When was the Hospitality project launched and what were its ambitions?
Fabien Violet - We've been working on this project for about a year and a half now. Hospitality. This is a form of extension of the profession of Comet Meetings. Our original idea was to create a network of city-centre venues dedicated to strategic meetings and events for companies: seminars, training courses, codir, for half a day or a few days. We are extending this activity to include services to companies in the offices themselves. So we're getting closer to real estate, by integrating Comet services into large office property assets.
...When was the Hospitality project launched and what were its ambitions?
Fabien Violet - We've been working on this project for about a year and a half now. Hospitality. This is a form of extension of the profession of Comet Meetings. Our original idea was to create a network of city-centre venues dedicated to strategic meetings and events for companies: seminars, training courses, codir, for half a day or a few days. We are extending this activity to include services to companies in the offices themselves. So we're getting closer to real estate, by integrating Comet services into large office property assets.
You recently announced three sites. When will they be operational, and are there any other projects in the pipeline?
Fabien Violet - The Landscape project is almost ready to be operational, Lumière will be in mid-2022, as will Axa Society. We also have around thirty discussions underway concerning other office buildings. These are existing buildings that are being completely reconfigured and in which Comet is providing an additional layer of service that will completely transform the experience of users of these offices.
In practical terms, what does this service layer look like?
Fabien Violet - We offer three things. Firstly, Comet Meetings, state-of-the-art, fully-equipped meeting rooms designed to host enjoyable, productive meetings that tap into collective intelligence. This is our original business. Our second offering, Comet Workplaces, takes the form of flexible office spaces. This means you can move in not with a traditional minimum three-year lease, but for shorter periods, and then quickly increase or decrease the number of workstations. And the third part of the Hospitality offering, Building Services, literally aims to bring these office buildings to life by providing services. This can be as simple as a reception desk, a concierge service, community management, snacking, coffee and catering services, sport, soft mobility, to accompany people who come by bike or scooter. It can be very varied, depending on the asset and the owner's needs. In addition to these three offerings, we are proposing a fourth service: an application called Cosmos, developed in-house, which gives access to all Comet's services, such as booking a meeting room or a click & collect, using the concierge service, etc.
How many Comet staff does this represent on site?
Fabien Violet - I'd say from 5 to 15 or 20 people. But it all depends on the building and the range of services offered, depending on the owner's needs. The three sites we've unveiled are very different in nature, so they won't offer exactly the same services.
What is fundamentally different from a "traditional" office?
Fabien Violet - We're completely changing the way we use the office. Before, employees went to the office 'mechanically', five days a week, out of obligation. Now things are organised very differently, with two or three days of teleworking. People no longer come to the office to do the same thing. There are certain activities that you do much better at home. To put it simply, you're very good at producing things from home, writing emails or drafting documents. As far as collaboration, collective intelligence and meetings are concerned, it's more complex at a distance, especially in long formats or when there are a lot of participants. And for the third aspect of work, socialising, it's almost impossible to create links and a collective dynamic from a distance. We therefore believe that the office should be reorganised around collaboration and socialisation. It is with this in mind that we are reorganising the services offered on these sites.
Are you betting that the need for office space will be permanently reduced?
Fabien Violet - Not mechanically. We're not yet in the "next world". But we do think that the layout and use of square metres will change completely, with a much greater emphasis on collaboration and socialisation. This does not necessarily mean a reduction in overall space. Some companies, like Google recently [which bought its London office building for a billion dollars], have made very strong choices in favour of the physical office and face-to-face working. However, teleworking has become very important in certain sectors, and the number of days involved has almost doubled since 2019. We think that some of this will remain in the future and that we will organise ourselves differently. It's also in line with what employees want, and that's a driving force behind our offering: the vast majority of people appreciate teleworking. A majority of applicants now also choose their employer on the basis of the flexibility offered in terms of teleworking. These are aspects that will remain, and therefore oblige operators and landlords to adapt their office offering.
Does a "Hospitality" office cost more than a traditional office, given that extra services are added?
Fabien Violet - Not necessarily. It's a case-by-case negotiation between the owner and the user. From the owner's point of view, it's an advantage in terms of selling the asset with a shorter timeframe or vacancy. It will also depend on the balance of power in the market. In 2020, there was half the demand for office space. We don't know what the next world will be like.
Are any Hospitality spaces being added to the Comet Meetings catalogue?
Fabien Violet - Absolutely. In some cases, this can be shared. On the Lumière site, there will be a Comet Meetings area with 17 meeting rooms that will be accessible to the occupants as well as to outside companies. So this model also has the virtue of expanding our portfolio of sites.
Are your infrastructures equipped with the right technologies for hybrid meetings ?
Fabien Violet - We're gradually increasing the proportion of the fleet equipped with videoconferencing. We had a quarter before, and we're gradually making progress. On the Lumière site, on the coworking floor, all the meeting rooms are equipped with videoconferencing to enable employees who are physically in the office to work with their colleagues remotely.
What is the roadmap for the Hospitality project?
Fabien Violet - Today, we are 400 000 m² of office space signed. The aim is to achieve one million m² by the end of 2022. We have big ambitions, not only in France but also in other countries where we already have a presence, such as Belgium and Spain. And I think we can export this model elsewhere.
Has teleworking not prompted you to diversify further, to move into French business cities other than Paris?
Fabien Violet - Our network is international in scope, with a presence in Brussels and soon at Madrid. Our model is to be based in city centres, and we're looking at other major cities in France.
Another new feature is Teamwork. What is Teamwork?
Fabien Violet - This proposal is aimed at companies that have completely switched to teleworking, or that are in hybrid mode with a large proportion of teleworking, and that potentially no longer have enough office space to bring everyone together. We tend to target start-ups, very small businesses and SMEs. We offer them, on a subscription basis, to get together and recreate the conditions for working together in a very flexible way, using our portfolio of meeting rooms. The idea is to be able to book rooms by the hour, for up to 100 people, a fortnight in advance, to create an open space and accommodate the whole team, or to organise a meeting, seminar, brainstorming session, etc. The offer is very flexible. The offer is very flexible, with bookings made online by the hour. It's quite complementary to what we were already offering with Comet Meetings, which enables strategic meetings to be organised on a half-day or full-day basis with a range of services. Teamwork is booked less in advance, for a shorter duration, and does not include all the services we usually offer.
Have these two unprecedented years changed your approach and your convictions? Could you have imagined Hospitality before the crisis?
Fabien Violet - We had already started work on this project before the crisis. We had the intuition that offices were going to have to evolve towards socialisation and collaboration. The crisis reinforced our convictions. And in our original business, it has reinforced the need for companies to create quality face-to-face moments. In fact, we broke our attendance records in the autumn. We have also taken advantage of the crisis to develop new offerings, such as Hybrid meetings and Studio, for film shoots.
What is your activity rate today?
Fabien Violet - At the moment, it's about half of what it was before the crisis. But by the start of the autumn we had returned to comparable levels, and with our new sites we had almost doubled the number of visitors. Since our creation five years ago, we have welcomed 300,000 customers on Comet sites. And our aim is to achieve the same figure in 2022 alone.
