week’s horrific fires in Los Angeles prove that climate change is very real, and terrifying. The time to act is NOW. Did you know that a staggering 300 tonnes of office furniture is thrown into landfills daily? No more greenwashing – there’s no plan(et) B.
Normalise working from anywhere – with the above in mind, working closer to home improves our carbon footprints and well-being. We’re experiencing a stressful cost of living crisis – who can afford to commute to work five days a week? Last year, there was so much talk about the likes of Amazon and Elon forcing employees back to the office. Yes, IRL connections matter, but most of us simply require internet connectivity to do our jobs, so why can’t we work from the gym, or the cafe down the road, or travel while we work from time to time?
My lovely work-from-anywhere set up in Luang Prabang, Laos, while travelling around Southeast Asia last September.
Support neighbourhood workspaces – love ‘em, my go-to workspace right now is a coworking cafe near my gym. My productivity levels absolutely soar before I close my laptop for an hour’s lunchtime workout. I’d love to work near home but, alas, haven’t found a local coworking space yet. Any suggestions in Greenwich?
Demand is up for regional coworking – The GCUC Manchester agenda was all about regional coworking. New satellite offices are popping up in smaller UK towns to support remote corporate workers, but these opportunities also do wonders for smaller businesses and retain talent in university towns.
“Community is the key” – always. Credit to Christian Schmitz for this tagline. Another Christian classic is – The Future is Human. Love that!
Joining more than one workspace community – I can’t remember who posited this, but we can all thrive amongst different groups in different spaces, depending on our needs at that time. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been either working from home, in my coworking space, or a third place with other freelancers.
Crossing my two freelance communities and friends at Townsq Islington on International Coworking Day 2023.
IDEA in coworking – everyone has the right to feel welcome, comfortable, and respected in their work environments and careers.
Understanding neurodiversity in the workplace – it’s estimated that up to 25% of the global population is neurodiverse, impacting their ability to thrive in open-plan spaces. An understanding of this topic is improving, for example, a panel discussion about designing neurodivergent-friendly workspaces took place at last year’s Clerkenwell Design Show, but there’s more work to be done here.
Women in coworking – women are historically underrepresented in our professional careers compared to our male counterparts. Can we please have more workspaces that empower women and people across intersectionalities? I love what Egg&Co in Edinburgh does for women in Scotland, for example.
Hotelification of the office – love it or hate it, this buzzword is firmly in our coworking glossary for the year ahead. Beautiful hotel lobbies with calm lighting and comfy seating? I’m here for it.
Old Sessions House — a space for coworking, F&B, and residential. It opens its doors to the general public in May each year for the Clerkenwell Design Week, giving a rare opportunity to see this beautiful, former courthouse building.
OUT:
Stop the debate between coworking and flex – Jane Sartin recently wrote a fab article in Allwork.Space, clearing up the confusion on this age-old argument.
Reducing the number of coworking opportunities for freelancers – there seem to be fewer hot desks available for freelancers right now, especially in central London. Understandable, it’s more challenging bringing in 50 freelancers than leasing a 50-person office, but the number of coworking options, and the cost at which they’re priced, is making it unviable. Please can we have more affordable workspaces in 2025?
The WeWork saga – it just goes on and on. Can we leave it in 2024 already?
Amenities first – who doesn’t want to work in a building kitted out with a boujee rooftop, sauna, and podcast studio — but, do we need it? Probably not. The race to amenities might have been left behind in 2024.
Generic ChatGPT content – need I say more? Please don’t use AI to cut corners on content marketing and avoid your own creative thought processes. It’s soooo obvious. Let’s hear it for sharing your unique point of view and experiences!
My fave coworking spot - a coworking cafe with delicious coffee, of course!
What are your ins and outs for the year ahead? Do you agree with my predictions? I’d love to hear from you - don’t hesitate to reach out.
A shameless plug but if you’re looking for a content writer to support your coworking blog or business, please get in touch! I’d love to share more about my passions for this awesome industry with you.