Flexible Workspaces rehearsal space shared and private on our offices for start-up businesses High Streets desk space shared kitchen space maker space bookable meeting rooms lab space recording studios printers and artist framers studios community health and wellbeing hub 00 1 Foreword by Simon Pitkeathley Foreword by Jules Pipe The pandemic has significant ramifications for role in the post-COVID world. High streets The last few months have seen numerous Existing workspace operators, landlords and the future of how workspaces will be serving will benefit from a customised meanwhile debates reflecting on the potential impact of developers have already started exploring entrepreneurs and businesses post Covid. As- use approach, and as CEO of the Camden the pandemic in the future use of office spaces. how to reconfigure or redesign their surplus Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Workspace Advisory Collective co-working space, I know that such With the vaccine being rolled out across the or empty premises by converting some of it Group (WAG), I and my fellow co-Chair Sarah projects have the agility to respond to struggling UK and with expectations that the summer into flexible offices. It is expected that over Ellis, and all members of the Group, have been local economies with imaginative installations will see the situation improve, we will start the coming months, new flexible workspaces focusing on how the sector could adapt to that fill vacant spots with an energetic understanding how offices will be used in a will be opening across outer and inner London this new landscape. I believe that in its various community of entrepreneurs. post-pandemic world. locations. forms, workspace could be a vital tool in helping London to recover from the impact of vacancy This pamphlet identifies where and how these In parallel, employers of all sizes are exploring This pamphlet proposes a range of scenarios rates, from small units on local neighbourhood new types of flexible workspace models could how to adapt their working patterns to that can be adapted to the needs of private and high streets, to towering office blocks within the flourish and help London to recover quicker combine use of central headquarters, with public sector landlords thinking of repurposing CAZ. whilst building its resilience as a flexible and employees both working from home and using their premises. The conversion of surplus space responsive city. Uncertain times lie ahead, flexible workspaces in offices local to their into flexible workspaces could ensure our high We must explore new concepts such as ‘deep but this package of ideas poses some thought neighbourhood. streets are more vibrant and sustainable, while work’ – repurposing traditional office space provoking and ambitious possibilities for the providing the right type of working spaces to for the temporary use of remotely based building of our future city. These new ways of working will change how small, medium and large businesses. companies for periods of intense, in-person we perceive, design and use both London as a work. This could give London’s CAZ a unique Simon Pitkeathley global city and our local neighbourhoods within Jules Pipe CBE Co-Chair Workspace Advisory Group it. This is an opportunity to use the recovery Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and from the pandemic to transform our city, to Skills make it a more people-friendly place with more self-sufficient neighbourhoods where Londoners can access everything they need within a short walk or bike ride away. In this new type of city, the flexible workspace sector could play a significant role in achieving this objective. 2 Introduction This pamphlet has been commissioned by the We are grateful to the members of the Workspace Greater London Authority and the London Economic Advisory Group, GLA officers, and all those who gave Action Partnership (LEAP) following the advice of their time to contribute to our research and the Mayor of London’s Workspace Advisory Group development of proposals: to provide propositional guidance on how new flexible workspace can be brought forward through Alastair Parvin, Open Systems Lab Martyn Saunders, Avison Young the repurposing of existing high street buildings. The Alex Woolf, Romulus Matthew Rust, LB Croydon changing economies for the retail sector, alongside Alison Partridge, Capital Enterprise Michael Davis, JLL the shifting patterns of how and where people choose Andrew Catcheside, LB Enfield Mike Nisbet, Landsec to work, highlight significant opportunities to bring Anisha Jogani, LB Croydon Nimrod Vardi, Arbeit back into use vacant retail spaces, while providing Ashleigh Watkins, LB Barnet Ojay McDonald, Association of Town Centre flexible workspaces closer to where people