Flywheel was the catalyst behind the development of a new business concept and brand for a knowledge economy workspace network for Nomad Property, developed by Tom Weaver and Chris Evans into a customer experience map, business plan, design strategy, and operational model.

The proposition was developed into a full business plan which aimed to serve a corporate or SME customer looking for greater flexibility in their use of real estate with the ability to collaborate with colleagues in a shared environment, reduce commuting by working closer to home yet retain the efficiency of a formal workspace, and reduce dead time between meetings or journeys.

This was primarily viewed as an extension to the corporate real estate options of core space, flexi space and serviced space, allowing both a reduction in cost and an improved efficiency.

The concept would costs of taking space by allowing flexible “club” membership rather than selling leases. The customer experience was focussed around using the latest innovations in corporate workplace design, creating settings that help customers work more productively, effectively and efficiently.

Centres in cities would be designed for more collaborative work, centres in commuter towns would be designed for more individual work.

This evolutionary concept in the provision of office space was designed to have a modern corporate feel based around the following types of space:

• A “club” environment containing a range of innovative work settings for solo and collaborative work, capable of being worked from part time or full time, which caters to individuals and businesses who want the flexibility of touchdown space and meeting rooms as well as creative and informal working areas.
• Permanent Bases allowing people who desire a fixed location to lease a desk in an open plan space. Occupiers of this environment would have a short term lease and have access to the club environment.
• Project rooms specifically designed for small teams working on short to medium term projects, which require both collaboration and individual meeting and working areas.
• A retail coffee house and bar outlet with additional facilities designed specifically for business users, to cater to professionals who want a very low flexible overhead or simply a place to touchdown, meet and do business. This would act as a public facing introduction to the rest of the facility.

Cutting edge, “serviced IT” infrastructure was planned to be a core part of the offering. Workspaces would be equipped with technologies to support mobile working in a hassle free fashion such as Cisco TelePresence, as well as the basic provisions of high quality Wi-Fi, and high speed broadband.

The offering was priced to provide value to companies by decreasing the overall cost of real estate and increasing worker productivity, designed around the principle of offering memberships in two options: the corporate membership (linked to the organisation) and the personal membership (linked to an individual, aimed at SMEs and freelancers).

Corporate memberships were designed for organisations wanting to share memberships amongst a number of staff. Fees would include use of all facilities, including meeting rooms, and self service tea and coffee, to give a feeling of being in control of your own environment.

Personal memberships were to be available in a variety of packages to suit everyone ranging in price from one price per visit to an unlimited access option.