Interview with : Alice Tortech, Head of Partnerships and spokesperson for Startway

Is the activity of your coworking spaces affected by the new containment?

Alice Tortech - It is obviously much lower than in normal times. However, unlike the first containment period when there was no activity, some of our residents are present at our coworking. As well as tenants of private offices, we welcome teleworkers on a daily basis, who use our shared office spaces or book their own. a day officeThis is because they have bad memories of their first confinement with the children around, the noise of machines and so on. We really feel this demand to come and telework in third places.

What does Startway offer teleworkers?

A. T. - We have developed a number of solutions, including office rental by the hour, at a cost of €5, and by the day, for €30. We also offer companies a system of credits for their employees, so that they can use our spaces according to their needs. At the same time, we have also created an innovative offer called Startway@HomeFrom €25 a month, with no commitment. Unlike the traditional scheme, we travel to the employee's home to deliver everything they need to work from home. That means a desk, an ergonomic chair, plus IT support and even a computer. Designed for employees and self-employed people forced to work from homeThis offer is developing by word of mouth. It's something we don't find with our competitors and, outside the coworking sphere, those who do, particularly furniture rental platforms, charge high prices. On our side, for 25 euros a month, we offer a quality working environment, with a handmade table made in France and an ergonomic Herman Miller chair, for example.

Because of the current crisis, some of our customers have left, but others are arriving in their turn.

Let's get back to your core business. Is the current crisis in some ways favourable to third-party workplaces?

A. T. - Of course, because of the current crisis, some of our customers have left, but others are arriving in their turn. Without doing a great deal of communication and prospecting, we are currently receiving many requests for our private officesSome of them are preparing for the start of the new academic year and are leaving their offices to come to us. Some are preparing for the start of the 2021 school year and are leaving their offices to come to us. We saw it after the first lockdown: people don't want to be around us any more. locked into a 3-6-9 lease. What we sell is ultra-flexibility and ultra-agility. Depending on the growth or decline in activity, our customers can change the number of workstations without losing money or leaving overnight, because they are not committed. With what we're going through at the moment, this solution is perfectly appropriate. Demand is only growing. We also have quite a few room bookings for training or meetings from companies whose premises cannot accommodate physical distance.

How far have you got with your development?

A. T. - We now have 34 locations, following the recent openings of Startway Lille Grand Place and another on the outskirts of Bordeaux, in Le Haillan. Among the upcoming projects, we are going to open a Startway in Nice in January 2021This is a beautiful 2,500 m2 space with lots of workstations and open spaces. This will be followed by Marseille, in addition to other ongoing projects, notably in Strasbourg and Grenoble. In 2021, we'll also be offering our first combined coworking and coliving space in Arcachon, a cool project on a former postal site with 5 rooms.

So you are continuing to forge strong links with the postal world?

A. T. - In fact, it's part of our model. Poste Immo, the La Poste group's property companyThe idea is to enhance the value of our assets and transform former post offices and sorting centres into coworking spaces, which we then lease. We are also discussing other issues with them, such as the transformation of "La Poste villages". However, the owners of our spaces can also be independent businesses, as is the case in the Sentier district of Paris, or for our future establishment due to open next year. avenue de la Grande Armée. It's going to be our biggest and undoubtedly our most beautiful space and, funnily enough, it's located... right next to a post office.

What are your growth targets?

A. T. - Our aim is to be present in every type of location. For example, in Paris, where our competitors focus on a particular district or arrondissement, we have 20 spaces, near the Champs-Elysées, at the Porte de Saint-Ouen and Montmartre, at La Défense and in Issy-les-Moulineaux and Feucherolles. We also want to be present in all regional citiesBut also secondary towns like Poitiers. Once we're well positioned in the region, we'll be ready to move into the next phase. on an international level. As you can see, we have great prospects for development in the years ahead.

What sets Startway's offering apart from the competition?

A. T. - Our competitors are focusing part of their offer on personal services with a dry cleaners, a barber, sports lessons, according to the American concept where everything is done so that the worker no longer has to leave his office. Table football may one day be part of our offering, but our added value is above all the ecosystem that we have developed in order to offer our customers the best possible service.helping our customers to grow their business. We've had customers who were close to going out of business and whom we helped to find investors. At the end of the day, it's good for us too, because we build loyalty by helping them. We have also set up a partner catalogue in 24 business sectors, with lawyers specialising in employment law, digital communications specialists and chartered accountants whom we can put in touch with our residents as and when required. We also involve our customers in our own growth, by bringing them business. One of them, for example, provides the carpets for all our spaces, while another helps us to equip our meeting rooms with the latest videoconferencing solutions.

If the outlook seems favourable for the third workplace model, what about the solidity of its players?

A. T. - The coworking sector is highly competitive. Some players couldn't survive the first lock-up, others had to lay off staff. We're here because we have an intelligent model. We pay attention to everything. In many places, you'll find matcha tea and supplies on every floor, and everything is free. For our part, we charge our customers for coffee, admittedly not very much, 30 centimes. But we also make sure that we're profitable so that one day we don't have to put our customers out of business.