WeWork Shuts Down London Offices Despite Booking Boost

WeWork is taking decisive steps to further reduce its office footprint in London. 

The struggling coworking giant is set to close its Finsbury Pavement location in addition to removing four other locations from its website, according to a report published by City A.M.  

The move comes as part of WeWork’s broader financial restructuring strategy aimed at achieving financial sustainability through renegotiation of office leases globally. This financial restructuring strategy also includes WeWork’s exit from unfit and underperforming sites in key markets around the world. 

Despite WeWork’s previous reduction from 50 to 30 advertised locations in London, the company has observed a silver lining with a 33% increase in on-demand bookings in the city over the past year, according to a report published by the Evening Standard. This uptick suggests that while WeWork is consolidating its physical presence, the demand for flexible workspace options in London remains high.  

In January, WeWork exited three sites in Shoreditch and another in Holborn after securing exit deals with landlords. The company’s U.K. subsidiary reported a loss of £110 million for 2022  citing the impact of the sluggish recovery of the London office market post-pandemic.  

While the global restructuring strategy has amended major leases in WeWork’s portfolio, the company also has also recently expressed the critical need for additional funding. This has turned the eyes of industry insiders — some like the rental company Rentberry, and even ousted co-founder of WeWork Adam Neumann, have publicly expressed an interest in making a potential bid for the company.