Your Flex Monthly: November 2026 Edition: Inside the UK and Irish Flexible workspace scene

Another busy month in flex!

Welcome to the November edition of Your Flex Monthly.

We’re now approaching the end of 2026, and it’s been another interesting few weeks across the flexible workspace sector.

There’s been plenty of activity, from new openings and operator expansion to some encouraging trading figures and fresh research into the UK and Irish markets.

What continues to interest me is how much the sector is changing. Flexible workspace is no longer just about serviced offices in major cities. We’re seeing operators expand into regional towns, landlords increasingly embrace management agreements and businesses look for more choice in how and where they work.

Of course, growth doesn’t automatically mean everything is rosy. Operators still need to manage costs, maintain occupancy and deliver a product that customers genuinely value.

Anyway, here’s what’s been happening.

News Round Up

IWG passes 5,000 open locations

One of the biggest stories this month comes from International Workplace Group (IWG), the company behind Regus, Spaces, HQ and several other workspace brands.

In its third quarter trading update, published on 3 November, IWG confirmed that its global network has now surpassed 5,000 open centres.

The group reported quarterly system wide revenue of $1.26 billion, up 12% on the previous year, with 211 new centres opening during the quarter.

Perhaps more interesting is the continued growth of its managed business, which saw system wide revenue increase by 27% is this a hint of the future

IWG expects annual centre openings to reach up to 1,000 during 2027.

It’s a remarkable scale of expansion, and another indication of just how important asset light management agreements have become to the industry’s growth.

Source: IWG, Q3 Trading Statement, 3 November 2026.

Boutique Workplace Company expands in Milton Keynes

The Boutique Workplace Company Boutique Workplace Co has announced plans for a further 25,000 sq ft of flexible workspace at The Pinnacle in Milton Keynes.

The new offering, known as The Exchange, is expected to open in January 2027 and will include 50 private office suites, space for up to 400 desks, meeting rooms and a coworking lounge.

The expansion will take the operator’s presence at the building from one floor to three.

It’s another example of established operators looking beyond Central London for opportunities.

Milton Keynes has a growing business community and excellent transport connections, making it an interesting location for a more premium workspace offering.

Source: Flex and the City, 2 November 2026.

Regus (IWG) continues its regional expansion

Regus has been preparing to open a new flexible workspace centre at Arden Court in Stratford upon Avon.

The centre, scheduled to open from mid October, will provide more than 150 workspaces alongside private offices, coworking, meeting rooms and business lounge facilities.

What interests me about openings like this is the increasing focus on smaller regional markets.

Not every business wants or needs a city centre office. For many SMEs, professional services firms and hybrid teams, a convenient location closer to home can be just as attractive.

It will be interesting to see how these regional centres perform as more operators compete for local business.

This does not surprise me – there is now a Regus 8 minutes from where I live in semi-rural fife , in Kirkcaldy

Source: FlexWorkspace, October 2026.

UK and Ireland now have nearly 4,900 flexible workspaces

New research reported in October, drawing on CoworkingCafe’s third quarter dataset, puts the number of flexible workspace locations across the UK and Ireland at 4,876.

Of these, 4,597 are in the UK and 279 in Ireland.

London remains by far the largest market, with 1,276 locations, followed by Manchester with 127.

Scotland also features prominently, with Glasgow recording 85 locations and Edinburgh 62.

It’s encouraging to see the scale of the market beyond London, although location numbers alone don’t tell us much about occupancy, profitability or the actual demand for space.

For operators, understanding the local market remains far more important than simply following national growth trend

One thing from me CoworkingCafedata is always pretty solid I believe the market to be even bigger – true flex is beyond just offices and coworking – its creative studios , flex industrial, therpay rooms and even pop-up retail however reporting this is a challenge

Source: Hobbs Independent, 27 October 2026, reporting CoworkingCafe data.

Connected Hubs Scotland Continues to Grow

Not to be outdone by IWG , The Connected Hubs Scotland network continues to expand, helping connect professionals, entrepreneurs, remote workers and businesses with high-quality workspaces across Scotland.

Designed to support flexible and hybrid working, Connected Hubs Scotland brings together a diverse network of coworking spaces, business centres and innovation hubs, making it easier for people to work closer to home while remaining connected to thriving business communities.

I was delighted to personally introduce three new locations to the network:

📍 Northwood House 1880, Dundee Northwood House 1880

📍 Braemore Space, Ullapool Braemore Space

📍 Stravaig Space, rural Perthshire Stravaig Space Ltd

Each brings its own unique offering, extending the reach of flexible workspace into both urban and rural communities. Their addition strengthens the network’s mission to provide accessible, professional work environments throughout Scotland while supporting local economic growth, collaboration and innovation.

As demand for flexible working continues to evolve, the growth of Connected Hubs Scotland demonstrates the important role independent workspaces play in creating opportunities for businesses and professionals wherever they choose to work.

Welcome to the network! 🚀

Dublin’s office market shows resilience

Colliers’ latest Dublin office market report, published on 8 October, paints a relatively encouraging picture.

