What is Managed Space, and who are the main players?
g8 founder Douglas Green talks to Jonathan Weinbrenn and Robin Lester about Managed Space - and why it’s growing so rapidly.
The Managed Space sector is a fast-growing part of the Flex landscape. It sits between flexible workspace and the traditional lease, and targets businesses that want the convenience of great Flex and the option of having their own personal space in an unbranded building.
If the choice is to go down this hybrid route, property owners can benefit from engaging with this new range of managed workspace platforms in their buildings.
Managed space will typically offer:
Workspace anywhere between 5,000 sq. ft. – 25,000 sq. ft.
Services, including IT, cleaning and security
Fully fitted, work-ready space
The option to bespoke your space to your requirements (this varies by operating model)
The sector is becoming increasingly competitive, with operators such as BE.Spoke, Metspace, The Instant Group, Situu and Kitt all offering different solutions. I spoke to a couple of the leading players to get a better understanding of their USP’s.
BE.Spoke
Backed by leading Flex operator BE Offices, BE.Spoke was founded by Jonathan Weinbrenn in 2019. The model is built on taking a lease from the landlord, creating fully bespoke workspace for the occupier, offering short term flexibility to the client and - where the lease allows - guaranteeing a renewal at the end of the initial term. There is also the residual opportunity after that for BE Offices to create a fully serviced / Flex solution which will always be a win for both parties.
Talking about BE.Spoke's growth, Jonathan says, “Our clients are looking for something more customised and private, which they usually can't find in serviced space. At the same time, they don't want to take a lease because of the rigidity and lack of agility. At BE.Spoke, we take the best of both worlds and bring them together in a hybrid model, totally focussed on achieving our customers’ goals.
"We work incredibly closely with our clients to understand their needs, so we can fulfil their vision and create destinations where their people want to be present. Our integrated, on-demand model provides cost certainty, service excellence and transfers risk of capital and delivery.”
Metspace
Robin Lester co-founded Metspace in 2019 after deciding that there was a gap in the market for private, self-contained floors that offer ready-to-go workspace with 'your own front door.' The model is different to BE.Spoke in that they partner with Landlords who have empty floors and share in the risks and rewards. Service provision is centralised as opposed to localised.
Metspace works with a cross-section of landlords, from a large charitable trust through to Propco’s and private landlords, and drives their income by as much as 30% more over a 5-year period than they would receive conventionally. They prioritise the landlord financially once the space is income-producing, and every landlord they have worked with to date has given them additional floors.
Explaining Metspace's offering, Robin says, "We've created a plug-and-play platform to enable landlords - big or small - to participate in a growing marketplace. Many occupiers don't have the cash resources to create workspaces that they want to work from. At Metspace, we've created floors for single occupiers in unbranded, high-quality spaces based on a proven formula. Clients can sign on a Friday and move in on Monday."
Managed Space is an exciting sub-sector within the fast-growing and increasingly sophisticated Flex market. I expect to see even more rapid growth as occupiers and landlords wake up to the superior products - and returns - that are available.
