Flex in the City...Manchester

The global flexible workspace market has a valuation of ￡39.14 Billion (2022) and is forecast to grow to ￡59.84 billion by 2026. Flexible workspace is on the rise and it’s something I feel will remain resilient in city of Manchester in the event of any economic downturn.

A global pandemic, rising inflation rates and whispers of an economic downturn in 2023 have been instrumental factors in the acceleration of the demand for flexible workspace in the city. Businesses are looking to their future of work strategy by observing how office work, hybrid work and fully remote work will impact their business performance, talent attraction and talent retention levels moving forward - flexible workspace is a great testbed for this.

Expansion & new entrants

New entrants in to the market have bolstered Manchester’s flexible workspace offering, in addition to existing operators expanding with new sites. Bold has taken space at Bauhaus, 27 Quay Street, Orega are set to launch their new operation nearby Manchester Victoria and Hana have 2 sites in close proximity to St Peter's Square. Regus launched their new brand Spaces. offices | co-working | meeting rooms. at both Peter House and 125 Deansgate.

Department have expanded their operation with 3 sites across Enterprise City/Spinningfields. COLONY 's footprint is up to 4 sites in Manchester, not to mention, the ever growing presence of Bruntwood Works who also have for 4 flexible spaces across the city as part of their wider development strategy.

Huckletree ?have also boosted their presence in their existing building to provide an additional 11,500 sq ft in the Express Building.

All of these spaces appear to be catching up to WeWork who were early entrants in to Manchester market and currently operate in 4 different buildings across Manchester city centre. Since their rapid expansion beginning at No1 Spinningfields in 2017, their growth has matured.

Competition, competition, competition....

The increase in competition is great news for Manchester because it means more flexible operators are becoming more customer centric and enhancing their products to accommodate for the needs of businesses and their people. Fun creative environments are being designed to make spaces become higher value and entice people back to the office.

Flexible workspaces are improving spaces to meet changing criteria; Air Conditioning, pet friendly, prayer rooms, disabled accessibility, resilient digital connectivity, gym's, yoga, community events, content studios, neuro-diverse lighting, social areas/bars, eco-friendly space and much more!

Landlords are now increasingly partnering with flex operators on joint ventures, management/profit share agreements, franchise models, amongst other types of deal structures to provide their buildings with a strong level of amenity, fill building vacancies and provide a diverse range of space within their products. This is a trend that is not going to slow down any time soon as flexible operators look to further increase their presence in the city.

The rise of mergers & acquisitions

We have started to see mergers & acquisitions take place in the flexible workspace market including two great operators The Office Group & Fora . Their aim is to become the premier flexible workspace company in the UK and Europe, merging two highly respected businesses with similar cultures to combine intelligence on creating high quality unrivalled workspaces. I feel this is a trend that may follow suit in Manchester in the coming 24 months.

Technology & Recruitment firms driving market activity

Currently the flexible workspace market is underpinned by recruitment and technology businesses who are taking space at a rapid rate. Take a Seat , Push Doctor , AND Digital , Kitman Labs , Barrington James ion - Recruitment Talent are just a few of the names who have recently opted for working in a flexible workspace environment in Manchester. These two sectors will continue to dominate market activity in the run in to 2023.

Technology enabling flexible workspace growth

Technology has been a key component in the equation for the rise in flexible workspace, it has enabled businesses to make smarter workspace decisions through analytics and facilitate remote/hybrid work by making communication easier. Communication between teams through video conferencing combined with digital tools that support teams to collaborate, develop and interact online, have empowered companies to engage their teams as they adjust to a more flexible working model.? my2be , Altbe , Slack , Zoom to name a few are acting as a catalyst to facilitate blended working models.

Until next time...

It's great to see the level of flexible workspace coming in to Manchester and how each operator services Manchester businesses to a level that enables their business to thrive. There is a plethora of flexible workspace opportunity out there in the city which makes it hard to know where to start...

At Level, we collate key data and market intelligence to make your life easier when making a decision on your new workspace for your business and your people.

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