Home away from home: How Kitt’s
vision secured ‘Best Managed Product’ victory

Hot off the success of building JustPark into a parking app phenomenon, co-founders Lucy Minton and Steve Coulson found themselves facing an office hunt that spiralled into a nine-month ordeal of design setbacks and management frustrations. Traditional leasing was a maze, and co-working spaces fell short of their vision for a branded, culture-driven environment.

Fast forward 6 years, the dynamic duo secured the coveted title of ‘Best Managed Product’ at Flex and The City’s inaugural Awards Night. We sat down with the newly crowned winners to unravel Kitt’s standing as a pioneer of the managed office arena and their rapid rise to “best” product status.

Kitt takes the Krown.

Taking the ‘Best Managed Product’ title felt like a natural progression for those already acquainted with Kitt’s significant impact on the industry. Supported by widespread acclaim from top industry professionals in the lead-up to the event, Kitt’s victory was sealed by a panel of expert judges who valued their unique, thorough approach—one that has positioned Kitt as a first port of call in the managed office sector. Steve explains, “of all leases in London, we have a 5% market share” when it comes to leases under 10,000 sq ft – impressive to say the least.

Reflecting on their achievement, Kitt commented, “This award is a testament to our team’s dedication to redefining the office experience and creating spaces worth leaving home for.” After triumphing over prominent competitors such as Let Ready, Knotel, Storey, MetSpace and Situu, Lucy shared, “It was such an honor to be acknowledged—it came as a complete surprise to us!”

A noteworthy year

Since its inception, Kitt has completed over 200 transactions. This year alone, they transacted “over 150,000 square feet of office space,” cementing their reputation as a trusted partner for agents across the sector while securing the loyalty of top brands worldwide.

“2024 has been a landmark year for Kitt” Lucy proudly discloses. A year that has seen the managed operator attract larger occupiers, already established in offices but on the hunt for that elite service standard. Take the 9,300 sq ft headquarters Kitt secured for Flo Health, a “standout achievement” on behalf of the tech giant behind the leading women’s health app. What’s more, they’ve won “three contracts from competitors recently”, one being a staggering almost 10,000sq ft space, “where the occupier chose to move to us from another provider”. 

That the tenant jumped ship in favour of the managed operator, reflects a growing trend of businesses prioritising service quality and SLA transparency.  It is a rarity for any operator to incorporate an SLA within their contract, and yet for Steve its a no-brainer: “They've all demanded SLA’s within our contracts, which is unheard of but I think it's great, I want to be sacked if I do a bad job. It sets a higher bar that other people can't reach”.

After all, with over a million on the line, delivering a great job is a minimum...As always, client loyalty speaks volumes. “We’ve supported growth for clients such as Believ, expanding their London office, and Capital on Tap, who have grown their London and Brighton offices.” With an ability to deliver not just once, but time and time again, Kitt clearly has client retention on lock.

How it started vs. how it’s going

Lucy and Steve are forever channelling their Just Park days into Kitt’s decision-making and DNA. Steve tells Flex and The City, “with JustPark, we were running 55,000 car parks for 15 million drivers with an ops team of one. And we thought, we should do the same in offices. The principles are the same, digitalizing the noise away, and making the product easy to buy for an underserved set of the market, and for us it was those who were too big for a WeWork.” 

Businesses inevitably reach a stage where they evolve beyond the startup ethos and seek a more sophisticated, yet straightforward setting. With no viable options available, Kitt recognized a glaring gap in the market: the need for a streamlined, fully managed office solution that’s both bespoke and hassle-free.

Steve elaborates, “we noticed that 50% of WeWork’s clients were enterprise, and chose WeWork, almost in spite of the product, because it was so easy, not because it was the best product. We realised that clients are willing to pay a premium, even though the product isn’t right for a business of that scale. So, we focussed on building the ‘right’ product.” 

Thus, Kitt was born in 2018— designed to fill this gap by introducing a transformative new option in office space solutions. “Things just accelerated”, Steve reiterates. “I think the whole market has now moved this way, and I think we were a big part of creating this category”, and he’s right.

Going beyond the logo

There’s no doubt—Kitt is cut from a different cloth. The operator’s entire ethos is rooted in true customisation and the idea of giving a brand a real home. As they put it, “building an office around your brand is more than just slapping a logo on the wall”.

For Kitt’s power-duo, stepping into JustPark’s office was a lightbulb moment where their vision crystalized. Every detail reflected the brand “from the moment you walked in, it felt different,” they recall. “It wasn’t because they had a brand on the door. People were literally moving houses to live near the office, there was a magnetism to it.”

It is this very magnetism, sense of connection and purpose that Kitt seeks to replicate with every tenant’s new home, “something no serviced office can truly provide”. When covid hit, it only hammered home what we know all too well, how much we “miss moments of everyday magic by sitting behind a screen at home”. For Kitt, the absence of real, face-to-face interaction and spontaneous sparks of collaboration is “profoundly dangerous”. 

Now, creating an office that’s genuinely worth leaving home for is more imperative than ever. This isn’t just about aesthetics or a custom fit-out– it’s about deep diving into a brand’s DNA and designing a space that truly embodies its essence.

Setting the standard

Kitt’s secret weapon revolves around the remarkable in-house team they’ve painstakingly built, anchored in their pillars of hospitality-grade service and account management. This setup allows for a level of responsiveness that’s truly unmatched in the market.

As the duo put it, “All our repairs, cleaning, and food and beverage teams are in-house and on payroll—we even have our own drivers for quick dispatch." They go on to say, “Not even TOG has done the things we’ve done. Our mission is to be like an Amazon Prime. We want 80 to 90% of all issues to be resolved within 24 hours. The only way you can do that is to bring everything in house.”

They don’t leave anything to chance either. “There's three things that will stop an office from working. One is bad WiFi. The second is door access, and the third is broken coffee machines! You have to in-source everything, because the coffee machine has to be replaced within an hour.”

Currently, Kitt resolves 63% of client requests within 24 hours, and they are on track to meet their goal of 80% within the coming year.

In fact, Kitt’s account management model is the one thing they’ve invested in, “more heavily than anyone else in the market”. And it’s paid off. Meticulously hiring from the event and hospitality sectors, Kitt’s account managers know you inside-out, the duo share:

“In our customer surveys, 7 out of 10 people say, ‘My favourite thing about the office is my account manager and that’s not because they're talking about toilet roll and cleaning…They know you, your families names, where you went on holiday last year.” 

Plus, with over 100 monthly users on Kitt Web, the managed operator is not only empowering office leads (with greater transparency and real-time insights into service delivery) but helping its tenants stay informed and engaged with their workspace experience.

Put differently, it’s that delicious “Domino's Pizza feeling” that they’ve applied to the office setting”. “With the app, I know exactly what's happening in real time, it’s being cooked, it’s on its way, and we’re now at your office door!’ Lucy jokes. 

Kitt’s next chapter

The ‘Best managed operator’ is poised and ready to expand its portfolio. Introducing several new buildings in partnership with landlords, Kitt will increase its offering of high-quality, flexible workspace solutions to businesses of all sizes.

Whether it’s through state-of-the-art fit-outs, scaling up their spaces, or expanding into new locations, Kitt is committed to its promise- to make the workplace feel as familiar and inviting as home.