The agreement, a first for WeWork outside London within the UK & Ireland, follows similar deals that it has entered in London and in other markets across the world, allowing landlords the opportunity to share in the upside that WeWork generates.
WeWork has agreed to lease three floors at 50/60 Station Road, a Grade A office building developed by Aviva Investors and Brookgate which is almost 90% let to a range of national and international occupiers. The building forms the centrepiece of the CB1 estate, a market-leading, mixed-use regeneration scheme being delivered around Cambridge train station, the city’s central transport hub.
The WeWork offering, set to open in Q3 this year and welcome over 1,000 members, marks its fourth UK city launch following London, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Mathieu Proust, General Manager WeWork UK and Ireland says, “We’re thrilled to be announcing our expansion to Cambridge, a new city for WeWork in the UK. We first launched in the UK in 2014 in London, our first international location outside the US, and have since built up a community of over 45,000 members across over 36 locations in London and Manchester, and recently announced our expansion to Edinburgh. The UK is one of our fastest growing markets and we can’t wait to continue to grow our membership in such a thriving city as Cambridge.
“This city – and its surrounding area, Silicon Fen – is an obvious location to expand to, being the forefront of tech and business. We’re confident our members will benefit greatly from the high-tech businesses in the area as well as being in the hub surrounding the University of Cambridge and other local amenities. In London, our members are contributing £6.3 billion to the city’s economy – as found in a recent study by the CEBR – and we’re looking forward to seeing what they’re able to achieve in Cambridge.”
Melanie Collett, Head of Asset Management, Real Estate, Aviva Investors, said: “The increased demand for flexible office space is one of the most exciting changes taking place in the industry and one we are embracing across our office portfolio. We are therefore pleased to enter into this innovative partnership with WeWork, which has built a reputation as the market leader in the provision of shared workspaces.
“Furthermore, Cambridge is one of the leading hubs for ambitious entrepreneurs in the UK and one of our core investment locations. WeWork is the latest tenant to join our roster of high-quality tenants at CB1, which demonstrates our ability to create leading destinations where communities can live, work, play and learn.”
WeWork currently has over 45,000 members across the UK, and the membership has doubled year on year. In 2017, WeWork recorded its member count to be over 16,000 – by the end of 2018, this number was over 35,000; in December 2018 alone, WeWork opened three new locations in London, adding 2,400 new desks to their UK portfolio.
Sven Topel, Chief Executive, Brookgate, said: “WeWork choosing CB1 is great news for Cambridge and will provide the kind of flexibility of space that many companies require to remain nimble and reactive to constantly changing markets. It will also contribute significantly to the diversity of businesses we have operating at CB1 and help further foster collaboration and community in the area.”
About WeWork
WeWork provides its members around the world with space, community, and services through both physical and virtual offerings. From startups and freelancers to small businesses and Fortune 500 companies, our community is united by a desire for our members to create meaningful work and lead meaningful lives—to be a part of something greater than ourselves.
Co-founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in New York City in 2010, WeWork is a privately held company with over 10,000 employees. Follow us @WeWork on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook or visit www.wework.com/en-GB/ to learn more.
About Aviva Investors
Aviva Investors is the global asset management business of Aviva plc. The business delivers investment management solutions, services and client-driven performance to clients worldwide. Aviva Investors operates in 14 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and the United Kingdom with assets under management of £331 billion as at 31 December 2019.
About Brookgate
Brookgate is a development and investment company based in Cambridge which delivers high-quality mixed-use urban projects. Brookgate specialises in the regeneration of strategic sites around city centre transport hubs creating office, hotel, student, residential and retail developments. Brookgate is delivering the CB1 regeneration of Cambridge Station, a 1.5 million sq ft development working in partnership with landowners Network Rail and Jesus College. This new estate in the heart of the city has revitalised the area around the station with a new public square, offices, homes, a hotel, student accommodation, shops and restaurants as well as the UK’s largest cycle park. A new Central Business District, CB1 is attracting well-known employers to Cambridge, with tenants including Amazon, Mircosoft and Samsung, among many others.