IWG Plays The California Coworking Card In Birmingham

IWG is to bring its post-Covid neighbourhood-focused Spaces OpenDesk coworking format to the UK.

The flexible working brand — designed to meet post-pandemic needs and based in prominent former retail locations — debuted in Napa, California, earlier this year. The Birmingham outlet will be its second.

OpenDesk was created in direct response to the growing demand for flexible workspace accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.

IWG said OpenDesk offers maximum flexibility and greater privacy than traditional coworking, using magnetic screens to create privacy clusters for larger teams or for meetings. Each workspace can be accessed using Spaces’ mobile app, providing 24/7 working for members. 

The OpenDesk concept will feature prominently within retail/high street settings and follows IWG’s commitment to locate flexible workspace facilities at employees’ doorsteps and close to public transport, reducing their commutes and supporting hybrid working. 

The new 50K SF Birmingham outlet will open in the first quarter of 2022.

A former shop at The Mailbox mixed-use development in central Birmingham will be converted to house 350 workstations.

The Mailbox is owned by Mailbox REIT, which is listed on IPSX, the first dedicated stock exchange for real estate, and is asset managed by M7 Real Estate.

“We will be bringing the Spaces OpenDesk concept to more locations and believe this latest innovation has the ability to transform retail spaces and play an integral role in the high street of the future,” IWG founder and Chief Executive Mark Dixon said.

“Introducing workspaces into retail centres helps revitalise disused spaces, generates economic activity, and creates better solutions which support hybrid working.”