2015 saw a strong shift toward flexible workspace in the UK market, as well as growth in many of the world’s top markets. Not only did we see a robust increase in enquiries but Instant’s data shows double digit growth for size requirements in the US and UK, which highlights the increased take up of flexible space by corporates. Asia’s lead cities are reporting similar results and Australia in particular had a strong year. 2016 has got off to a positive start, so for up to date information and market news, read on…
As the world’s largest broker of flexible workspace, we are in a great position to take a market overview, and undoubtedly, we have seen strong growth in demand in 2015. Enquiries for flexible workspace in all regions were up by nearly a quarter on the previous year.
The global flexible office market now totals around £15bn, which shows compound growth of around 21 per cent in the past five years. The three largest operators in the market – Regus, Premier and Servcorp – now make up 36 per cent of the total market. However, if WeWork’s anticipated level of growth continues then it will enter this select group, with the US company having 1.5m square feet in London alone by 2016.
The UK and US are still the largest markets for flexible workspace. The number of offices in the UK contributes 32 per cent to the global total, the US 27 per cent, EMEA has a 22 per cent share, Asia Pacific 15 per cent and Latin America just four per cent. And while Asia-Pacific represents a relatively small part of the total, we are seeing strong signs of growth in that region. For example, the Hong Kong market has increased by 50 per cent in just two years. There are now 174 flexible spaces available – driven in part by the global trend towards co-working – which is only slightly behind New York’s 214 centres.
UK Demand
Regional demand in the UK really bounced back in 2015. We were keen to assess the source of this demand, given its strength, so carried out an assessment of Companies House data to gauge where start-ups were launching across the UK. And we saw a huge level of growth in the UK’s second cities, such as Nottingham where new company registrations were up 68 per cent compared to 2014. Contrastingly, London’s proportional growth in new companies was relatively limited to 21 per cent.
The increase in new companies was particularly resurgent in the Midlands. Other key cities for growth in 2015 – judging by Companies House data – were Bristol and Birmingham, which increased by 40 and 39 per cent respectively.
It is also interesting to note that while enquiries for flexible space were up 21 per cent for the UK in total and 39 per cent in the regions, the growth in non-flexible office enquiries was up only 15 per cent, suggesting that many of these firms want space to grow but are not ready to commit to leased offices as yet.
Some key areas of note for the regional market:
Aberdeen – the market has cooled significantly with enquiries down by around 20 per cent throughout 2015, consequentlyhaving a big impact on workstation rates. Office supply is still increasing but the occupier demand isn’t there – if a market is sector specific (as Aberdeen is) then it’s bound to be volatile like this.
Major increase in enquiries for Brighton – in tandem with workstation rates tumbling for the last two years, office supply is starting to increase but it is a very competitive area due to its proximity to London and the draw of the coastal lifestyle.
Solid growth in major cities outside London like Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh during 2015 – from a proportional perspective they all beat the capital in terms of demand.
In Newcastle, the over-extension of supply is leading to rates dropping, despite growth in enquiries of over 20 per cent throughout the year.
We have also seen renewed interest in areas previously ignored but offering great value for money – like Coventry or Derby, where demand has increased by over 50 per cent during 2015.
2015 saw a strong shift in the market toward flexible workspace in the UK. Not only did we see a very robust increase in enquiries across the country, size requirements were also up by 13.4 per cent. This latter statistic is significant as it shows that corporates requiring space are increasingly turning to the flexible market for a solution.
For more information on the market in 2015, please read our Review of the Year, which will be launched in the next month.