IWG has signed a franchise agreement with the Ashley Group to construct five new workspace centers in the boroughs of Enfield, Barnet and the county of Hertfordshire. The aim of these new centers is to reduce commuting time for North Londoners and help people work closer to home. This follows IWG research that found 77 per cent of employees cited being close to home as a key priority when taking on a new job.
“For many workers, the pandemic highlighted the benefits of working in their local areas and now we are returning to life as normal, people want to keep the advantages of what we call the ’15-minute city’. This is good news for employees, who will benefit from the flexibility and productivity, but also for local towns and suburbs around the country who could see their local economies and highstreets revived,” said Julian Chambers, head of partnerships growth at IWG.
“As more businesses adopt a hybrid model of working, now is the time for investors to begin exploring suburban areas that could benefit from flexible workspaces. We have seen an increase in enquiries across London, firmly pointing towards the growing appetite for this new way of life”.
The move is part of the trend for hybrid working which could be a major financial boost for suburbs, towns and villages across the U.K.
The Ashley Group, having previously held a portfolio of franchised, branded and non-branded hotels, is now moving into the flexible workspace sector. The partnership is being spearheaded by brothers Alim and Zamir Hirji, who are local to Barnet. The Ashley Group are currently locating and securing the appropriate properties within these boroughs, to get the flexible workspaces open as quickly as possible.
“We have expanded our business rapidly across the U.K. over the last five years, from growing our hotel business to our recent gym deal. Now, adding flexible workspace in our local area to our franchise portfolio is an exciting next step,” said Zamir Hirji, director at the Ashley Group.
“Hybrid working was already an attractive business opportunity before the pandemic began and has shown its resilience through lockdowns. Now, as the events of the last year have resulted in irreversible changes to how and where we choose to work, there is a clear need for flexible office space in more U.K. towns and suburbs. As a business, we know first-hand the value of having office space options in outer London and we are excited to work with IWG to bring the flexible workspaces of the future to the area.”
This follows on from the flexible workspaces IWG has been developing in Scotland, read here to find out more.
