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Who are the three major competitors in the Coworking spaces in London industry and how do they differentiate themselves (products, target markets, brand positioning, etc.)?
Hi! Thank you for your question about the three major competitors in the Coworking spaces in London industry and how do they differentiate themselves (products, target markets, brand positioning, etc.).
In short, I have provided competitive analysis of three players in the area of co-working competing with Regus and WeWork as well as general trends in the industry. I found the forbes, business insider, telegraph and individual websites to be the most helpful in answering this question. I have provided a deep dive of my findings below.
OVERVIEW
Regus operates a model of providing temporary co-working or independent space primarily focused on small businesses and companies. WeWork has a different take – offering a creative workspace and encouraging the use of common space to collaborate with other companies. The list of competitors in this space are numerous – all with different customized offerings to cater to the demand such as some may offer meeting rooms, some offer networking events and workshops, cafes, eating options and many more. There are over 1000 companies providing co-working spaces in London itself. I have provided a competitive analysis of 3 competitors, who may not be major in terms of valuation, but have opted for different business models to the same demand below. In terms of size, the largest competitors may be The Office Group, ServCorp, RocketSpace, Loopnet, ABCN and alliance virtual offices. So many more also turn up and their valuations or revenues are not public.
I have uploaded the competitive landscape spreadsheet here. While Rocketspace has a low presence in London, it has a different business model and therefore, I have included it in the analysis.
GENERAL TRENDS OF THE INDUSTRY
The industry in evolving in multiple directions. WeWork has over 85-90% of space as private offices and meeting rooms. While newer players have shaped the workspaces in a more communal format to allow for collaboration based on activity-based work settings. While there are many factors, rising rent in cities has been a reason for the evolution of this industry. Some have focused on targeting niche such as women’s only, writers or designers or other groups to generate a sticky client base, others have proactively diversified their renter base to hedge against a downturn by having a mix of startups, small businesses, established corporations and sole proprietors. The idea of co-working spaces is also being adopted by corporations due to continually low employee engagement rates.
Due to these factors, some of the trends in the industry are targeting specific sectors and professional groups through building stronger community using mentoring services, training programs, events and workshops and more. Expansion into multiple location is allowing players to provide options to clients to use spaces at multiple locations with the same membership. To tap into larger clients and foster community building exercises, larger spaces are being negotiated and newer services are being offered such as concierge services, group discounts and more. Collaboration is a major driving factor to co-working spaces – corporates are moving entire teams to collaborate with startups. Lastly, the industry is looking beyond workspaces into living spaces.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, I have provided competitive analysis of three players in the area of co-working competing with Regus and WeWork as well as general trends in the industry.
I hope the research is useful. Thank you for using Wonder!