From bustling city office hubs to neighbourhood workplaces, the UK flexible workspace market (Coworking and serviced offices) is diverse, with established giants and rising stars vying for dominance.
Although the majority of the coworking and serviced office market in UK is made up of small operators with less than 6 locations, with the biggest flexible workspace providers focus on urban cities. In London the top 10 key players alone account for 60% of the market, a testament to the power that big brands hold. Read our London Flex Brand report (London Flex Brand Index | Video & White Paper | Spaces to Places) and blog (London Flex Brand Index: A Snapshot of the City’s Thriving Flexible Workspace Market – Spaces to Places) for more details.
This blog below dives into the 9 top players in UK by number of locations from IWG’s global expansion and The Boutique’s Workplaces portfolio growth to Workspace’s London stronghold and WeWork’s dramatic restructuring. We explore the strategies, successes, and challenges of industry leaders like Fora (following The Office Group merger), Landmark, Argyll, Bizspace, and Oxford Innovation Spaces, revealing the trends shaping the future of work.
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IWG
Locations: 354
IWG (International Workplace Group), the leading flexible workspace provider in the UK, dominates the UK Flex market with significant presence across major cities, market towns and suburbs. Their reach including 75 locations in London, 15 in Manchester, and 12 in Birmingham.
In early 2024, their CEO & Founder Mark Dixon revealed plans to expand their UK serviced office portfolio by 2,000 locations within five years, building upon their current 400 spaces. This flexible office provider shows remarkable growth, having added 65 new locations in the previous year, with a strategic focus on suburban areas and a franchise model.
IWG’s global footprint encompasses 895,000 rooms across 3,514 locations in 120 countries, solidifying their position as the world’s largest hybrid workspace platform. Unlike competitor WeWork’s challenges, IWG reported record-breaking performance with EBITDA increasing 34% to £403 million, up from £311 million in 2022, attributed to revenue growth and effective cost management.
LINKS: Sources of information:
https://fortune.com/2020/06/24/offices-coronavirus-regus-spaces-iwg-ceo-covid-19/
https://startups.co.uk/premises/offices/what-are-serviced-offices/
Workspace Group PLC
Locations: 77
Workspace Group PLC, established in 1997 and listed on the London Stock Exchange, is London’s premier flexible workspace provider, operating across 95 locations, including studios, light industrial spaces, and workshops throughout the UK. Their predominantly freehold campus style portfolio as a Real Estate Investment Trust encompasses 4.5 million sq. ft. of sustainable space across 77 locations in London and the South East, cementing their position in the market.
Recent reports demonstrate robust performance with a 6% increase in average rent per square foot over the past year, maintaining their long-term growth trajectory. Under CFO Dave Benson’s leadership, Workspace maintains its strategic focus on serving SMEs through smaller units from a variety of sectors, which have demonstrated strong demand and reduced void periods. While experiencing temporary fluctuations in rental and occupancy rates due to ongoing asset management activities and refurbishments, the company attributes any decline in larger space demand to market conditions and acquisition-related lease timing rather than structural changes.
LINKS:
Bizspace
Locations: 75
BizSpace, acquired by Sirius Real Estate in November 2021, maintains a strategic network of 75 locations positioned around major UK city suburbs, serving 3,901 tenants. The flexible workspace provider has seen significant growth in its corporate client base, with its top 100 tenants now representing 28.3% of annualised income, while SMEs and micro-SMEs comprise 71.7% of their tenant mix.
The acquisition of Vantage Point, Gloucester in April 2024 has substantially increased their net lettable space and total rent roll. BizSpace’s portfolio boasts impressive metrics with a £466.5m gross asset value and £65.7m rent roll, maintaining an occupancy rate of 85.6%.
The company’s business model offers flexible terms at premium rates, with properties valued at a 9.3% net yield, demonstrating strong market performance in the suburban office sector.
LINKS:
https://www.sirius-real-estate.com/media/2519/half-year-report-and-accounts-co-signed-62.pdf
FORA (The Office Group)
Locations: 70
The Office Group (TOG), founded in 2004, and Fora, established in 2014, merged in 2022 to operate under the Fora brand. This merger of Brockton Capital’s Fora and Blackstone’s TOG has created central London’s largest single-brand flexible workspace provider.
The combined company boasts over 70 premium workspaces across London, exceeding 3.2 million square feet. With 61 locations strategically positioned within zones 1&2, Fora now surpasses WeWork’s current presence in the capital.
Distinguished by its ownership model, Fora primarily owns its building freeholds, contrasting with traditional lease-based providers. Following Blackstone’s majority acquisition of TOG in 2017 (valued at £500 million), the merged entity has actively expanded its portfolio. Recent developments include the opening of owned assets such as Chancery House, Montacute Yards, and Black & White. The company’s portfolio originally comprised 9 freeholds/long leaseholds (264,124 sq ft) and 6 leaseholds (262,079 square feet), with additional presence across nine UK and German cities.
