Tag: hotels

Stéphane Bensimon, CEO of Wojo

In 2019 Nextdoor became Wojo, accelerating its development and creating the ambition to become the leading European coworking network. Two years before, Accor Group, one of the biggest international hotel companies on the planet (operating brands such as Ibis, Mercure, Sofitel, etc.) had taken a 50% share in Nextdoor, by then 100% owned by the real estate company Bouygues Immobilier. We have interviewed Stéphane Bensimon, CEO of Wojo, in order to find out more about the project Wojo and its present and future plans in Europe. Wojo’s CEO will be a speaker at the upcoming Coworking Europe conference taking take place in Warsaw on November 13-15, 2019.

Hello Yoann. A few years ago Accor Group joined Bouygues in the Nextdoor network to develop coworking offerings. Why was this move needed for both players at the time?

A 50/50 joint venture was signed in July 2017. Insofar as Accor hotels were already endowed with shared spaces conducive to meetings and interaction, the idea of offering a place to work (as well as to network) dedicated to clients and local entrepreneurs came to mind naturally. Bouygues Immobilier aims at offering its clients an opportunity to plan shared workspaces (bars, coworking spaces, lounge areas, meeting rooms, carparks) from its design stage and hence help them optimize their business costs. So the fit between both companies was clear.

Nextdoor has become Wojo. Why was a change of brand needed? Is Accor more in the driving seat now?

Accor Group meeting

Nextdoor became Wojo to help its international roll out. Wojo is a spirit – the combination of Work and Mojo. Once Accor took shares in the company’s capital we truly worked hand in hand with Accor’s Innovation Lab’ to define together the future of coworking; true teamwork followed. When the idea of a typology of spaces (“Spots” and “Corners” linked to Nextdoor sites) came about, it seemed clear that we had to reinvent ourselves in order to fulfill  peoples new ambition of working internationally, of working at most ten minutes from where one is living, etc. And no, Accor is not specifically the one in charge. We designed Wojo together and since then we have been standing on our own two feet with its support.

You want to become one of the biggest coworking providers in Europe by 2022. Why are hotel professionals well positioned to serve the flexible workplace industry would you say?

This is because the Accor staff is unrivalled in terms of reception and hospitality and we feel those to be key elements. A friendly dimension is at the core of Wojo’s offering. We welcome our new members through a shared moment, making sure that their days go by perfectly well. Accor has already got hotels ready to welcome clients all over Europe. This makes things easier for us in terms of networking. In the long run, we would like everyone to find a place to work less than 10 minutes from where he/she is located (whether a nomad or sedentary worker).

Wojo space

Workers are forever expecting more services (catering, fitness rooms, concierge services) at their workplace with which hotels are already endowed. According to an Inkidata study conducted in February 2019 for Wojo (results of the study, in french), 48% of French workers would like to benefit from spaces linked to sport or relaxation at the workplace. This is because it is the best way to offer business travellers an opportunity to make up a local network by offering a service that facilitates networking.

48% of French workers would like to benefit from spaces linked to sport or relaxation at the workplace.

Will Wojo’s expansion occur only through the Accor Group properties and hotels network or could we see Wojo spaces in third-party buildings?

By the year 2022 we expect to open 1.200 locations all over France and Europe within Accor hotels. Yet, Wojo Spots and Wojo Corners have been designed to be set up in any third-party location so long as it fulfils a certain number of requirements (high-quality and safe Wi-Fi, furniture quality, acoustics, good working conditions, etc.). In the long run they will be made available in train stations, airports, shopping centres, cafés, etc.

La Salle De Sport

Today, for example, there is a Wojo Spot in LA.SALLE.DE.SPORT with a Reebok concept store and a social club in the very heart of Paris. Not to miss out on anything, the locations that are already open can be viewed on our web app.

Nowadays hotel chains are entering the coworking field in bigger numbers. What does it tell us about the changes in the hotel business on the one hand and the evolving coworking market on the other hand?

