While American WeWork’s days seem increasingly numbered, one of its direct competitors – this one from Switzerland – is quickly gaining market share at its expense, both in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada and the US.
“We have the wind in our sails,” acknowledges IWG (for International Workplace Group) Canada Vice President and Growth Partner Melissa Belisle. In the last 18 months we have opened 35 new centers, at least four of which are in Quebec. And it’s not over yet. »
Founded around thirty years ago, IWG has 3,500 coworking spaces in 120 countries around the world. Of these, 144 are in Canada, including 19 in Quebec, under three better-known brands: Regus, SPACES and HQ.
Unlike WeWork, whose operations are concentrated in Montreal, IWG doesn’t hesitate to venture outside major centers. While thirteen spaces of varying sizes and brands have already opened in the metropolitan area, three have also opened in Quebec, two in Gatineau and one in Sherbrooke, where a second is expected to be added soon.
What Spaces’ future 35,000 square meter offices at Square Victoria in Montreal will look like. The opening is planned for January. Photo from IWG website
According to real estate firm Colliers International, the availability rate of office towers in Montreal’s CBD reached a record 21.5% last quarter. Regardless, “coworking is not dead,” emphasizes Ms. Belisle.
While several companies are still hesitant to call employees back to their city center offices, she believes all workers – often residents of the same central neighborhoods – have a right to a suitable workplace.
One of the recipes for IWG’s apparent success lies in the fact that, post-pandemic, the company decided to focus its efforts on offering workspace management.
So instead of entering into expensive rental agreements with property owners with the aim of subsequently renting them out, the company now offers them its flexible space management services.
Certainly the owners of increasingly neglected towers are not attracting new tenants. In return, together with IWG, they offer themselves the opportunity to take advantage of the flexible workplace rental in their own four walls.
The need is there, and obviously the demand is there too. According to Colliers assistant vice president Mathieu Tournament, the Swiss group is in a good position to take advantage of the lease renegotiations that WeWork is preparing to save the furniture.
Due to the gradual introduction of hybrid working, IWG estimates that up to 30% of commercial properties will be flexible workspaces by 2030.