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Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
Jeremy Fennema – Tech Innovation Alchemist
Breather has laid off the majority of its employees and is planning to close its over 400 locations across the world.
As the company starts the insolvency process in the U.S. and Great Britain, the Montreal-based flexible office provider plans to transition to an online-only platform that would allow users to rent other flexible offices.
The company is also seeking to walk away from its 79 leases in Canada.
The firm plans to assign its locations to a third party who will close them down and repay Breather’s creditors.
“The decision I’ve made is that Breather, in its current form as an operator, doesn’t make sense, and, to be frank, I’m not sure it ever made sense,” said Bryan Murphy, CEO of Breather. “I want to be like Airbnb.”
When the pandemic struck earlier this year, Breather furloughed the majority of its 120 employees, but had plans to bring them back once the dust settled.
However, last week, most of its staff were let go of permanently and given two to six weeks of severance.
Flexible office operators have faced innumerable challenges over the last nine months as members work from home, leaving their spaces vacant. Many firms have also faced lawsuits over unpaid rent, including Breather who was sued by IGS Realty Co. over $91,000 in missing rent.
