Currys is set to exit its west London headquarters after signing a deal with flexible office space group WeWork that will allow staff to work from 50 locations across the country.
As well as access to WeWork locations nationwide, 400 of Currys’ 1,400 head office staff will have permanent space at the flexible workspace next to London Waterloo station.
According to The Times, Currys also plans to convert unused space across some of its stores into offices.
The deal by the electricals retailer is the first time a major company has shut its own headquarters and moved entirely to a flexible office space provider, with other major WeWork partners such as Facebook renting flexible space in tandem with their own headquarters.
Currys has made the move despite still being tied to the lease at its headquarters in Acton.
Chief executive Alex Baldock said the move was more than “paying lip service” to hybrid working and instead responded to the real changes that Currys’ employees wanted to see in how and where they worked.
Currys recently raised its hourly pay to a minimum of £10 per hour amid a number of retailers’ increasing salaries in response to concerns about the cost of living crisis.
Since the pandemic, many retailers have grappled with how to strike the right balance between home and head office working.
Currently, WeWork’s office space offers a 50/50 split between co-working and corporate clients but chief executive Sandeep Mathrani has said he expects 80% of its space to be used by large corporates in the future.
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