The latest UK & Ireland Coworking Report from CoworkingCafe confirms something many operators have felt for a while. Coworking is no longer emerging. It is embedded.
At the close of 2025, the UK and Ireland together host 4,423 coworking spaces. Of those, 4,152 are in the UK and 271 in Ireland. That scale places the region among the most developed flex markets globally, not just in Europe.
But density alone is not the story. What matters now is how that density is distributed, priced and structured.
A market that has grown up
There was a time when every new opening felt symbolic, but that stage has definitely passed.
Greater London now accounts for 1,200 spaces, nearly 30 percent of total UK supply. Manchester hosts 128 spaces, making it the largest regional coworking market outside the capital. Glasgow (68), Birmingham (66), Bristol (61) and Leeds (60) all operate at meaningful scale. Cardiff and Belfast anchor their respective nations with 43 spaces each. In Ireland, Dublin alone hosts 126 of the country’s 271 locations.
These are not emerging clusters. They are established ecosystems. And the conversation across the sector has shifted accordingly.
Operators are no longer asking whether flex works in their city. Instead, they are asking how to differentiate their offering within a dense local market. Landlords are integrating flex into their portfolio strategy, and investors are evaluating performance rather than potential.
What the report demonstrates most clearly is that scale has normalised – and that changes the competitive dynamic.
The national vs local divide
When it comes to pricing, at a national level pricing appears stable, but the report highlights a widening gap between big city premiums and regional budget-friendly locations.
Across the UK, the median numbers suggest balance, with monthly memberships sitting at £180 and day passes averaging £25; whilst virtual office subscriptions land at £100 per month, and meeting rooms at £30 per hour.
But the local spread tells a different story. Oxford records the highest median monthly membership at £295, while Liverpool and Aberdeen sit at £139. Day passes reach £30 in London, Oxford, Belfast and Edinburgh, and fall to £18 in Aberdeen. Meeting rooms command £50 per hour in London compared to £20–£21 in Nottingham and Glasgow. Virtual office subscriptions range from £175 in Liverpool to £35 in Cardiff.
This is where the market becomes more interesting. The UK flex landscape is no longer operating as one unified pricing environment. It is a network of city economies, each shaped by different commercial property pressures, corporate densities, supply pipelines and operator positioning strategies.
For operators, this demands sharper thinking. A model that performs in London may compress margins in Leeds. A price point that feels premium in one city may feel mid-market in another. National benchmarks are useful. Local intelligence is essential.
Consolidation without homogenisation
The operator mix further illustrates the market’s maturity. Coworking has firmly stepped out of its previous sole association with indies and SMEs. Regus alone operates 203 locations nationwide, including 70 across the UK’s largest coworking markets. In Dublin, Pembr leads with 19 locations, followed by Iconic Offices (14) and Regus (9).
Large networks tend to shape expectations around scale, corporate relationships and service consistency. Independents and regionally rooted operators differentiate through design, culture and local relevance.
The result is not a uniform landscape, but a layered one. There is room for scale and there is room for specificity. The tension between the two is now part of the competitive equation.
From growth to discipline
Perhaps the most significant shift is less visible in the numbers and more evident in tone. The industry narrative has moved from expansion to optimisation as operators navigate increased margin pressure. As cost bases across utilities, staffing and compliance have risen, landlords look for predictable performance. Capital is more cautious. Decision cycles are longer.
In that environment, scale alone is not impressive: sustainable yield is. This is where density becomes both opportunity and pressure. In highly saturated markets, differentiation must be sharper, and in emerging regional hubs, growth must be deliberate. Across the sector, positioning matters more than ever.
Coworking in the UK and Ireland has moved into a phase where commercial rigour and community ethos must coexist. The operators who manage that balance well will define the next chapter.
What comes next
The report provides clarity on where the market stands. But what comes next for coworking and flex in the UK and Ireland?
Taken together, the data suggests the next phase may be shaped by:
- Closer landlord-operator alignment
- More disciplined pricing strategies
- Increased scrutiny on operational performance
- Continued regional maturation outside London
- A focus on quality of experience rather than sheer footprint
In other words, the conversation has shifted from “How fast can we grow?” to “How well are we running what we have?”
That is a more demanding phase of development, but it is also a more sustainable one. The numbers confirm maturity. What happens next will depend on how deliberately the industry responds to it. In a market this layered, data is useful, but context is everything.
It is in the conversations between operators, partners, and landlords that those numbers begin to mean something. That is where local nuance surfaces, where assumptions are tested, and where strategy becomes practical.
The market has reached scale. The next phase will be defined by how intelligently it is run.
You can explore the full Q4 2025 breakdown via CoworkingCafe here:
https://www.coworkingcafe.com/blog/uk-ireland-coworking-report/