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 Russell Rigby, director of commercial property specialists Rigby & Co.
Faced with a cost of living crisis, rocketing energy bills and further economic instability, it is going to be difficult to offer any cast iron predictions around any emerging trends in the commercial property market this year.
The only sector where I believe we will see spectacular growth is the flexible office space market. During 2022, more and more companies adopted hybrid working policies which drove demand in the flex workspace market, and companies using serviced offices hit a record level.
Demand for this type of space in the UK has increased by a staggering 25% in the last 12 months alone and shows no signs of slowing down.
Flex office space is no longer just the domain of start-ups and tech companies and big businesses are now rethinking their property strategies to support flexibility to help retain and attract talent.
Further economic-driven uncertainty will continue to influence office businesses keen to incorporate flex space into their workplace strategy as more and more occupiers move to a more agile dynamic way of working and I predict that this market will be the strongest performing sector in 2023.
I expect to see more and more office occupiers, aware of the tough times ahead, placing greater emphasis on team cohesion and productivity. High quality managed workspaces such as Cubo and Connect Derby create an environment and spaces that encourage staff interaction and collaboration and will continue to attract an enticing mix of businesses.
The introduction of new Government regulations this year will also see a scheme’s ECG credentials become an increasingly important factor for office occupiers.
