The Evolution of Office Space over the Pandemic - part 3

Over a series of interviews we will look at the evolution of office space during this pandemic.

Over the last year, companies in all industries have had to change the way they work. Workng from home has become the new normal, leaving many companies asking the question, do we need an office?

Today we speak to Tony Margiotta, GM at RISE London. Rise, created by Barclays, is a global community of the world's top innovators working together to create the future of financial services. Rise operates FinTech hubs/workspaces around the world, where cutting-edge startups and scale-ups can connect, create and scale their businesses, backed by our Barclays' global network of industry experts, mentors, investors and partners.

How has the office space at Rise been affected by the pandemic?  

We had to reduce seating capacity due to the 2m spacing so a private office of 6 was reduced by 50%, therefore we only charged for the seats used.         

Are people still using their offices? 

Yes, when we were open we had a number of companies coming to the hub. Only those that were further afield, remained to a large extent, remote working.                    

How will office space look post covid?

I imagine there will be more flexible hours of usage for some companies, but I believe the need for space/meeting /project rooms will increase. Big corporates are considering closing their major buildings and having smaller satellite groups in co-working.    

What have your clients at RISE said to you about the current situation?

Having spoke with a number of C-suite leaders they state that the hybrid solution could work well. There is a need for space where internal teams come together and share ideas and work -community- meetings - 121 recruiting intervals.   

Will we go back to the usual office style routine for work in the fintech world? 

I think apart from the above, businesses will want to come back to the office. Community/connections/talent interviews (physical) is super important.  I think hybrid working will be more prevalent. I have worked in co-working for many years and the sales pipeline currently is still strong, so I believe office space is still very much wanted and needed.      

Gary Brown, Founder of Debt Register, has worked with a number of clients in the office space over the pandemic to accelerate their unpaid invoices, something common in this industry since many businesses have not been using their office space. Gary wanted to highlight the changes to this industry casued by COVID by commissioning this series of articles with Women of FinTech.

You can read the first article here