Hi everyone! I’m Matt, the new Growth Marketer here at Space32, and if you can’t tell from the rather limited medium of written words, I’m incredibly excited to be here!
I’ve been learning a tonne in my first week as I get to grips with the inner workings of the office leasing industry, and I wanted to share what I have learned along the way.
The office is crucial to company culture
As have most people, I’ve dabbled with various forms of hybrid working and work from home set ups for the past 2-3 years, and I would be lying if I said that there wasn’t a point where I considered whether we actually need offices.
But coming into the Space32 office and meeting the team (even chatting through a really special upcoming campaign 👀) has reinforced that your team needs a central physical hub for communication and team building, and for early-stage startups it is incredibly important for culture to blossom.
And you don’t even have to take my word for it. Gallup published some excellent findings on the impact of hybrid working on the culture of a company, rejecting fears that anything other than a 5 day mandatory work week would crush morale and brand loyalty.
The office market has irreparably changed since the pandemic
Before I joined Space32 I knew this was the case. It’s easy to forget that the pandemic represented such a massive cultural shift in almost all areas of life but well, everything is different now.
The world of work is no different from the other cultural shifts we saw, but what I have seen so far is that the office leasing sector still hasn’t caught up, despite ample opportunity to do so. Companies are locked into long office leasing contracts, paying exorbitant fees for days where the office is almost completely empty.
If you don’t believe me (fair play it is my first week), I urge you to check out the crazy data behind Space32’s creation, and the absolutely bonkers amount of money being wasted by London businesses.
Office expenses can spiral out of control really easily
As part of my whirlwind introduction to the world of office leasing, I was lucky enough to sit in on a call with our co-founder Rich as he discussed Space32’s vision with an existing business tenant, and also spoke through the tenant’s problems with their current setup.
And what really stuck out to me was the financial burden this tenant’s office had become. They were paying out the nose monthly for rent, utilities, cleaning and supplies and weren’t even using all of the space! Their office had become a £10,000+ monthly liability and they were desperate to find some sort of reprieve to help with the current economic climate.
It’s been eye-opening to see how rigid large swathes of the office leasing market has remained despite the rise of hybrid working and 80% of workers outright rejecting the idea of a full time return to the office. I’m super proud that Space32 partners with forward-thinking office providers who reject this traditional approach and help businesses across London embrace the future of work, save money and create a more flexible, and let’s face it, human way of working.
If you want to explore how Space32 can help you embrace a hybrid working model by finding you the perfect office fit, you can check out our marketplace of 1000+ offices, or if you want to get a tailored shortlist of office space you can contact our excellent trading team. If you’re an existing tenant looking to make some money by renting out your office on the days you aren’t using it, or have spare space you want to fill, explore how you can be a hybrid host with Space32!
