Introducing the Flexible Space Association

The Business Centre Association, the UK’s flexible workspace trade body, today announces a change of name to the Flexible Space Association, in response to fundamental changes in the flexible workspace market and feedback from our members.

The new name reflects the emergence of various new operating models in the industry, which have helped diversify the flexible workspace market which exists today.

Since our previous rename to become the BCA nearly two decades ago, co-working spaces, incubators and events spaces have grown in prominence, increasing the array of choices entrepreneurs and businesses have when determining the type of environment, they wish to operate in. The business centre now sits along many different types of space within the sector, as demonstrated by recent studies that estimate around 1.3 million workers currently using co-working spaces in the UK.

The Flexible Space Association, which will be known in abbreviated form as FlexSA, will continue to act as the industry voice for its existing members, including large multi-location flexible space providers such as Bruntwood, IWG and The Office Group, as well as single-location providers such as The Deep Business Centre in Hull, The Hive in Southend and the Kinetic Centre in Hertfordshire.

Our work in proactively lobbying the UK Government on issues such as the impact of business rates and permitted development rights will continue, as will our programme of events and training across the country.

FlexSA will also seek to proactively attract new members among the estimated 5,000 flexible workspace operators in the UK currently, with a renewed focus on making the organisation the natural home for providers seeking a trade association to represent their interests. We will build on the work undertaken by all those who have historically been involved in bringing the BCA to this point and enhance our offering by diversifying the range and number of voices contributing to our work.

We hope that our members, present and future, will join us on this next step of the journey for the trade association which seeks to represent, inform and champion the flexible workspace industry.