Coworking in UK Survey (2016)

This 2016 report presented United Kingdom results from the Global Coworking Survey 2015–16 alongside worldwide benchmarks. It described the scale and capacity of coworking spaces through reported membership, workstation counts and average floor area. UK spaces had a higher mean membership than the worldwide sample, while their median membership was also higher. The report showed how spaces were distributed across membership and desk-count bands, including the shares with at least 50 members or workstations. It also compared the proportion of recently established spaces, the reported share of female members and the average share of members who had joined during the preceding year. A separate section examined business performance and organisational structure, contrasting profitable, zero-profit and unprofitable spaces in the UK and worldwide. It also classified spaces as for-profit, nonprofit, government-run or other operations. The staffing section covered full-time employees, part-time employees and interns, including founders and operators, and grouped spaces by the number of people working for them. The survey timing was identified as October and November 2015, so the findings reflected conditions reported during that period rather than the market in 2026.

Key findings

• UK coworking spaces reported a mean of 73.3 members and a median of 40, compared with 75.8 and 30 worldwide.
• The average UK space measured 858 m² or 9,235 sq ft, compared with 739 m² or 7,955 sq ft worldwide.
• Among UK spaces reporting profitability, 39% were profitable, 54% reported zero profit and 7% were not profitable.
• Spaces with 50 or more members represented 43% of the UK sample and 38% of the worldwide sample.

Published by Deskmag, 2016