“No requirement is too small,” says Jordan Saleh, CBRE’s new head of flex for the north of England, fresh from stepping into the role.
The statement might seem counter-intuitive given that agents will typically clamour for the biggest deals. But it’s a sign of the changing face of office occupation and CBRE’s aim of grabbing lots of smaller pieces of the pie.
Saleh (pictured) joined CBRE from WeWork, where he spent five years as sales director. His new role comes as CBRE moves to bring in-house flex advisers in to strengthen its regional teams.
The strategy has already been tested in London and Birmingham. In the capital, a team of three, led by Michael Glynn, is responsible for flex requirements, while Daniel White looks after the sector in the Midlands and South. Saleh will cover the Northern region, including Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. The agency then aims to add a flex boss for Scotland to oversee the operations across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
“CBRE has lots of clients that we have worked with for a long time, and whenever those clients show an interest in flex or want to find out more about flex, there is a team now dedicated to helping them in each market,” said Saleh.
The expansion of the flex teams is expected to help the consultancy catch up on accounts that have previously been considered “too small”.
“One of the exciting things for me is to show small and medium-sized businesses that CBRE is here for them too,” Saleh said. “And as these companies grow in flex and mature, then CBRE can help them to look at conventional office options.
“Likewise, the big companies that want to take more workspace or just want to try something new. They no longer need to go to an independent flex agent to seek advice – they can stay within CBRE and speak to our dedicated team members.”
Saleh’s hire comes as small workspace requirements have dominated the regional office markets after the Covid-19 pandemic encouraged new ways of working and accelerated the switch towards a hybrid model.
In addition, flexible workspace providers are actively pushing into regional locations. This includes Orega expanding across Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds, Huckletree adding Manchester’s Ancoats site to its real estate portfolio and Industrious opening at Manchester St Peter’s Square and Windmill Green.
Saleh expects new flex locations in Manchester to emerge across Spinningfields, Circle Square and Noma, with more flex operators entering the Leeds and Sheffield markets over the next 12 months.
“Flex works really well when it’s in a really good location. It definitely works when it’s in a metropolitan area; however, there are models out there where people who live in the suburbs want to be able to go into work but don’t want to commute into the city centre,” Saleh said.
“Also, more and more companies are starting to realise that if they can create an office or a hub near to universities where they have a really good supply of talent, then it’s definitely worth having. And again, you don’t have to commit to a conventional base – you can take a flex office space, see how it works and build a team around that model.”
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Image © CBRE
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