London landlord the Canary Wharf Group is planning to roll out a flexible office service for clients, as the city continues to adapt to the pandemic shakeup to work patterns.
The new service, called MadeFor, will be introduced at 40 Bank Street in Canary Wharf, but could grow to as much as 20 per cent of the group’s portfolio over the next few years, The Financial Times reported.
The firm has already snapped up US lender Citigroup as a client, which is taking 95,000 square feet of space on a temporary basis as it refurbishes its Canary Wharf office building.
Offices leased under the new MadeFor brand will be let on more flexible terms than normal leases and more closely replicate models used by flexible office companies like WeWork.
The move marks a major change of tack for the group, which owns most of Canary Wharf in East London, the home of some of the capitals major financial heavyweights.
Shobi Khan, the group’s chief executive said the move reflected an “evolution of the customer and how they’re thinking about their space”.
MadeFor offices can have “breakout space, collaboration space, anything the company wants”, including beer taps if the tenant requests them, Khan told the FT.
Canary Wharf Group also said it could also improve the emissions profile of its buildings by taking a more hands-on approach to operating them, which could tempt in big name financial firms that are gunning to hit net-zero targets.
City A.M. (Charlie Conchie) - https://www.cityam.com/canary-wharf-rolls-out-flexible-offices-after-pandemic-shakes-up-work-habits%EF%BF%BC/