LINKS:
https://www.costar.com/article/2106383632/fora-to-securitise-part-of-its-uk-portfolio
Landmark
Locations: 41
Landmark LINK stands as a significant player in the UK’s premium flexible workspace market, with a strategic portfolio of 41 buildings concentrated primarily in key urban areas. The workspace provider maintains a strong London-centric presence with 33 locations in prime areas of the capital, demonstrating their focus on high-value business districts.
This growth was fueled by the merger with i2 Offices and then in 2019 the acquisition of the London centric brand The Space. Landmark has a strong regional presence with 8 offices outside London offering businesses access to premium flexible workspace solutions in key markets.
The Boutique Workplace Company
Locations: 40
The Boutique Workplace Company demonstrates significant expansion in 2024, reaching 40 locations across the UK, with notable additions including a prestigious 15-year lease at Frederick’s Place, a Grade II listed building in Bank. The company’s growth includes a newly launched serviced office space at Glasgow’s iconic 9 George Square and a partnership with Unite Students in Aldgate.
Since 2019, the operator has significantly expanded their portfolio through a lease model. This approach has driven growth into new markets like Birmingham and Glasgow, as well as increased their presence in Southwest London. Their unique selling point lies in their collection of boutique buildings, each with distinct heritage and character, located in iconic London addresses and beyond. These unbranded workspaces offer tenants the flexibility to create truly bespoke environments.
LINKS:
https://www.commercialnewsmedia.com/archives/133519
WeWork
Locations: 34
WeWork’s UK presence has significantly contracted from 55 to 34 locations across the UK and Ireland amid global restructuring efforts. Despite challenges, London remains a stronghold for the company, with its flagship location at 10 York Road, Waterloo, maintaining its position as WeWork’s most popular global location in 2024, alongside strong performance from 123 Buckingham Palace Road and Moor Place.
Following bankruptcy proceedings in late 2023, WeWork has undergone substantial portfolio rationalisation, closing multiple London locations including The Hewett and properties in Shoreditch, City, and Midtown. However, the coworking giant maintains resilience with half a million global users and a 17% membership growth in 2023. The company’s global restructuring has resulted in amendments to over 170 office leases and exits from 160 locations, reducing future rent commitments by $12 billion. WeWork now operates approximately 45 million square feet across 600 locations worldwide.
LINKS:
https://startups.co.uk/premises/offices/wework-review/
https://www.costar.com/article/1800358046/wework-says-it-has-completed-uk-and-ireland-restructuring
https://www.costar.com/article/1800358046/wework-says-it-has-completed-uk-and-ireland-restructuring
https://www.wework.com/newsroom/wework-unveils-how-we-worked-in-2024
Oxford Innovation Space
Locations: 32
Oxford Innovation Space, established by the Oxford Trust in 1987, stands as the UK and Ireland’s leading provider of innovation spaces, managing the largest network of innovation centres with 32 nationwide. The organisation specialises in supporting early-stage businesses through a comprehensive network of innovation centers, offering flexible offices, workshops, and laboratory spaces.
Their strategic partnerships including a recent alliance with Microsoft at The EpiCentre, demonstrate their commitment to enhancing support for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Working collaboratively with universities, local authorities, science parks, and investors, they focus on regional economic development through place-making initiatives and building sustainable business communities.
The organisation’s mission extends beyond traditional workspace provision, emphasising business support and specialist coaching to foster innovation and create high-value employment opportunities. Their sector-focused approach has successfully developed specialized hubs within universities, public sector buildings, and research sites. Their latest opening is in partnership with Bolton Council as a regeneration drive delivering Wellsprings Innovation Centre.
LINKS:
https://www.businessweekly.co.uk/posts/microsoft-and-the-epicentre-support-early-stage-innovators
Argyll
Locations: 25
Argyll, a long-established London premium workspace provider with 25 locations, entered a new phase following its acquisition by Alpine Grove and Baupost during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company, currently valued at up to £400 million, specialises in trophy buildings across the City of London and West End, attracting high-profile clients including hedge funds and private equity firms seeking prestigious addresses.
The company has demonstrated remarkable operational improvements, notably reducing staff turnover from 30% to 3.5% through innovative flexible working policies and employee-centric management practices. This transformation was achieved by implementing a platform that enables personalized employee feedback, recognition, and mentoring programs across all organisational levels.
As Argyll enters a sales process, their performance will serve as a key indicator of investor confidence in premium office spaces, particularly as the commercial property sector recovers from a two-year downturn caused by elevated borrowing costs.
LINKS:
https://www.ft.com/content/5eedf33c-4b34-4feb-8a37-692b4e734abf
https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/features/how-argyll-slashed-attrition-from-30-to-35/
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