Demand, which is directly linked to the revolution coming about in working conditions, is huge and the offerings are equally so. However, quantity does not rhyme with quality. It may appear to be easy to open up a coworking space. Yet in reality one must be in a position to offer a true experience including reception, a secure wi-fi connection, a quiet location, networking possibilities, the right atmosphere, services, etc. Small things (in reality not that small) make the difference. As for hotels: they have been disrupted by Airbnb. They are now in search of something new. By definition, a hotel is equipped as a minimum with a lobby, breakfast room, etc. in which it is tempting to improvise a coworking experience. In the long run we can imagine a client choosing a hotel no longer by pictures of the room or by how clean the spa is, but by the quality of its coworking facility.

As for hotels, they have been disrupted by Airbnb. They are now in search of something new. By definition, a hotel is equipped with a lobby, breakfast room, etc. in which it is tempting to improvise a coworking experience.

Seen from the outside, Nextdoor has positioned itself more in the corporate segment of demand for coworking with spaces located in higher-end business districts. Will Wojo keep positioning itself in that slice of the market?

We understand your interpretation, as Wojos origin comes from an intrapreneurial project on the part of Bouygues Immobilier. The first buildings meeting the conditions for such projects were naturally found in Greater Paris. Yet, from the outset, Nextdoor has had a true willingness to bring together companies of different sizes at one location to encourage open innovation. As a result of its positioning and more concretely speaking its price policy, its community has always been comprised of a host of different profiles. Wojo follows along these lines with its Wojo Spot offer of 9,90 Euros per month with no commitment. We are open to students as well as key accounts. Remote work now concerns all of us and we have at heart to see different sectors of activity, ages, trades come together, truly valuable.

Wojo Paris

Remote work now concerns all of us, and we have at heart to see different sectors of activity, ages, trades come together, truly valuable.

Wojo Spots, Wojo Corners… Is the Wojo offering targeting only nomad workers or longer-term resident workers? How different will Wojos be in Ibis or Mercure from Wojos in Sofitel for instance? What is your approach to segmentation?

There must be no ambiguousness here. Wojos are open to all those who wish to work. It is neither a service reserved for hotel clients nor a service delivered exceptionally to nomad workers. Our aim is to enable travellers and/or nomad workers to meet “locals” and be given an opportunity to network. We are therefore addressing the district’s inhabitants or professionals who are invited to come there to work, near to where they are situated! Nearly all brands are eligible, except for ultra-economical ranges such as Ibis Budget or Hotel F1 or ultra-luxurious ones (such as Orient Express Raffles). The criteria imposed, such as a secure wi-fi connection, reception, reduction on beverages and snacks… are the same for everyone. At this stage we have begun to roll out Spots in France in an economy/mid-range: Ibis Styles, Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, etc. and some are about to open in the high-end/luxury range within Pullman, MGallery and Sofitel. As for Corners, this concerns the same range of brands as Spots.

Hospitality is the number one value proposition offered by hotels. How comfortable are you with the notion of community  as an important factor in the coworking experience?

As mentioned above, one of our strengths lies in the conviviality and good atmosphere that reigns in all Wojos. Furthermore, Wojo does not exist without its community! In addition to shared office spaces Wojo stands on a team of passionate people.

Wojo at Issy-Les-Moulineaux

We thus offer a wide range of business and festive activities in each space throughout the month so as to enable each person to meet others, exchange and learn as well as relax. Community Days for example are held every week in a different space. They enable members to pitch their propositions,  propose a workshop, meet our partners invited for the occasion, invite their clients, attend a conference, etc. Our community also interacts on our digital platform. Discussion and support groups are set up where a program of physical activities is available.

Some experts predict that coworking will represent 20 to 30% of the whole office market by the end of the coming decade. Would you agree with that prediction?

Yes, I believe that is correct. It is more than just a trend. It answers to a need on the part of employees and companies alike, even if for different reasons. Of course we would like to keep up the pace. We plan to open 50 Wojo buildings, 100 Corners and 1 000+ Spots in France and Europe so that members never have to worry about where to set up to work again, hence giving them a guarantee to stay forever connected with their community via our digital platform.

What are Europe’s specific challenges in the field of workplace expectations as opposed to other parts of the world?

There is no specific challenge in Europe compared to other continents. New ways of working are growing everywhere. For example, we see the same trend in Asia with coworking representing more than 3% of office stock in Hong Kong or Singapore. I’m personally convinced that Africa could be a strong coworking market in the coming years. We decided to start Wojo within Europe because of our field knowledge and needs expressed by our current members.

