Latest news with #LawrenceHutchings
Reuters
16-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UK's Workspace posts lower first-quarter occupancy as large clients exit
July 16 (Reuters) - London-focused flexible office-space provider Workspace (WKP.L), opens new tab reported on Wednesday a drop in quarterly occupancy, as larger customers vacated its properties, and warned that another major customer's exit will lead to further decline in the second quarter. Workspace has seen property valuations decline since the pandemic, as businesses ditched larger office spaces and opted for hybrid work models. The company leased a monthly average of 93 new office spaces in the quarter, compared to 102 spaces in the prior year. The company, which leases space to small businesses ranging from fintech firms to podcasters and people using AI to write music, said like-for-like occupancy dipped 0.3% to 82.2% in the first quarter. Workspace has been disposing underperforming assets and investing in refurbishing other units to retain occupants. "We have made good progress implementing the pilot projects at two of our high conviction sites, Vox Studios and The Leather Market, to test capital-light, high impact upgrades to our product," CEO Lawrence Hutchings said in a statement.
The Independent
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Workspace braces for more large firms to ditch London office spaces
London flexible office provider Workspace is bracing for large firms to continue vacating, despite signs of midweek office work returning to pre-Covid levels in the capital. Workspace said it was focused on rebuilding occupancy and taking a 'pragmatic' approach to pricing. The London-listed company said it was still seeing larger customers vacating over the latest quarter, after previously warning investors over the retreat. This is set to continue over the coming months with the company expecting more businesses to ditch its buildings in Camden. Occupancy dipped by 0.3% between April and June to total 82.2%, Workspace said. The business has previously flagged that confidence among some of its customers has been weakened by wider economic uncertainty. It comes despite signs that midweek office work has rebounded – with property giant British Land recently saying occupancy across its estate had returned to pre-Covid levels in central London. Nevertheless, recent official data showed that 28% of the UK workforce remained in hybrid work, meaning spending some days at the office or at home. Workspace owns a portfolio of about 65 properties across London and the south-east of England, providing units to some 4,000 businesses. At the end of the latest quarter, rents totalled £138.6 million, down slightly on the previous quarter. 'As expected, occupancy declined slightly in the quarter and we have more large vacations to come in Q2 (the second quarter),' Lawrence Hutchings, Workspace's chief executive said. 'Our immediate focus remains on stabilising and, over time, rebuilding occupancy.' Mr Hutchings said it was taking action to 'retain and attract more customers', including refurbishments at some of its sites and targeting marketing efforts for local offices with fewer occupants. He added that the group had sold lower-performing sites, most recently in the Brentford and Ladbroke Grove areas, for a combined £15 million.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Workspace faces occupancy slump as major clients prepare to vacate
Workspace Group is preparing for more major business clients to vacate after the flexible office space provider saw occupancy levels fall in the first quarter. The business told investors on Wednesday it saw more 'larger customers vacating' in the three months to 30 June, with further larger-scale clients expected to vacate in the second quarter. 'Our immediate focus remains on stabilising and, over time, rebuilding occupancy', Lawrence Hutchings, chief executive of Workspace, said. Like-for-like occupancy slipped 0.3 per cent in the quarter to 82.2 per cent. The London-focused group said its like-for-like rent per sq. ft. was 'stable' in the first quarter, at £47.42. The group saw 278 new lettings completed in the quarter, with a total rental value of £7.1million per year. It leased a monthly average of 93 new office spaces in the period, compared to 102 spaces in the previous year. Workspace has seen property valuations fall since the pandemic, as businesses ditched larger office spaces and opted for hybrid work models. The company has been disposing underperforming assets and investing in refurbishing other units to retain occupants. Hutchings said: 'As expected, occupancy declined slightly in the quarter and we have more large vacations to come in Q2. 'We have made good progress implementing the pilot projects at two of our high conviction sites, Vox Studios and The Leather Market, to test capital-light, high impact upgrades to our product. 'We have also seen success in leasing up some of the larger spaces thanks to more targeted marketing initiatives. 'We are confident that these strategic actions, once rolled out more widely across the portfolio, will help us retain and attract more customers.' The group said it had a 'robust' balance sheet with £267million of cash. The company leases space to small businesses ranging from fintech firms to podcasters and people using AI to write music. It owns a portfolio of about 70 properties across London and the south-east of England, providing office space to more than 4,000 businesses. In May, Workspace cut its profit expectations for the next year, citing increased churn of large occupiers and higher costs. Workspace shares fell 1.01 per cent or 4.00p to 393.00p on Wednesday, having fallen over 37 per cent in the last year.
New Straits Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
UK's Workspace Group expects subdued rental demand for larger office spaces to persist
KUALA LUMPUR: Workspace Group expects challenges with renting out its bigger office spaces to persist in the current fiscal year, the UK-focussed company said on Thursday, after it reported a drop in occupancy due to vacancies at larger units. The company, which leases out space to small businesses ranging from fintech firms to podcasters and people using AI to write music, said like-for-like occupancy was at 83 per cent in the fiscal year ended March 31, compared with 88 per cent a year earlier. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Workspace, like other commercial properly landlords, has seen property valuations decline since the pandemic, as businesses ditched larger office spaces and opted for hybrid work models. High borrowing costs have also hurt landlords and small businesses. CONTEXT Under new CEO Lawrence Hutchings, the London-listed firm is focusing on boosting rental yields by converting larger spaces into smaller units, lowering debt through asset sales and cutting costs. KEY QUOTES "Our number one priority in the near-term is to recover the occupancy we have lost," Hutchings said in a statement on Thursday. "Last year we saw quite a significant reduction in the property valuation … largely driven by the fact that interest rates went up very significantly," finance chief Dave Benson told Reuters. BY THE NUMBERS Workspace said its estimated rental value (ERV) for rental spaces under 1,000 square feet rose 3.4 per cent in the fiscal year, while that of larger units fell 0.8 per cent. The company reported a pretax profit of 5.4 million pounds (US$7.33 million) in the fiscal year, compared with a loss of 192 million pounds a year earlier, thanks to tighter cost control. EPRA net tangible assets — an industry measure that represents the value of its buildings — fell 3.3 per cent to 7.74 pounds per share in the period.
