Gabriela Hersham, CEO and Co-Founder of Huckletree, a workspace ecosystem for innovators, discusses below why this instruction was a golden opportunity for traditionally larger, more 'rigid' organisations to make positive change through hybrid work and shared spaces, in addition to their smaller, more 'agile' counterparts. 

Having supported over 5,000 businesses to date through Huckletree and with 300 businesses based in their locations, Gabriela has her finger on the pulse of how the SME/enterprise sector has adapted to maintaining a culture of innovation whilst working in a hybrid format.

Furthermore, Huckletree are almost at capacity across its portfolio, which operates through collaborative 'hubs' - from GovTech in Whitehall to FoodTech in White City, and venture capital and investment in Soho.

“This week marks two years since the order from Boris Johnson to work from home, catalysing a reinvention of the entire office model. To some, this looked like the end of the office. But two years on, this couldn’t be further from the truth," Gabriela said.

She continued: "While hybrid working fast became the new norm, the real step change has been in how businesses have shifted their mindset to work together and used this moment in time to rebuild their cultures for innovation, retention and speed. Offices are now being valued as the place where you create, not a place where you grind it out and work.

"They are a place where you understand context, build bonds and make important industry connections. Over the last two years, we've seen a huge increase in demand from enterprise organisations including VCs taking up coworking spaces such as Huckletree, with an ambition to access a vibrant ecosystem of businesses to partner and collaborate with - something that business leaders believe they can't build authentically behind a screen.

"There are big lessons for providers like us. There's more interest in boutique and tailored spaces that allow for flexible rotas of teams. It's less about design for design's sake and more about the value of being together again. And for a workspace like ours that caters for the innovation ecosystem, it's less about perks and more about the true ingredients for entrepreneurial thinking.

"The trend is not slowing down. Our spaces are now almost at capacity and we see big growth ahead for the sector and for new innovative models of working," said Gabriela.