Innv8 is among the first coworking brand launched in India. Last month, the company was bought by one of the biggest Indian hotel platform, OYO, for a total of 31 millions US$. Meanwhile, OYO announced the takeover of two other coworking brands (PowerStation, for corporations, and Workflow, more focused on startups), demonstrating a strong will to develop its position in the coworking field. Interesting to note, OYO is supported by Softbank, one of WeWork’s main investors. Innov8 is the fourth coworking acquisition by OYO. We interviewed Ritesh Malik, Innov8‘s founder, who used to be a speaker at the Coworking India conference organized by SocialWorkplaces.com, about the vision behind the deal.

Hi Ritesh. Can you tell us the story behind Innov8?

We launched our first centre at the Heart of New Delhi- Connaught in December 2015. We wanted to revolutionise how Indian work. Innov8 is not just a place for people to work, it’s a place for people to connect. We at Innov8 want to transform real estate into a beautiful and premium workspace designed to encourage community engagement for the creators and innovators. In June 2016, US-based fund Y-Combinator backed Innov8 for its investment in the coworking industry.

We were hoping to create a collaborative community where business opportunities and activities can take place freely. We were committed to delivering excellence through design, experience, and services. Our Vision was to revolutionize real estate into beautifully designed, experience centers to empower the process and journey of creating meaningful work. Our Mission: to be World’s Most Loved Workspace brand through excellence in design, experience and delivering value.

Innov8 is now taken over by OYO. Why are the two companies complementary?

Ritesh Malik, Innov8

Innov8 and OYO are both in the business of real estate and hospitality. It’s a perfectly complementary business. OYO already has a strong play in the real estate market worldwide both as a tenant and as a supplier, with existing offerings like OYO Home, OYO LIFE, Weddigz.in and MICE offerings. Also, OYO already has thousands of corporate customers that help generate over 30% of OYO’s business. Additionally, in India, OYO works with over 8.000 asset owners, and many of them have ready space available for commercial business. The decision to, therefore, open managed workspaces is a natural transition and step forward. With vast experience of acquiring properties, creating processes and great user experiences, it will be great backing on Innov8 scalability.

With vast experience of acquiring properties, creating processes and great user experiences, it will be great backing on Innov8 scalability.

OYO is known in India as a hotel booking platform. Coworking seems quite far away from their focus, no? 

Firstly, OYO is not a hotel booking platform. OYO is a full-scale tech-driven hospitality company that operates over 18.000 franchised and leased hotels across 10 countries and 500+ cities globally. Interestingly, the company has globally leased or franchised over 200 million square feet of real estate, and have emerged as a preferred tenant of choice. Thousands of real estate owners around the world work with OYO and respect the company’s ability to upgrade all forms of real estate and deliver good quality experiences. OYO is also amongst the most preferred lesses and franchisors of real estate yields worldwide.

Over the last six years, OYO has invested heavily in building key competencies, where our operational expertise in supply acquisition and management, renovation, operations, revenue management, and distribution, through both offline and online channels, that has helped the company gain significant momentum, and emerge as the most preferred brand in the budget to mid-segment hospitality space in several markets like India and China.

We are certain that OYO’s existing competencies and international reach, will help us seamlessly deliver great quality experiences to our real estate customers as well. We are all therefore excited about our plans to create and deliver chic workspaces that will be designed to provide a hassle-free, comfortable and productive experience to coworkers, and cost-effective workspace solutions to corporates.

According to you, what does the transaction say about the office and workplace industry moving to a hospitality and services model?

The managed office space industry is inherently a unique combination of hospitality led real estate experience. With this transaction, it is a huge validation for Innov8 and the whole industry. The industry is extremely positive with the potential of office spaces market.

How would you define hospitality in the workplace world?

More than desks, chairs, coffee and office infrastructure, workspaces should provide the environment and support to make every company and coworkers grow and do their best work. Our community and value-added services make Innov8 a second home; creating an ethos of happiness at the workplace.

Would you say the Indian market is specific for this kind of approach?

Indian market is ripe for managed office spaces. India is one of the most penetrated markets by managed offices.

Startups are driving the coworking demand in India. Do you see or expect coworking to become a solution for SME and bigger corporations? Is it already happening? What’s Innov8 experience on those regards?

