Interview with : Alain Brossé, CEO of Welkin and Meraki

What does the inauguration of a Welkin & Meraki space at La Défense on 1 November represent?

Alain Brossé - We are very proud to be moving into this building in the style of the DefenceIt is perfectly located on the forecourt. La Trinity Tower is a magnificent building, with terraces on every floor. This makes all the difference to the well-being at work. We are going to occupy 3420 m²There are two fitness areas, meeting rooms, an auditorium for 160 people, a terrace with a view over Paris...

Has the design of the new site changed as a result of the crisis?

Alain Brossé - We have worked to improve the product during the crisis, and the meeting rooms are even more successful and welcoming than initially planned. And we have developed a hybrid offering in response to strong demand from our international customers, with the rise of teleworking and the problem of costs associated with workspaces. For example, if they have a team of 50 people, they can take a smaller office to bring 25 people together in the offices, and provide badges to the other 25 for 100 euros per person, who will also be able to access the premises from time to time if they need to.

La Défense epitomises the centralisation of work, which may have been challenged during the crisis with teleworking. Didn't you hesitate to opt for a decentralised geographical location?

Alain Brossé - Of course, there are always changes to adapt to. But I don't think this will affect the ratios of office space used in Paris. What will change is flexibility. And we're here to meet that need.

two new sites in Neuilly and near the Paris Opera between March and May 2022

After putting your projects on hold for months, should we expect to see a series of inaugurations over the next few weeks?

Alain Brossé - We will be opening two new sites in Neuilly and near the Paris Opera between March and May 2022. But that doesn't mean that dozens of Welkin and Meraki sites will be springing up around the world over the next few months! We're very aware of the locations where demand for our product is concentrated, and we're a player who favours controlled, profitable growth. This is also what helped us during the crisis: between March and the end of September, the market fell by 43%. At Welkin and Meraki, we experienced a 22% growth in terms of occupancyof 32% in revenues. This proves that we are located in places where demand is high, and that our positioning is the right one.

Are you planning to expand internationally?

Alain Brossé - We will be inaugurating a Welkin and Meraki address in London at the very beginning of next year, and to Frankfurt in the summer of 2022.

So your ambitions outside Europe have not survived the crisis?

Alain Brossé - Covid has brought us back down to earth in terms of the international growth we could have envisaged in the United States or Asia. First of all, we're going to expand our base in Europeespecially in Paris which we love, but also in London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Geneva and Dublin, before looking further afield. But we do have requests for the United States and Asia.

What's the latest on the Welkin and Meraki recovery?

Alain Brossé - Today, at Group level, the occupancy rate exceeds 70%, and growth is reaching 2 to 3% per month. Occupancy rates are not as high as they were before the crisis, but we're getting close. We can feel that the market has been revitalised since September, and we are seeing an increase in demand. We can feel it in France, but also in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

The coworking sector is increasingly crowded: how can you stand out from the crowd?

Alain Brossé - The Welkin and Meraki brand is recognised internationally as a premium operator. Premium does not mean luxury: we are geared towards a corporate clientele of multinationals. Our sites stand out for their specific access control, based on a system equivalent to that used by NATO. So our standards are very demandingThis is because major international companies, banks and government institutions need us to meet certain requirements in terms of security, redundancy and confidentiality. Our access control is PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) certified, with a network based on two entry points for total redundancy. The offices also offer the highest level of acoustic standards: the bosses of Google and Apple can hold their meetings in two neighbouring offices without hearing the slightest sound from their competitors. For our customers, this is a prerequisite, and it sets us apart in the market. We have also paid particular attention to lighting, for optimum comfort. We also have a catering service, in collaboration with a Michelin-starred chef, which promotes healthy, organic cuisine. Our standards may seem excessive, but they have been tried and tested in our various facilities.

it's quite difficult to identify the trees in the coworking forest

The term "coworking" covers a wide variety of situations: could we imagine a classification equivalent to that of the hotel industry, to make the offer clearer?

Alain Brossé - That's right: it's quite difficult to identify the trees in the coworking forest, and I'm not convinced by the term myself. As far as I'm concerned, the real name for our business should be "coworking". flexible offices. Coworking is more for start-ups, small companies that have just launched. I say this with a great deal of respect, of course, but these customers have other needs, including more flexibility than the companies we host, with very short contracts, a brighter design and events to bring this community together. Our positioning is different: we may be a little more 'boring', but we're genuinely 'fun'. focused on workIt allows our customers to do their jobs to the best of their ability, in perfect concentration. After twenty years' experience in this sector, in my mind coworking is in the three-star category. We don't want to inaugurate the most beautiful spaces, but those best suited to our customers' needs.. Indeed, in the future, we should think about a quality charter to guide customers, as in the hotel business, according to the services available. There is no business centre association in France, whereas there is in Belgium and Germany. This would make it possible to define these different standards.