live. Ben Oliver, KLM Retail Management Benjamin Carew, Othership Olly Olsen, The Office Group This pamphlet provides practical guidance and Blossom Young, Poplar HARCA Paul Hammond, Hammond Associates propositions for a reimagination of the relationships Charlotte Healy, LB Westminster Paul Hodgson, GLA Data between landlords, tenants, operators, and local David Conboy, Newsteer Philip Bier, CEO Bier Retail Ltd authorities, with the purpose of reducing the risk Duncan Ray, Remarkable City Rebbeca Trevalyan, Library of Things profile of vacant units, while ensuring that high Emily Berwyn, Meanwhile Space Richard Pestell, Stantec street assets create social value by making space Gabriela Spangenthal, LB Brent Sally Williams, Retail Revival accessible for local business and enterprise. Four George McCullough, LB Sutton Sara Turnbull, WorkWild scenarios presented focus on how large public-sector Gerard Burgess, GLA Sarah Musgrove, Urban Land Institute owned assets, empty shopping centre units, large Gordon Innes, Bloomberg Associates Shamim Akhter, LB Redbridge retail space in the Central Activities Zone (CAZ), and Hannah Clayton-Peck, Ashford Council Simon Pitkeathley, Camden Town Unlimited small units on a high street, can be repurposed for Indy Johar, Dark Matter Labs Siobhan Jared, TFL flexible workspace. The scenarios present different Ion Fletcher, British Property Foundation Vanessa Hale, Urban Land Institute ownership, delivery and operational methods, outline James Child, Estates Gazette the benefits from different stakeholder perspectives, James Sheppard, Kadans Science Partners and showcase existing examples of how such Jayne Smith, Hammond Associates innovations are already coming forward. Je Ahn, Studio Weave John Desmond, BWA Julie Khan, LB Redbridge Marcel Baettig, Bow Arts Mark Bourgeois, Hammerson 00 3 A call to action The scale of opportunity Shake-ups to the retail sector, predominantly as a This pamphlet sets out the scale of opportunity result of fast growing e-commerce and the experience that London faces in addressing these interlocking What is happening now A new way forward economy, have challenged traditional assumptions of challenges to kickstart high street recovery, namely: anchor retail tenants, and resulted in a domino effect Testing uses of high street vacancy. The compounding impact • Alleviate landlords of liability costs from empty Workspace lost to land and alternative Develop flexible of coronavirus on high street retail has been well units E-commerce pressure & Permited Fragmented Stakeholder management & affordable Curation documented, with a growing number of high profile • Create and share new contractual models for growth Development Rights Ownership partnership models workspace administrations and record numbers of store closures flexible leasing and job losses. • Secure space for entrepreneurship and build a £ pipeline of local business The reductions in high street market yields • Build new multi-stakeholder partnerships to (documented by Savills and Knight Frank) also support high street curation and manage risk Immediate risks Understanding impact challenge the valuation process, as there is increasing • Ensure asset resilience, with long-term quality of difficulty in putting a value on assets where rents may tenants and income Access to Increased enterprise & not have been paid for many months. Closures of Retail Lack of local Difficult to anchor units Vacancy access to space curate footfall Local jobs community space Alongside rising vacancy in retail spaces, London is experiencing shortages of flexible workspace Who this pamphlet is for (and in particular artist workspaces) as a result of development pressure, rising land values, and Reimagining vacant and underused spaces on high Long term risks Beneficiaries Permitted Development policies. This trend has streets requires deep collaboration and participation (direct/indirect) meant that neighbourhoods are lacking access to by all stakeholders across the public, private and affordable, secure, long-term space for business and community sectors. The scenarios explore the roles Long term community enterprise start-up and growth. of public and private landowners on high streets and vacancy and Liability Costs shopping centres, the agents and advisors involved in Job Loss growth in hard Weak local Sustainable Alievated Strong local Diversified to let units to Landlord economy Tenantship costs economy high street While initiatives around affordable workspace policy, letting and managing units, the workspace operators £ £ provision, and meanwhile activation of vacant retail and organisations supporting businesses to access £ £ stores have achieved some improvements in high workspace, and the local interest groups such as BIDs streets, the