Thursday 4 June & Friday 5 June
The agenda is fluid and we reserve the right to adapt programming. Speakers are added as they are confirmed.
Event Schedule
-
Arrival
Info
Arrive early and connect. This isn't a queue-for-coffee-and-check-your-phone registration. It's an hour of facilitated networking designed to break the ice before the day begins. Coffee, conversation and the chance to meet the people you'll be learning alongside all day.
-
Welcome to GCUC UK
Info
Join Emilie Lashmar, GCUC UK Director and Producer, and our MC as we open GCUC UK with an energising welcome.
Speakers
-
-
The Rise of the Northern Flex Market
Presentation
The UK has over 4,400 coworking spaces and the fastest growth is happening outside the M25. With live market data, this session unpacks the numbers behind the regional flex boom and the rapid rise of enterprise demand. Where is supply growing fastest? Why are corporates choosing coworking over traditional leases? And what does this mean for operators and investors positioning for the next phase of growth? Essential viewing for anyone making decisions about where and how to grow.
-
The Regional Opportunity
Panel
Some of the strongest margins and most loyal members in UK flex belong to regional operators. This panel brings together people who've built and scaled coworking businesses outside the capital, sharing the real economics of what works. What makes a location viable? How do you land enterprise tenants? And how do you fund growth when capital markets are still catching up? Honest, tactical and operator-led.
-
Mid Morning Break
Info
Time to refuel, revisit the exhibition space and continue the conversations started in the morning sessions.
-
The Workspace as a Local Ecosystem
Panel
Coworking is increasingly being positioned not just as office space, but as local economic and social infrastructure. In cities like Manchester, workspaces are connecting startups with universities, supporting local government ambitions and anchoring innovation districts. This panel explores what it looks like when a workspace genuinely serves its community and how you build a sustainable business around impact.
-
Lunch
Info
A proper lunch break. Eat, network, explore the exhibition and recharge before the afternoon workshops.
-
Workshops and Roundtables
Workshop
The best conversations at GCUC UK don’t always happen on stage. These sessions go deeper, with smaller groups, honest dialogue, and the kind of peer-to-peer exchange you won’t find anywhere else. Come with your questions, your challenges, and your shortcuts. Leave with something you can actually use.
-
Early Afternoon Break
Info
A short break between workshops and the afternoon main stage sessions.
-
The Hospitality Playbook for Workspaces
Panel
The best workspaces don't just feel like offices. They feel like places you actually want to be. This panel brings together voices from hospitality and flex to explore what workspace operators can learn from hotels, members' clubs and F&B brands. From front-of-house culture and service rituals to ambient design and loyalty mechanics, this is about where the next wave of workspace differentiation is really coming from.
-
The Future of Work, Place & Belonging
Keynote
After a day of data, business models and tactical workshops, this session zooms out. A keynote from a leading futurist connecting the macro trends shaping our world (AI, demographic shifts, loneliness, urban migration, the climate crisis) with what they mean for the spaces where people come together to work. What does the world look like in 10 years, and are we building the right infrastructure for it? A provocation to close the day and carry into the evening.
-
Late Afternoon Break
Info
A short pause before the closing fireside chat.
-
Building Manchester: Fireside
Fireside Chat
A conversation about the future of city-making. This session explores how culture, creativity and long-term thinking shape successful regeneration — and what Manchester’s evolution reveals about the next chapter for regional cities.
-
Drinks Reception
Info
The day doesn't end when the sessions do. Join us for drinks, conversation and the kind of connections that only happen when the formalities are over.
