New Work, an independent flexible office operator in Central and Eastern Europe, has secured new funding to accelerate the implementation of their 360° Workspace Solution strategy.
In early March New Work launched their 360° Workspace Solution, transforming their approach to clients to address major changes in the flexible office industry. According to Michael Smithing, the CDO of New Work, “Our business is not about collecting rents anymore, it´s about providing services proactively. While demand for existing services will grow significantly in the near future, we’re working on a few innovations that will drive an entirely new client base to the flex office market.”
“The fact that we were able to close our latest capital increase in such difficult times is proof that New Work is on the right track and our products fulfil the requirements of landlords and tenants. The €2.1 million Series B capital increase secures the opportunity to further develop and implement our 360° Workspace Solution, addressing the new reality no matter what it looks like,” says Marcin Sojda, CFO of New Work.
Research by Colliers International indicates that flexible offices are the fastest-growing segment of the commercial real estate market, and their recent experience in Asia suggests that COVID-19 will further increase demand from corporate occupiers as they seek to de-risk their portfolios during the remainder of 2020.
“In the current situation, almost every company has been forced to reorganize or re-plan their business. While a significant portion of office workers are now working from home, many companies are looking to the flex office market to provide temporary quiet accommodation in individual or small team offices in a bid to maintain employee productivity. We have also seen a number of major occupiers turn to the flex office market to support their business continuity plans. We’re seeing interest today from both small businesses and corporate clients who are seeking offices for immediate occupancy post-crisis, and have had a number of very positive conversations with property owners who see the potential in our business model and want to deepen our cooperation.” emphasized Hubert Abt, CEO of New Work.
New Work’s 360° Workspace Solution provides occupiers with complete office infrastructure, including furniture, conference rooms, fully equipped kitchen and Internet, along with administrative and technical support - without the need for a long-term commitment or any capital investment. New Work is actively developing even more innovative customer-focused services tailored to meet anticipate the needs of existing and new clients.
“We are constantly in contact with our clients to adjust our services to their needs. Closing the Series B capital increase provides us with sufficient funds to redesign our business model for the future. We are currently double-checking the feasibility of implementing the 360° Workspace Solution Platform at all of our locations, and we will exit locations where this can’t be implemented. While it’s always a difficult decision to exit a property, we have a clear mandate from our investors to transform our business for the future. For now, we’ll exit four business centres including one location each in Kyiv, Prague, Bucharest and Budapest. Even with this drop, we will still have 20 locations this year including new openings at Alchemia in Gdansk and Hi Piotrkowska in Lodz in the second half of the year,” adds Hubert Abt.
