What problem are you trying to solve?

If you’re not asking your employees to be in the office 40-60% of the time, why maintain an office 100% of the time?

This is a question CONVENiO co-founder Peter Stansfield has been grappling with. CONVENiO was born at the height of COVID when an ever-increasing number of companies were walking away from their office lease commitments. 

Many of these companies would continue operating remotely, but they would still need a place to physically come together with their teams.  The obvious answer was the Space-as-a-Service providers (coworking / serviced offices), but whilst the lease deals they offer are not as long as the traditional office, they still required a commitment of 1 month+.  This was a barrier to many companies, who didn’t want to return to any type of lease commitment.

“In late July 2020 we started searching online for office space that would work for companies in this position.  What we found was a real surprise.  We were looking for fitted out office space, ideally self-contained, that was available for just 1 day.  The coworking providers had a desk or a meeting room for a day and the serviced office providers had a small day office available, but once the capacity went over 5 people it fell off a cliff – there was nothing for companies to come together in a familiar workplace environment, without committing to a lease.” says Peter Stansfield.

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Source: CONVENiO

And what of those with office space to lease who were also feeling the heat, as the impact of COVID intensified? Landlords had empty space, the flexible space providers saw tenants walking away and the sub lease market across key Australian cities reached record levels.  “Sydney sublease space continues to rise (56% increase), and Melbourne exceeded its previous high in 2013 (46% increase).” Source: CBRE Sublease Barometer Australia CBD Report Sept 2020.

How are you planning to solve it?

In response to this CONVENiO set up www.conveniospace.com an Airbnb style, Space-as-a-Service marketplace that connects those with unused office space with those companies that needed it.  The key difference is the commitment - there is none!  All space on the marketplace can be booked from as short as 1 day with no lease required.

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The concept of zero commitment when dealing with office space is alien to many: both providers and users alike.  CONVENiO have found the Space-as-a-Service providers to be the first cabs off the rank in grasping this opportunity.  

The Executive Centre were one of the first to list on the marketplace “The impact of COVID has made many business leaders realise that flexibility is here to stay, and we are receiving an increase in requests for flexible arrangements. CONVENiO provides the perfect partnership in order to offer our spaces and facilities in an ‘on demand’ manner without the need for a paid membership or lease commitment.  We’re excited to see the development of this service in providing customers with this increased level of flexibility.” Robert How, Country Director, Australia.

CONVENiO expects the surging sub lease market to be next to list, with 95% of the sub lease stock being fitted out and ready to go. (Source: CBRE Sublease Barometer Australia CBD Report Sept 2020.)

So, do you still need a permanent office if you’ve adopted Hybrid working?

If your company was able to operate when the majority of its employees worked from home, if measures have been taken to digitise paperwork and files and folders are accessible from the cloud, then it’s very likely that a permanent office is no longer necessary.  Adopting Hybrid Working and/or coming together as a company or in smaller groups e.g., departments / teams in fitted out office space once or twice a week will strike the balance needed. It will provide enough opportunities for employees to come together in person and all the benefits that brings a company, whilst the bottom line is boosted by significant real estate savings.

Future prediction

Is this the death of the traditional 10-year lease?  No, but will there be less demand, most definitely yes.

“Employees are demanding greater flexibility from their employers and in turn companies are demanding greater flexibility from their space providers.  This is driving the way office space is being consumed.  A transition is taking place to a Space-as-a-Service (SPaaS) model, which is rapidly gathering momentum and is expected to be a key trend in 2021.” states Stansfield.

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