It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to Marc Brough, CEO of CUBO.
The region’s economy suffered a series of shocks in 2022, with cost pressures hitting business activity and growth, but there are definitely signs of optimism as we embark on a new year.
2022 brought a further shift in the workplace, with demand for traditional offices falling. Flex office space continues to increase in popularity and from our experience at Cubo, this trend will continue into 2023.
Over the past few years, flexible working has been the catalyst for a new type of workplace; the flex office.
Flex workspaces provide businesses with the opportunity to adopt a working model that suits their needs more effectively. With tough times ahead, productivity will be key. Rather than being tied to a traditional office space, flex offices give control back to the business, enabling them to adopt a hybrid model of home and office working that will enable them to maximise productivity.
As the year progresses, I predict we will see more businesses taking up smaller offices within flex office spaces to create a more intimate and collaborative working environment. These spaces are customisable with logos and core colours to retain brand identity.
Recruitment difficulties continue to cause problems for businesses of all sizes, which has resulted in many of them being unable to grow their workforce. More and more employers see that flex office space not only makes sense from a business perspective, but from an employee recruitment and retention perspective too.
I expect that continued economic instability will push the already high demand for flex office space still further due to companies preferring flexible terms rather than committing to long term lease arrangements.
I predict that in 2023 more larger, well-established businesses will take up flex office space than ever before, exiting large long-term leased space in search of more appropriately sized options.
As the workplace revolution goes on and hybrid working grows in popularity, flex office providers will need to understand their customers’ needs and be innovative in the way their spaces are used if they want to succeed. This will be particularly important as a new generation of employees with different requirements and expectations enter the workforce.
I expect to see more flex office spaces established this year and companies that already operate flex offices will expand their portfolio due to increasing demand across the country. Cubo has gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months and our growth is set to continue, with the launch of a number of new sites and expansion in areas where we already have a presence.
As we enter 2023, I hope we will see some political stability and consistency from those people taking decisions on the direction of the UK economy following the debacle we faced during the final quarter of 2022.
