No more Parisian pollution, crowded metros and the frantic pace of the capital: a few months ago, like thousands of Ile-de-France residents since the start of the health crisis, Franck decided to leave Paris. A carefully considered decision, mainly motivated by the professional transition of his partner – converted to market gardening – and the repeated asthma attacks of his daughter – which calm down as soon as the child moves away from the city. “Above all, generalized teleworking has allowed me to change cities without leaving my post,” says the 30-year-old, legal manager for the subsidiary of a large private housing rental company. Based in Tours since the end of last summer, more than 200 kilometers from the headquarters of his company, Franck has not abandoned the idea of going to work face-to-face. “I never liked being isolated for too long: I needed a workspace where I could feel a certain atmosphere between colleagues”, he testifies, attached to the idea of networking around the machine. coffee or bonding over lunch.
Since the start of the school year, the legal manager has therefore rented, between two and three days a week, a position within the HQ Tours coworking space, which offers various subscription offers to its customers. For 150 euros per month “maximum”, Franck has found a way to mix with other teleworkers, start-up managers or local entrepreneurs, while keeping his professional motivation intact. “I have been working surrounded by colleagues for ten years… It would have been psychologically harsh to find myself alone at home, facing my screen, all day,” he argues. When he arrived in Tours, the man was even delighted to have been able to choose between several offers of coworking spaces. “There were fewer than in Paris, that’s for sure, but I still found five or six different sites, two of which caught my attention,” he says.
A substantial offer for a city of less than 140,000 inhabitants, in which this type of space was still extremely rare five years ago. “When we opened in 2018, there was no coworking space in Tours: only a few companies that did office subletting,” says Julien Dargaisse, founder of HQ Tours. In the space of a few years, the entrepreneur has seen competition multiply around him, as has customer demand. “Our space became profitable very quickly and quickly filled to 100%,” he explains. And despite a slight halt due to the first confinement, its offices are again “nearly 90%” full post-health crisis. “People have come back to the fullest, and we have even seen new customer profiles appear,” slips Julien Dargaisse. In addition to the self-employed and start-ups usually welcomed in its spaces, the manager now meets teleworkers from large companies or intermediate companies, having left Paris during the pandemic or having fled the professional discomfort of their home. “Given the health situation, I believe that coworking, especially in medium-sized cities, has a bright future ahead of it! For me, it’s even a profession that is moving from adolescence to adulthood” , he exclaims, delighted.
“Real challenge”
An analysis supported by the figures: according to the latest barometer on the office real estate market, produced by the specialized platform Ubiq and published in November 2021, there are now 2,787 coworking spaces in France – i.e. 60% more than in 2019. And if most of the structures (34%) are located in Ile-de- France, the regions are more and more popular. Marseille thus hosts 5% of French coworking spaces, closely followed by Lyon (4.7%), Bordeaux (4.5%), Lille (4.2%) and Nantes (2.5%). And medium-sized towns are not left out: Aix-en-Provence, Metz, Villeneuve d’Ascq, Saint-Herblain, Grenoble or even Roubaix are all in the top 15 of towns offering the most offices on the Ubiq platform – of which 90% of advertisements relate to coworking spaces. “This ranking is changing very quickly, and we could add, among others, Perpignan, Saint-Etienne, Angers, Strasbourg, Annecy, Nancy, Villeurbanne or Dijon”, specifies Mehdi Dziri, general manager of the company.
A massive phenomenon, notably motivated by the health crisis, which attracts the attention of the giants of the sector. “Coworking in medium-sized cities is growing and has accelerated considerably since the Covid”, deciphers Christophe Burckart, general manager of IWG, one of the leaders of coworking spaces in France. “But what is interesting is that the market is not yet mature: there is therefore a real challenge, and real opportunities to develop”, he adds. The specialist has understood this well: in the midst of health uncertainty, companies increasingly need flexible solutions, allowing them to vary their workspaces according to the evolution of their workforce. “And the employees, themselves, are eager for a hybrid working model, combining teleworking and face-to-face days, which can be carried out from anywhere in France”, summarizes Christophe Burckart.
Real estate more flexible and without commitment
Results ? The spaces managed by IWG in medium-sized cities or located near Paris – such as Orléans, Fontainebleau, Maison-Lafitte or Bourg-la-Reine – have experienced a “very strong” increase since the Covid crisis, according to the general manager of the company.”And these are also the ones that have, by far, best resisted the dip caused by confinement”, assures Christophe Burckart, affirming that the majority of these sites now display an occupancy rate “of more than 90 %”. On the strength of this observation, the company assumes its ambition to strengthen its presence in medium-sized towns, located not far from major cities. “Our desire is to expand our network to mesh the territory, in particular by calling on local partners or franchisees”, assures IWG.
Same observation on the side of Multiburo, which also offers coworking spaces throughout France. “The health crisis has highlighted the decentralization of work, and has exacerbated this desire for companies to engage in more flexible, non-binding real estate, the model of which can be modified quickly”, analyzes Stéphanie Auxenfans, general manager of the company. After two years of the pandemic, its record is clear. “The Covid has reinforced the usefulness of coworking places in the regions, and we must now be able to offer our customers the necessary spaces.” Recently, his company has invested in various coworking places located outside major cities, such as Marcq-en-Baroeul, in the suburbs of Lille. A space close to the motorway and public transport, which allows its customers to work without having to travel to the city center of Lille. “And without half camping on the kitchen table, without good Wi-Fi”, adds Stéphanie Auxenfans.
Employees “came to go green”
Everywhere in France, the model seems to seduce. Pierre-Alain Touchard, manager of the Multiburo center in Aix-en-Provence, has thus noted a “considerable” evolution of the coworking market in his city. Installed since the beginning of the 2000s in the business area of Les Milles, not far from the city center, the man had to get used to new competition. “For a long time, we were only two companies offering shared offices. Then suddenly, new players felt that the activity was on the rise”, he testifies.
Since 2020, four coworking centers have opened in the Milles area, and one in the city center of Aix-en-Provence. “There are more or less expensive ones, some do pure and hard coworking, others offer other activities… But, in the end, there are enough requests for everyone”, indicates the manager . Since the pandemic, Pierre-Alain Touchard has indeed seen new types of clients settle within his open spaces. “There are a lot of employees who have come to go green since the successive confinements!”, He says, referring to the waltz of creators, independents and employees of large CAC 40 groups “who came into exile in Aix- en-Provence” after the health crisis. “There is growing interest,” concludes the manager, delighted: at the start of 2022, his coworking spaces are experiencing an occupancy rate of more than 95%.
“But be careful! Managing coworking spaces is a profession that can be learned”, wishes to warn Gaël Montassier, co-president of the Professional Federation representative of the domiciliation, business center and coworking professions (Synaphe). Faced with the success of the phenomenon, the specialist has seen many companies launch themselves, particularly in the regions, to close their doors six or ten months later. “Many think it’s easy, but it’s wrong. You need to have notions of architecture, engineering, cost savings… The margins are very low at the start and you can quickly unscrew”, he recalls. “Coworkers are born every day, and disappear every week”, confirms Christophe Burckart, of IWG France. “The number one challenge is to be profitable. And that requires a lot of experience and a strong network,” he recalls. A warning that does not seem to demotivate players in the sector for the moment: according to the survey carried out for Ubiq last November, 52% of them want to open new coworking spaces in the next eighteen months.