The coworking trend is being adopted by entrepreneurs and businesses around the world, as professionals look to benefit from a working environment that encourages collaboration and networking.
According to a recent research report from Cushman & Wakefield, London, Paris and Stockholm are the top three European hotspots for coworking (in that order), with an increasing number of commercial properties being turned into coworking spaces.
The latest coworking tenant is HSBC, which has signed up for 1,135 desks at the new WeWork building in London Waterloo, reports the Financial Times.
In doing so, the bank will be working alongside “young businesses that have ambitious growth plans ... [getting] involved in that journey with them,” explained Relationship Manager Stephen Mitchell in a 2018 video discussing HSBC’s move into the coworking environment.
HSBC’s decision to house teams in flexible offices will be music to the ears of WeWork. The coworking juggernaut, which recently became the largest private occupier of office space in London, has said that it wants to grow its base of “enterprise” clients, i.e. larger companies like Facebook, Microsoft and Barclays.
If you’re a commercial landlord who has had their head turned by WeWork’s (and others’) success, you might be considering turning a property or two of yours into a coworking space. It could be a lucrative opportunity – but it’s important that you’re aware of the risks that could accompany that potential reward.