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Cushman & Wakefield
“Argent approached us to
take space in the Kings Cross
scheme because they knew
that having us there would
attract small businesses to
the area. Similarly, the Shard
also approached us for the
same reasons; they wanted
the energy and innovation
that small businesses bring
with them.”
Charlie Green
, The Office Group, London
Operators such as Regus, WeWork and The Office
Group offer a combination of Coworking and private
offices as part of their service. These principles have
not yet reached Asia Pacific, as cultural perspectives on
hierarchy and privacy still prevail, but David San Roman,
founder of Anken Green, Shanghai, believes that it is
only a matter of time before it takes root: “when we
started out people were reluctant to work and share
information, but now they have started to realise that
there are more advantages than disadvantages when it
comes to collaborating.”
One thing is certain, Flexible Office providers can expect
an increasingly diverse and dynamic tenant mix as
expectations and products converge.
A revolution in Asia Pacific:
Founded in Shanghai in 2010,
People Squared
became a
Flexible Office operator by accident rather than design. Founder
Bob Zheng needed to fill empty space in his own office and through
word of mouth, found a tenant to move in. One tenant quickly grew to five,
encouraging Zheng to set up People Squared, a dedicated workspace provider that has
since expanded to 12 locations in Shanghai and Beijing. People Squared currently consists
of 70% private offices and 30% shared space. Zheng recalls, “when we first opened, people didn’t
understand Coworking and shared office space. The concept is relatively new to Chinese culture so we had to
educate the market on its virtues and actively prove its worth by instigating member engagement. The result
today is a flourishing community of members that collaborate and share resources, compared with the
corporate isolation and suspicion that prevailed before.”