According to the latest research by Savills and its flexible office sector partner Workthere, London City remains the most active flexible office market in Europe. In H1 2023, the sector accounted for 13% of London’s office take-up, followed by Prague (8%), Amsterdam (6%), Madrid (5%) and Warsaw (4%). Flexible office providers in the Czech Republic are consolidating and the market is currently dominated by three main players. In addition, growing demand is further motivating flex operators to search for new attractive locations.
Pavel Novák, Head of Office Agency Savills CZ & SK, says: “Operators of serviced offices in the Czech Republic, and mainly in Prague, which dominates this market segment, are now expanding and consolidating. Today, we can see three dominant players who have the largest network of offices – WorkLounge, Scott.Weber and IWG/Regus. Other influential players are ImpactHub and the Mo-cha concept offered by the Cimex group. However, the strategies of these key players may differ and each of them offers a slightly different product.”
Flex office providers accounted for 4% of total European office take up during the first half of this year, says the international real estate advisor. In Europe, the expansion of flex office operators is expected to increase to circa 5-8% of take up in 2024.
“Operators of flexible office space in the Czech Republic are still searching for new attractive locations. Number of transactions is to be closed in the near future. This expansion reflects the growing demand and a change in the way office space is used, which is no longer about “micro-teams” as it was in the past. After the pandemic, there is a growing demand coming from Czech companies, but also from foreign companies with smaller and medium-sized branches that prefer this model up to about 50-70 workstations. This is also due to the reduced need for operatives, increased flexibility and minimization of investments. There is even a waiting list for the most attractive office hubs,” adds Pavel Novák.
Mike Barnes, Associate Director, Savills European Research, comments: “Given employer hiring sentiment has shown signs of weakening over the last three to six months, flex contract occupancy growth will be supported by companies looking for flexible terms to ensure they optimise the right level of workspace. Flexible office occupancy will grow because of these changes.”
