Multi-Location Flex Office Operation

This 2021 presentation examined how a multi-location flex-office operator could combine back-office, marketing and sales functions while shifting from property-led operations toward services and digital products. Hubert Abt outlined New Work Offices’ view of the Central and Eastern European market, including historical growth, post-pandemic demand expectations and changes in the balance between office-rental and service revenue. The deck cited external research from McKinsey, CBRE, JLL and Business Insider to frame expectations for hybrid work, reduced corporate office footprints and wider adoption of flexible space. It then described New Work Offices’ corporate roadmap: an initial flexible-office operating model, a consultancy and franchise model supported by a planning toolbox, and an asset-light digital model based on an Office Pass. The presentation also covered workspace standardisation, booking and access functions, and an integrated structure linking office operations, franchising, cloud-based services and shared operating systems. Its concluding sections identified organisational culture, competition, data collection, customer retention, lead conversion, branding, networking, IT, ESG, financial control and funding as challenges associated with scaling the business.

Key findings

• The deck reported that rent from dedicated offices generated 60% of revenue, while services and memberships generated 40%.
• New Work Offices projected a shift from a capital-intensive office operator to asset-light franchising, software and membership models.
• The presentation cited a McKinsey survey in which 278 executives planned an average 30% reduction in office space.

Presented by Hubert Abt, New Work Offices, at Coworking Europe 2021