Flex is Not a London Story: HEWN's Big Six Index Proves Regional Workspace is Outperforming

The UK's regional flexible workspace market has a data problem. Or rather, it had one. HEWN has just fixed it.

The specialist flexible workspace consultancy, founded by Will Kinnear, has today launched the UK's first comprehensive regional flexible workspace index, expanding beyond its previous London-focused benchmarks to cover the Big Six cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester.

The HEWN Flexible Workspace Returns Index is the first tool to consistently benchmark flexible workspace performance directly against traditional office rents across the regions, drawing on data from partners including Office Ready Tech, Valve, OBI Property and Morton Property Consultants. It measures desk rates, operational costs and market rents to provide a like-for-like comparison across product tiers.

The headline finding? Flex is winning. Consistently, and across the board.

Still Undersupplied, Still Outperforming

Despite accounting for as little as 4 to 6% of total office stock in cities like Birmingham and Manchester, demand for flexible workspace is surging. Hybrid working patterns and a growing occupier preference for high-quality, service-led environments are driving take-up faster than supply can respond.

At the premium end, the numbers are striking.

Five-star flexible workspace has outperformed prime headline rents across all six cities over the past five years. Three-star products have also held up well, frequently exceeding traditional rental benchmarks. Even lower-tier one-star space, though more volatile, remains competitive with headline rents across the board.

Kinnear, who has worked in the sector for over two decades, says the findings confirm what practitioners have long known but lacked the evidence to prove.

"Flex is not a London Story," he says. "Having worked in this sector for over two decades, I know how strong these regional markets are. However, what has been missing is the data to properly understand them. This index addresses that. The overall picture that emerges is unsurprisingly a positive one."

City by City: What the Data Shows

Birmingham delivered the greatest gross and net return fluctuations across its five-star and three-star markets, but still exceeded headline rents by up to 188% over the past five years. Kinnear sees significant room for growth.

"Flexible operators are circling around Birmingham," he says. "There is huge demand from businesses for flex, from the tech start-up scene pioneered by the universities and growing industries in the city, to London-based businesses looking to provide space closer to home, among others. There's a real buzz, with some flex operations achieving record returns. I suspect over the next decade we'll see space more than double."

Bristol historically delivered some of the strongest performance in the index, with five-star and three-star products exceeding market rents by up to 215% and 238% respectively. However, sharp rises in prime headline rents since 2023 have narrowed that gap, creating a short-term data distortion Kinnear believes will correct.

"Bristol is buzzing," he says. "There is a great deal of regeneration happening around the station and city centre. Flexible workspace desk rates and returns have not yet reacted to this, so it has skewed data over the last 24 months. However, despite this, returns over the last five years are still positive with returns reaching levels of over 230%. Demand for flex remains strong, with supply of quality product not keeping up."

Edinburgh presents an interesting split. Its five-star product achieved peaks exceeding 400% of market rents over the period, routinely registering above 200%. Three-star returns, however, dipped below market rents for the first time since 2021 in 2025, reflecting some local market pressure.

Glasgow is showing momentum, particularly at the premium end. Five-star gross returns outperformed prime headline rents by up to 280%. Kinnear sees a city whose fundamental strength is now being validated by data.

"Scotland has always had a strong flexible workspace story," he says. "What we're now seeing is that strength backed up by data. Edinburgh continues to deliver some of the highest returns outside London, while Glasgow is showing real momentum, particularly at the premium end of the market."

Leeds has been the most volatile of the six cities. After reaching returns of up to 160% in 2022, performance fluctuated for two years before the five-star product moved back above rent levels over the past year. Three-star returns, previously stable, fell below market levels towards the end of 2025.

"The story remains strong in Leeds, but its growth is being tempered by wider regeneration, which is reshaping supply and market dynamics," Kinnear adds.

Manchester stands out as the most consistent performer across all product tiers. Five-star returns peaked at 210% in 2023 and have remained above 110% since 2021. Three-star returns have held within a stable 110% to 155% range, making it arguably the most reliable market in the Big Six.

"Manchester is buzzing and vibrant, and we're seeing that translate in the flexible workspace sector, with strong demand and undersupply, particularly at the premium end," says Kinnear. "Many operators are chomping at the bit to move in."

A Framework for Regional Decision-Making

Beyond the city-level data, the index has a broader ambition: to give landlords, investors and operators a credible, consistent framework for evaluating regional flexible workspace opportunity.

For too long, decision-making in regional markets has relied on anecdote and London-derived assumptions. The HEWN index changes that, providing the kind of benchmarking infrastructure that the sector has needed to attract institutional capital and inform serious asset strategy conversations.

With undersupply persisting, hybrid working demand structural rather than cyclical, and occupiers increasingly prioritising quality over cost, the fundamentals for regional flex remain strong. The data now says so too.

The full report is available at hewnspace.com/the-big-six-hewn-flexible-workspace-returns-index.

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About HEWN

HEWN is the UK's leading specialist flexible workspace consultancy. To date it has completed more than 45 joint venture and management agreements totalling more than 750,000 sq ft throughout the UK.