It is already happening. SME and bigger corporates now accepting the trend and it is beneficial for both the industry. Managed offices are the way to go for any workspace needs. At Innov8, we have already been focussing on and catering to ME and corporation. Majority of our clients are SME or corporates.

What are the specific challenges Indian coworking players have to face, nowadays, to keep up with the pace of growth?

Identify prime properties, capital, and speed of scale.

Lately, we are reading that big international players such as Airbnb are also looking towards the coworking business. Do you think this can work? Why?

The coworking or managed office market is huge with rooms for different price points and variation of the product/ service.

Do OYO and Innov8 have plans to grow beyond India?

We plan to expand and cater to the huge Indian market first.

In general, Indian coworking brands are not very active outside India, yet. Do you expect it to change? 

Yes, most definitely. There is a lot of potential. Having said that, we are currently focused on strengthening our business in India. Once we have nailed it, then the sky’s the limit.

It’s not a secret that the Real Estate industry is wondering how to deal with the growing phenomenon of coworking. The flexible model could slowly disrupt the traditional office market. New concepts have emerged.

Jean-Yves Huwart

The landscape remains blurry, though, for outsiders. Many traditional players keep struggling to make the distinction between the wide variety of offerings: serviced office, coworking, shared workspace, incubator, business centers, fablabs, etc.

As a matter of facts, instead of looking at the individual models, we think the challenge is nowadays to consider the emergence of a whole new hospitality industry, similar to hotels or restaurants.

This is the focus of the interview:

Could you start by outlining the key functions and objectives of Social Workplaces?

We have been involved in the Coworking movement since 2010 (that year we organised the first Coworking Europe conference), and started to link up coworking communities from Europe and beyond.

From a few dozens of coworking spaces in operation around the world eight to ten years ago, we have witnessed an increase to up to 13.000 units as of today worldwide, according to the Deskmag Global Survey 2017 which is supported by SocialWorkplaces.com.

Through these years, we have had the opportunity to interview and talk with many tenants and operators. We have become more and more convinced that what coworking brought, first for freelancers and start-ups, was an actual re-invention of the function of the workplace, broadly speaking, for the digital age. This was for any kind of workplace, any category of employer.

Once the ability to access your production tools has become ubiquitous, why is there a need for you to have a workplace? For us, coworking provided the answer: people need to be in touch with other people with whom they like to be with, both for their personal equilibrium as much as for professional reasons.

This is especially important at a time when routine tasks can be more and more automated and when workers are requested to provide more creative and social outputs. We call this the Social Workplace, inspired by the coworking experience.

How would you define specifically a coworking workplace relative to shared office, public workspaces (community centers, libraries), mixed workspaces, maker spacers and business centre workplaces?

Coworking is open. You can show up anytime and propose yourself to become a coworker. Someone will walk (normally) towards you, be hospitable and make you comfortable. People flow in and out. This is similar to a hotel, a restaurant or a gym. It’s service driven. Usually, coworking spaces also create a proper identity and, thus, a sense of belonging that is at the root of the creation of communities. 

Shared office [models] are more closed. Certainly [in this model] you will be around the same people in the same building all time. This doesn’t impede social interaction. However, it will be more static.

Those models are not exclusive between one another. More and more business centers open up coworking services within their buildings and hire a community manager to build up an emotional relationship with and between their tenants. The added value is no more – or less and less – in the provision of a facility; it is in creating a pleasant environment and experience.

Are there significant differences between approaches in Europe and North America?

Europe and North America are not that different, I would say, in terms of offerings. Big US cities, however, have a higher density of startups and digital workers. So we see bigger players, bigger spaces in the US. That said, it’s just a matter of time before we see Europe catching up in terms of growth.

Who are the current main users/members of coworking workplaces? HOK/Cornet Global 2016 report suggests employees in a corporation are also now a significant and growing percentage of users/members?

Freelancers are the biggest category of users so far. They are the historical first tenants because, in the beginning, spaces were smaller and did not necessarily have the capacity to accommodate bigger teams. The population of freelancers is growing everywhere, however, as the new working generation looks for more freedom and self-achievement. Plus, big companies’ headcounts keep shrinking.

Source Hok

Sideways, we see more and more employees within coworking spaces. Corporations have started to authorise people from their innovation departments, for instance, to work from coworking spaces in order to be in touch with the local start-up scenes. Companies who need a smaller representation office in a city also tend to consider to use a coworking space rather than to go for an office long term lease.

