‘Alice in Wonderland’ workspace firm lands £129m Aberdeen-backed finance
A luxury workspace provider whose offices feature novelty themes like Alice in Wonderland and Monopoly has landed a £129m refinancing package.
Office Space in Town (OSiT) has bagged a new debt package which includes around £72m in backing by leading asset manager Aberdeen, City AM has learned.
OSiT operates 225,000 sq ft of flexible office space in the UK, including at an Alice in Wonderland inspired site in Waterloo and a superyacht-themed building in Monument.
The office provider, which owns the leasehold rights to all of its buildings, claims this funding is proof that London’s burgeoning flexible workspace industry is poised for a wave of new interest from banks and investors.
OSiT says the new debt agreement will allow it to acquire new sites in the Square Mile and pursue its “omni-office” vision, which would see its locations offer facilities like padel courts, day nurseries and dental practices.
The group’s London offices already offer podcast studios, hairdresser salons and bedrooms, which it says are often fully booked by out-of-town businesspeople looking for more convenience than a hotel.
Working from home is ‘woke’
Giles Fuchs, OSiT’s co-founder, told City AM that the firm’s financing package is proof that City workers have returned to the office in full force after the covid-19 pandemic.
He said: “It was never a concern to me, and because most of our businesses are entrepreneurial, they insist that their staff [are] back in the office.
“If you’re a government body and a little bit woke, then you let people do whatever they want to do, and that is the beginning of the end.”
Fuchs said OSiT’s customers include investment funds, banks and insurance brokers, as well as less typical Square Mile professions like audiology.
The super yacht-inspired design of the group’s Monument office is geared towards insurance workers, he said, while the Alice in Wonderland-inspired Waterloo site is marketed for design and IT firms.
Flexible workspace providers have seen a surge in demand in recent years as office vacancy in the City reaches record lows at the same time that development on new buildings is slowing.
Fuchs said the group is better positioned than workspace rivals like WeWork and Regus because it owns its buildings. “We can fit it out, refurbish it, we know the running costs. […] It’s a really beautifully simple business model, he said.
OSiT’s refinancing is valued at £129m and covers a minimum two-year period. The deal was advised by Big Four consultancy PwC.
Aberdeen’s £72m stake in the refinancing extends the asset manager’s seven-year partnership with the flexible office firm.
Martin Barnewell, head of commercial real estate at Aberdeen, said: “We have had a long-term relationship with Giles and the OSiT team.
“Having gone through the Covid lockdown, we have seen first-hand how resilient their income and model is. We are pleased to continue to support OSiT and look forward to the next chapter of their growth.”