The Ultimate Guide to GCUC UK London 2026: Agenda, Speakers, and Key Insights

GCUC UK London returns on 8 & 9 October 2026 at TOGETHER, 88 Wood Street, in the heart of the City of London.

For operators, investors, landlords and solution providers across the flexible workspace ecosystem, GCUC UK is the key operational gathering of the autumn. This guide covers the two-day schedule, the confirmed mainstage line-up, the parallel breakout tracks, and how to secure your ticket before General Admission pricing closes on 25 September.

At a Glance

Dates: 8 & 9 October 2026
Venue: TOGETHER, 88 Wood Street, London, EC2V 7QR
Nearest stations: St Paul’s, Barbican, Moorgate, Bank, Mansion House
Day 1: Conference, parallel workshops, Think Tank and drinks reception (8.30am–7.30pm)
Day 2: Hosted London coworking space tours (10am–12pm)
GA pricing ends: 25 September 2026

Day One: The Mainstage

Day one is built around three things: actionable operational insight, honest industry debate, and the conversations you can’t have anywhere else. Speakers are still being confirmed.

8.30am | Coffee & Registration

Doors open early for badge pickup, coffee and networking before the mainstage programme begins.

9.30am | Welcome & Opening Remarks

GCUC UK Director and Producer Emilie Lashmar opens the conference alongside co-MCs Tia Samuels and Luke Fellone from FLOC (Future Leaders of Coworking).

9.40am | From Ten Definitions to One Conviction

• Speakers: Claudia Biçen and Adam Penny (The Beautiful Truth)
• The takeaway: Our industry still struggles to say what it is beyond square footage. This session gives operators a practical framework for building a brand narrative that actually lands, with enterprise occupiers and long-term members alike.

10am | WIN, A Year On: The State of Flex

• Speakers: Jonathan Bevan (Techspace), Jonny Rosenblatt (Spacemade), Becky Gardiner (FORA)
• The takeaway: An honest review of the last 12 months: where occupancy has genuinely moved, what’s happened to yield per square foot, and how the top operators navigated shifting corporate demand.

10.30am | Places People Thrive In

• Speakers: Mark Eltringham, Elliott Sparsis, Cheré Falconer
• The takeaway: What makes a workplace somewhere people actually choose to be? A look at the physical, sensory and cultural elements that turn offices into destinations.

11.30am | 28 Countries, One Stack: Inside WeWork’s Tech Overhaul

• Speakers: Jigar Shah (CIO, WeWork) in conversation with Justin Harley (Yardi)
• The takeaway: A rare technical fireside on what it takes to restructure, standardise and modernise an enterprise tech stack across 28 global markets.

12pm | Doom & Bloom: The Opportunity Hiding in the Chaos

• Speakers: Michelle Andrew (Meeesh Consulting) and Catherine Le Druillenec (Knotel)
• The takeaway: Cutting through the macro noise: how operators can read political shifts, economic volatility and AI, and find the growth hiding in the chaos.

2pm | Same Playbook, Different Space: Membership, Flexibility and Community Beyond Coworking

• Speakers: Loui Blake (Long Lane), Jennifer Sutcliffe (The Working Mums Club), Amin Hamzianpour (Qube)
• The takeaway: Desk-only flex is under pressure. Leaders from a wellness estate, a childcare-focused coworking space and a creator-economy clubhouse show how the workspace playbook translates to entirely new markets.

2.30pm | Five Leaders, No Script

• Speakers: Rupert Dean (x+why), Emily Smith (Argyll), Jamie Apostolou (Second Home), Natalie Lovett (WeWork UK & Ireland), Chris Davies (Uncommon)
• The takeaway: Five operator CEOs. No slides, no moderator, no pre-agreed questions. Expect business rates revaluations, margin preservation and changing landlord dynamics, unfiltered.

3.20pm | Why This Matters

• Speakers: Liz Elam (Founder, GCUC) and Adam Walker (CEO, Foundry Top Co LLP)
• The takeaway: A short, personal talk on mental health and wellbeing in the workspace community, and the work being done to support it. A reminder of why this matters and what each of us can do.

Breakout Workshops & The Think Tank

Through the afternoon, attendees choose between four interactive tracks:

• Brain-First Spaces (Neuroinclusive Design): Amanda Perry leads a practical session on designing and adapting spaces for neurodivergent members.
• Belonging: Cat Johnson shares the operational moves that turn casual drop-ins into active community advocates.
• The Virtual Office Opportunity: Francesca Dixon breaks down how to grow high-margin, zero-square-footage revenue.
• The GCUC Think Tank: A structured, collaborative workshop where operators tackle live business challenges together and leave with actionable next steps.

Closing Keynotes & Evening Drinks

4.40pm | The Lightning Round

• A fast-paced, 20-minute run of short talks. Quick, punchy and to the point.

5pm | Community as a Competitive Advantage

• Speaker: Pip Jamieson (Founder, The Dots)
• The takeaway: Community is the word everyone uses and almost no one converts into ROI. Pip shows the commercial return of community building — in footfall, retention and growth — backed by data from more than 60 global networks.

5.20pm | Close

A few closing words to wrap up the day before we head into happy hour.

5.30pm | Official Drinks Reception

The day winds down with drinks and an open floor to carry on the conversations: a relaxed way to make a few more connections before heading off.

7pm | Afterparty TBA

Day Two: London Space Tours (Friday 9 October)

Friday moves from talk to practice. Guided in small groups by the operations teams who run them, participants step inside some of central London’s leading flex spaces for a first-hand look at layout decisions, amenity management, front-of-house technology and member hospitality in action. See the tour line-up here.

Tickets & Rates

General Admission pricing is locked through 25 September 2026. After that, final door-release pricing applies.

• Operator General Admission: £450
• Vendor & Consultant General Admission: £550
• Team bundles: Discounted rates for companies registering three or more team members in a single booking.

Book your GCUC UK London ticket here >>>