Hubble are tackling 'empty desk 
syndrome', are you?

Hubble has masterfully engineered an approach that resonates with the needs of two distinct customer groups in today’s post-covid world.

Their part-time offering is the ultimate game-changer, seamlessly catering to the remote workers craving collaboration, and the traditional office-based companies seeking to optimise their workspace. 

Charlie Bastier, Chief of Staff at Hubble tells Flex and The City, "We've all seen a big shift in the workspace needs of customers since covid. Part-time office contracts are a natural evolution of the hybrid working experiment”. In turn, Hubble has built an 'on-demand' workspace booking platform which allows users to book coworking desks and offices by the day, or meeting rooms by the hour.

Likewise, Hubble’s strategy applies to the opposing post-covid customer, those who “have been fully-remote since the pandemic and are struggling with keeping their company culture alive.” Indeed, by opting for the more cost-effective and flexible solution of working from home,  people can become subject to feeling isolated. How easy is it to form a friendship over zoom? The result? Fragmented micro-cultures within the company.

Whilst remote workers favour home as their primary workspace, they still evidently desire an office environment at least a few days a week, making part-time offices the perfect fit for this balance. So, as hybrid and flexible working become the new norm, part-time offices have made a timely entrance and act as the ideal solution. 

Take Hubble’s global client Nurole, who were exploring the optimal post-lockdown workspace strategy to tackle empty desk syndrome. Nurole faces the challenge, like many other organisations, of providing a collaborative space for their team without incurring the high costs of an underutilised office. Charlie underlines “Nurole has saved 55% having moved from a full to part-time office, 3 days a week with Hubble”.

Fittingly, Hubble’s part-time offering provides a major advantage for operators who lack the technology or resources to manage part-time contracts. By taking care of all legalities and rent collection efficiently, Hubble simplifies the entire process for these providers. “Obviously, in the perfect world everyone would be signing 12m+ full-time contracts, but while we have the demand for part-time space plus low levels of occupancy in some areas, it's a no-brainer for providers to collect rent on empty spaces”, Charlie elucidates.

As for the broker benefits… whilst there is a significant demand for part-time spaces, there currently lacks a comprehensive method to present all available options. This undoubtedly leads to missed opportunities and of course missed revenue, particularly when the client cannot afford a full-time office.

In this light, Hubble has begun collaborating with brokerages on a 50/50 split to cater specifically to clients seeking part-time office options. “From my perspective, we've spent the time and resources to build the infrastructure to handle part-time tenants, and we are more than happy to help other brokers to 'tech-up' in that respect by partnering on deals”, Charlie tells Flex and The City.

Evidently, part-time offices are saving the day not just for the end-user, but for flex operators and brokerages too. If you haven’t yet joined forces with Hubble, it might be time to do so.