LONDON (UK) – UK shared-office space provider Workspace Group said on Thursday it witnessed a spurt in customer inquiries in June when the lockdown curbs were gradually eased. However, it warned of short-term pressure on occupancy levels.
Lockdowns around the world forced companies to seek work-from-home options, sparking a spurt in defaults in rents for office-space providers.
“As our existing customers review their space requirements, we have seen like-for-like occupancy fall by 3% to reach 90% in the quarter and we expect to see continued pressure on occupancy levels in the short-term,” Chief Executive Officer Graham Clemett said.
The firm, which is based in London, said Customer inquiries for spaces in June rose to 765 from 272 in April.
With a customer base of over 3,000 businesses, including Hugo Boss, Nutmeg and Bloom & Wild, Workspace said customer queries nosedived by more than half in the first quarter due to the lockdown with a 64% drop in lettings.
It also said the 50% rent reduction offer during the start of the lockdown period in late-March ended in June.
The FTSE-250 listed firms, which competes with US-based WeWork, said it set up two new business centres in June and another three would be operational by within the remainder of the current fiscal.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field