The city recorded approximately 531,000 sq ft of office take up during the third quarter, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2026 to around 1.6 million sq ft.

Vacancy also fell to 13.4%, compared with 14.3% a year earlier.

One particularly interesting transaction was flexible workspace operator Pembr taking approximately 39,600 sq ft at 16 St Stephen’s Green, a deal originally announced earlier in the year.

Dublin continues to attract significant interest from technology, financial services and international businesses.

Although these figures cover the wider office market rather than flex specifically, the continued demand for quality office accommodation is encouraging.

For flexible workspace operators, the challenge will be ensuring their products remain competitive as occupiers weigh up traditional leases against serviced and managed office alternatives.

Source: Colliers Ireland, Q3 Office Market Report, 8 October 2026.

Promotion at Wizu

Congratulations to flexible workspace veteran Scott Dickson on your promotion to Acquisitions Lead at Wizu/Flexico Workspace. A fantastic achievement and well deserved recognition of your hard work, commercial success, and contribution to the growth of the business. Wishing you every success as you lead the acquisition of new locations and partnerships, helping drive the next phase of expansion for the Wizu Workspace portfolio. Another sign of the growth in the market.

Looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Social Hub Expands

The Social Hub (B Corp™) has submitted plans for a £200 million development in the Fountainbridge area of central Edinburgh.The proposed development would deliver a 580-bed facility spanning student, hotel, and extended-stay accommodation; a co-working area for up to 300 people; and social spaces including a restaurant, café, rooftop bar, theatre, and gym. It is expected to directly create 100 new jobs.

Source: Invest in Edinburgh

GTA 6 and the Office Market: Could it Impact Office Lease-Up?

With the release of GTA 6 expected to capture the attention of millions worldwide, some employers may be wondering whether this cultural phenomenon will affect workplace attendance?

I suspect may be a short-term spike in annual leave requests and a few more people choosing to work remotely during launch week, office leasing decisions are driven by much larger factors such as business growth, hiring plans, workforce strategy and economic confidence.

The real challenge for workspace operators isn’t GTA 6, it’s ensuring their product, community and customer experience remain strong enough to keep members engaged and growing. 🎮🏢📈

Depending on your member make-up I suspect a smart flexible workspace somewhere might set up a TV and PS5 in their breakout space!

Growth Is Great, But What About Performance?

Reading through this month’s news, one thing stands out.

The sector certainly isn’t short of ambition.

New centres, larger networks, more management agreements and continued investment all suggest that flexible workspace remains an attractive proposition.

But I do wonder whether we spend enough time talking about the performance of the spaces we already have.

Opening a new centre is exciting. Getting it to a sustainable level of occupancy, maintaining sensible pricing, developing additional revenue streams and delivering consistently good customer service is another matter entirely. Lets not forget the lessons learned from aggressive expansion of WeWork their eventual bankruptcy and their significant turnaround since

Having now worked as management consultantsince leaving Clockwise , I’ve seen how relatively small improvements can make a significant difference to a centre’s financial performance.

Sometimes the answer isn’t a new location, a refurbishment or another marketing campaign.

It might be improving how enquiries are handled, reviewing the product mix, building stronger relationships with local agents or simply giving centre teams the tools and support they need to succeed.

As we head towards 2027, I suspect operational performance and commercial discipline will be just as important as expansion.

Jobs in Flex

Looking for your next opportunity in the flexible workspace sector?

I’ll be sharing a selection of vacancies across the UK and Ireland, covering operations, sales, community management and senior leadership.

Current opportunities

Fora are recruiting for a Head of Facilities in London

BASEare looking for a candidate to support central London leasing

Orega are recruiting a number of customer service roles in London , Birmingham and Manchester

If you’re recruiting within the sector and would like your vacancy featured in a future edition, please get in touch.

Until Next Month

As we approach the end of the year, it’s a good opportunity for operators and landlords to reflect on what’s worked, what hasn’t and where the opportunities might be in 2027.

At Your Flex Expert, I work with workspace operators, landlords and businesses across the UK, helping with everything from finding the right space to improving commercial performance, sales and operations.

Whether you’re planning a new workspace, reviewing an existing centre or simply want to exchange ideas about the sector, I’m always happy to have a conversation.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back next month with the final edition of 2026.

About Your Flex Expert

Your Flex Expert, founded by Steven Carr, is a specialist management consultancy dedicated to the flexible workspace, coworking and commercial property sectors.

Drawing on over 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, business development and workspace operations, Your Flex Expert helps operators, landlords and property owners maximise occupancy, increase revenue and strengthen their market position.

From serviced offices and coworking spaces to business centres and mixed-use commercial properties, Your Flex Expert provides practical, hands-on support across sales strategy, lead generation, occupancy growth, customer experience, marketing, partnerships and operational performance.

Whether launching a new workspace, improving lease-up rates, developing a local marketing strategy or identifying new revenue opportunities, Your Flex Expert delivers commercially focused solutions tailored to the unique challenges of the flexible workspace industry.

Helping flexible workspaces attract more customers, grow stronger communities and achieve sustainable business growth