Your Flex Monthly: October 2026

Inside the UK and Irish Flexible Workspace Sector

A slightly delayed edition… for good reason!

Well, this month’s newsletter has landed a little later than planned. The simple reason? I’ve been busy. Between advising occupiers, supporting operators, working on new projects and helping flexible workspace providers navigate growth opportunities, time got away from me.

That said, there’s been plenty happening across the flex sector, so let’s get into it.

News Round-Up

Hubflow expands in the City

British flexible workspace operator Hubflow is adding around 2,300 sq m across two new City of London locations, taking its network to ten sites. The expansion follows a €4 million investment from Whiterock announced in 2025.

Projects opens in Tunbridge Wells

Projects has opened its doors in Tunbridge Wells, bringing another high-quality, design-led workspace offering to the market. It’s encouraging to see investment continuing in regional flex markets outside the traditional city centre hotspots.

Orega enters a new chapter

Private equity firm Apiary Capital has backed the management buyout of Orega marking a significant milestone for one of the UK’s most established flexible workspace providers. Orega has long been recognised as a pioneer of management agreement structures within the sector, and it’ll be interesting to see what the next phase of growth looks like.

MetSpace has a strong Q2

According to Flex in the City, managed office specialist MetSpace London had a busy second quarter, taking on 21,425 sq ft across six Central London locations. Impressively, almost 80% of the space brought to market is already let or under offer.

Brightstone Spaces expands in Fife

Closer to home, Brightstone Spaces led by Christopher Brown and Andrew Harkins have completed the acquisition of three business centres:

• Rosyth Business Centre
• Dalgety Bay Business Centre
• Liberty House

The deal adds approximately 58,000 sq ft of office, studio, warehouse and storage space, taking Brightstone’s portfolio to around 65,000 sq ft across Falkirk and Fife. A significant milestone for the business and further evidence that demand for local flexible space solutions remains strong.

Regus Launch Coworking in Kirkcaldy 

We often associate Regus with big city locations , but the largest operator has expanded its offerings in its Kirkcaldy site to include dedicated coworking desks at the very affordable rate of £89-99 a month plus VAT – check out more here 

Movers & Shakers

Congratulations to several former colleagues and industry contacts on their recent promotions and career moves.

• Sandra Merwa becomes Interim Area Community Manager for Edinburgh and Glasgow.
• Dawid Nastalek steps into a new Community Team Lead role in Edinburgh.
• Peter Allen has been appointed Interim Head of Operations.
• Kirsty Floyd takes on the role of Regional Operations Managerat Wizu

• Oli Ring moves into a Head of Growth role at Runway East.
• Charli Stanger-Leathes has been promoted to Senior Sales Manager at Techspace.
• Andrew Debenham joins Gilbanks as Commercial Director to support its national expansion plans.

Congratulations to everyone on their well-deserved appointments.

Career Development in Flex: Are We Doing Enough?

Speaking of career moves, a recent report from BE News highlighted that 74% of front-of-house employees working in flexible workspace environments would consider leaving their roles due to a perceived lack of career progression opportunities.

The statistic caught my attention.

I started my own journey in flex as a temporary front-of-house/assistant manager. Over the years I worked my way through numerous roles in the sector

I never felt there was a lack of opportunity. What I did feel was a lack of structured training and clearly defined development pathways.

A lot of learning came through experience, mentorship and occasionally making mistakes.

Despite the incredible growth of the flexible workspace sector, there is still relatively little formal career development aimed at early and mid-career flex professionals.

Compared with traditional property disciplines, there remains a gap in structured education, accreditation and progression routes.

Thankfully, one of the most rewarding parts of my current role is working with operators and individuals across the sector and sharing lessons learned from a varied career in workspace

The Scottish Flex Forum – October Event

The Scottish Flex Forum takes place on:

📅 15 October

📍 The Auction Rooms, Edinburgh The Auction Rooms by Mota

We’ll be joined by Manuel Conti CEO of Pont, who will be delivering an interactive session for attendees.

As always, the event is:

• Free to attend
• Open to leaders and decision makers within the flexible workspace sector
• A fantastic opportunity to connect with peers across Scotland

If you’d like to attend, drop me a message.

Is a Virtual Office Worth It?

One of the questions I’m asked most frequently is:

“Are virtual offices worth it?”

My answer is generally yes, but with a few caveats.

For many businesses, a virtual office can provide a professional address, credibility and mail handling services at a fraction of the cost of physical office space. However, success depends on operators maintaining robust compliance procedures and ensuring services are managed correctly.

I’ve recently shared a deeper dive into the topic for anyone weighing up the pros and cons.

Virtual Office Services: Boost Your Revenue Stream – Your Flex Expert I Find Flexible Business Space

Jobs in Flex

If you’re looking for your next challenge, here are some of the current opportunities catching my eye:

• Patch– Finance Director (London)
• Quintessential – Centre Manager (Glasgow)
• The Melting Pot Edinburgh – Freelance Events Lead (Edinburgh)
• Ethical Property – Finance Director
• Making Moves London – Senior Agency Role (London)
• Making Moves – Senior Project Management Role (London)
• Kitt Offices – Junior/Mid-Level Leasing Manager (London)
• Artistic Spaces Limited – Facilities Manager, Brentford Campus
• Business First Limited – Centre Manager, Brierfield (Nelson)

Until Next Month

As always, if you’re:

✅ Looking for flexible workspace

✅ Considering launching a flex offering

✅ Reviewing your current workplace strategy

✅ Hiring within the sector

✅ Looking to connect with operators across the UK

I’d love to hear from you.

Steven Carr Your Flex Expert Ltd

Helping occupiers, landlords and operators navigate the flexible workspace market across the UK.