Who is the "Marriott" of Space-as-a-Service?

Chief Exec of NewFlex, Steve Jude, joins Bold Founder, Caleb Parker to share his story and insights leading the UK’s largest Space-as-a-Service operator deploying a hotel-style management agreement model.

Steve’s a veteran of Space-as-a-Service and has personally been involved in 70 management agreements.

In this episode you will learn the story of how NewFlex got started, how a multi-brand strategy helps asset owners meet customer demand, and why hotel-style management agreements keep landlord & operator partnerships aligned.

Steve shares a few tips for asset owners thinking about Space-as-a-Service and management agreements, including how to navigate the potential conflict between a brand’s ambition and asset owners business plans. 

Connect with Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-jude-71a296132/

Connect with Caleb on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Caleb_Parker

If you have any questions or feedback on this episode, email podcast@workbold.co

Value bombs 

• In a management agreement world, the client is the asset owner and the customer is the building user
• We should expect consolidation ahead for Space-as-a-Service, particularly among operators on the lease arbitrage model
• Not every building needs Space-as-a-Service, but every asset owner should ask whether its right for their asset right now
• Landlords need to be thinking about why people need to come to their office, because for the first time in history the customer (occupier) has a choice of whether to take an office or not.
  
• We have to understand how we can help our customers make more money
• The future of work is smaller head offices and a distributed workforce
• Distributed teams needs on-demand access to spaces that facilitate collaborative and creative work, often closer to where they live
• We have to build and deliver spaces that help deliver the outcomes that people want
• Landlords should deploy Space-as-a-Service to help their customers make more money
• “75-80% of C-level asset owners I talk to are thinking about Space-as-a-Service”
• There's about to be an explosion in demand for management agreements for Space-as-a-Service
• Tips for asset owners bringing in Space-as-a-Service:
  • Don’t do a risky SPV lease
  • Think about what the ideal outcome for an asset, then partner with an operator who is aligned and will help you achieve that outcome
  • Brand matters to attract the right customer, but find out the motive of the brand owner. Are they more interested in building for an exit than making money for the asset?
• Brand didn’t need to make sense in the past for CRE. But as we move from B2B to B2C brand becomes more important
• The future of the office is like a hotel for workers, so the capital markets need to value Space-as-a-Service like a hotel.
• How do you value 30% of the market that doesn’t fit the rules of the game?
• Right now there is a lot of money tied up in the old way of valuing buildings - should there be a bridge to help investors transition to the right way to value Space-as-a-Service?

About Steve Jude

Early in his career, Steve specialised in marketing for the travel industry, working with some big names, such as British airways, TUI, and Avis car rental.

He became a specialist in yield management, and by chance met Regus CEO, Mark Dixon one day. The two got to talking and Steve, not knowing anything about the then serviced office industry, convinced Mark that Regus was just a yield management business. The rest is history as Steve joined Mark to become Worldwide sales & marketing director for Regus through their floatation.

After that, Steve went into private equity for a bit, then became a privateer to turnaround companies that were struggling. 13 years ago he took on the struggling serviced office brand Citibase, turned the company around, and led them through the GFC to become stronger than ever before.

And now he’s Chief Exec of NewFlex.

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