PWC’s former Global Real Estate Leader to lead Instant’s drive to increase the supply of flexible workspace in response to rapidly increasing customer demand.

Craig Hughes has joined The Instant Group after 10 years with PwC, where he was the Global Real Estate Leader. Craig will be the CEO of Partnerships, helping landlords and operators capture the huge demand for flexible space. He will leverage Instant’s full range of capabilities and data to enable the real estate industry’s successful transition to a greater proportion of flex and virtual solutions alongside their traditional offerings.

Instant has recently announced mergers with digital assets including Easyoffices.com, Meetingo.com, Rovva and Worka, and the acquisition of Davinci, the meeting room and virtual office specialist, and Coworker.com, the leading aggregator for coworking.

“In recent weeks, we have announced our intention to create the world’s largest marketplace for flex space and attracting an industry leader with the depth of relationships and experience of Craig is critical to our plan,” explained Tim Rodber, CEO of The Instant Group.

He added, “With our unique, data-led view of the market and Craig’s knowledge, we are very well placed to enable landlords, hoteliers and operators to evolve their operations to match the increased demand for flex space with more supply.”  

“Pre-pandemic, customer needs were already evolving. Now, the way in which life and work changed has massively accelerated those trends. Occupiers need an industry that can offer the full range of services from the traditional office through flex and into the technology-enabled world of virtual work,” explained Craig Hughes. “Instant is uniquely placed to enable occupiers to procure the space they need anywhere in the world, and for suppliers to deliver that space. I have spent the last 20 years advising the landlord and investor market. This is a moment of significant reflection and focus on meeting their customers’ needs. Instant holds the key to driving successful customer relationships and quality of service.”

Flexible workspace – coworking, serviced offices and executive suites – still only makes up less than one percent of total office supply globally, but with demand increasing by double digits each year since 2008, according to data from the platform www.instantoffices.com. The Instant Group’s estimates suggest that flex space will need to double that level of supply by 2025 to match the growth in customer requirements.

The Instant Group’s newly enhanced marketplace serves more than 250,000 businesses in 175 countries, operating 24/7 through an integrated platform in more than 40 languages. It will bring together more than 30,000 workspaces and will offer a range of services to clients including membership plans, on-demand, virtual offices, office booking, managed offices and consulting services. The business is planning to IPO by the end of 2023.