So far, in terms of overall numbers, the trend is marginal. We think it’s just the beginning, though. Fast growing SME’s do not hesitate to put all their teams in coworking space offices.  The Office in the cloud (the cloud here being the coworking spaces) will become mainstream.

What are the most important attributes of a successful coworking place; e.g. shared services, social interaction, flexible (varied and funky?) work areas, IT support?

Pure coworking spaces rarely bother with IT support usually but they do provide a stable, secure internet connection. That’s it. Tenants’ tools are now in the cloud. Besides, today, neither startups nor freelancers need traditional assistant support. Sure, there are exceptions, but those are outdated services with the new generation of digital nimble companies as far as we see it. Again, everything is in the cloud. Spaces need to offer new kind of value adding services if they want to keep their revenue per user at the same level as in the past. Indeed, they need to provide a space with human focused connections, interesting events, social moments, fun and networking. This is what gives value nowadays, not forgetting flexibility and the opportunity to scale up or down easily.

Within the coworking industry, what is the relationship between: 1) large international firms like Regus, Servcorp and WeWork; and 2) smaller independent operators?

The analogy with the hotel industry is for me the most relevant. You have Accor, Shangri-La’s, Holiday Inn, Best Western proposals, aside from AirBNB’s, Bed & Breakfast, independent hotels, camping or even couch surfing. These can be fully complementary. Each reaching out to different needs, profiles or customer expectations, all according to the context of the booking. These accommodation offerings are not mutually exclusive, I would add. Depending on the context, you may consider staying at a Regency hotel because your need is professional only, you don’t look nor have time to socialise or discover a city. But on holiday time, the hospitality of a Bed & Breakfast or, even, the fun of couch surfing might suit you.

That said, with hotels, etc., we speak only about a few days. The main difference between the need for lodging and the need for a workplace is the duration of the stay. With a workplace, you commit for a few months, at the least, not for a few days. The quality of the social experience then become a much higher driver of choice.

What is the significance of secondary coworking spaces such as those promoted by hotels, coffee bistros, libraries, maker spaces, etc.?

Again, the element of duration is key here. Working from a coffee shop during one or two hours (depending on the battery life of your computer) might be fully convenient. Noise and comfort are not (so) critical, in this case. This will be another story when you have to stay eight hours a day, five days a week. You probably will look for a proper work environment.

What is the role/significance of LiquidSpace or similar apps that use the Airbnb approach to attracting workers? 

Liquidspace and the likes are like Booking.com for hotels. They are sales channels and helpful online directories. The dimension of service is critical, though. If space fails to provide the required hospitality and quality of service, the trust will be broken. This is a service business. Forget it, and you will lose. 

The HOK study raises the issue of upcoming renewal of leases for many coworking spaces, as many are based on five-year leases. Is this an important concern?

It’s still a bit early to say, as the wave of bigger, stronger spaces is less than five years old, overall, in Europe. However, this is certainly a very big challenge ahead. We are not aware of accurate data about this. A lot of coworking spaces, through their activities, have brought a lot of value back to properties – sometimes to the whole neighbourhood within which they operate – and have not been rewarded for doing so. I would advise any coworking operator to really consider this when negotiating. That being said, we hear more and more of landlords getting in touch with coworking operators in order to partner up. I’m personally a strong believer in this kind of mutual partnerships where risk is shared.

What is the potential growth of demand for coworking spaces over the net decade? HOK suggests overall it will stabilise around 2% -4% penetration

We saw those figures. As far as we understand it, this includes business centres as well. To me, the turning point will be when coworking space operators will be able to host companies with 200-300 people or more while providing mutualized support services without losing their ability to accommodate people on an individual base. This will create convivial environments within full office buildings, with [the coworking operator] becoming a concierge, facilitator, connector, ecosystem builder, etc. Social Workplace will become the standard. Ultimately, we believe that no employee will accept anymore to work in the old-fashioned, dull closed and dry office environment they have experienced in the last decades. Then, expect the penetration rate [of coworking] to become much much higher.

In Summary, what is the future of Coworking workspaces over the next decade; what will be the key trends?

This is just the beginning [but] it will evolve under many shapes.

Head pic. Hotel Schani, Vienna.