The Coworking Awards 2024 are approaching, and this year the competition has been expanded with a brand new category - Coworking Space of the Year outside Stockholm. This category highlights coworking operators throughout Sweden who have made a special mark in the industry. One of the finalists this year is IOFFICE Kvarnbergsgatan 2 in Gothenburg, also known as “Sjöbefälsskolan”.
IOFFICE has a long history of coworking and flexible office solutions, but their establishment in Gothenburg has been a new venture outside their home market of Stockholm. We spoke to Homan Tehrani, CEO of IOFFICE, about the nomination, the company's journey in Gothenburg and plans for the future.
How does it feel to be a finalist in this category?
- It feels very good to be nominated. We have put a lot of time and effort into getting the Gothenburg facility up and running, as it has not been our home market, so it has been extra challenging for us. It's great that we're getting recognition for it.
Why do you think you are one of the finalists in this category?
- We think we have managed to create an interesting product on the market that customers appreciate. It is a coworking facility with a very good location, extremely good views and good service. When you rent the facility, in addition to coworking space and office rooms, you also get daily breakfast and access to a gym.
Tell us about IOFFICE, who are you, what do you stand for and who do you want to be in the industry?
- We've been in business for almost 18 years and we're a company that wants to show customers that everyone should really feel welcome with us. We want our customers to feel that they have chosen a very safe provider of office solutions. We also want our customers to feel that they can entrust us with the responsibility of taking care of the workplace and delivering a very good and safe product, while they can focus on their business.
How has the establishment in Gothenburg gone for you?
- It was a bit of a slow start at first. As I said, coming to a new city and new market is probably challenging for most people. We've been moving 5-600 meters around the central station in Stockholm for 17 years, so going outside that comfort zone to another city on the other side of Sweden has been tough and challenging. But now we finally have the routine and the understanding of the market and what kind of product we will develop for Gothenburg. We're now starting to gain recognition in the market and are noticing how more and more people are choosing us for their office solutions.
Do you want to open more facilities in other cities?
- Yes, we do. This was a good lesson for us, and we have now gained more knowledge about how we can run operations outside Stockholm. As things are going well in Gothenburg, we think we will grow in the future, for example in Malmö, and perhaps other cities too. But Malmö is first in line.
Tell us more about what has happened at IOFFICE over the past year. How has the membership growth been and what solutions do you see high pressure on? Any major events?
- The year started quite slow, it did for most people. Q1 was a slower period, but then something happened. When the interest rate cuts came, we noticed that the economy was slowly but surely turning around. We saw that the big change was that where in 2024 we got a lot of requests from people who wanted to shrink their office solutions, we now see that most people want to expand their office solutions instead. That's a strong indicator that the market has turned. We have also received more inquiries about smaller office solutions for 2-3 people compared to earlier, when it was larger solutions. In recent months, we have also seen more individual flex customers coming into the pipeline.
What exciting things are happening at IOFFICE in the coming year?
- We will not grow with any new facilities this year, but we have some new facilities in sight for the coming years. This year is more about managing the portfolio we already have. We are developing our own IT platform, and there will be some developments there that will be exciting for our customers.
Finally, what do you think the year 2025 will be like for coworking? What trends and developments will we see?
- We may not see many new openings in Stockholm, and perhaps not in Gothenburg either. On the other hand, we may see a little more expansion in sparsely populated areas. We will also see that property owners will be more open to exploring the opportunities coworking has to offer, and more property owners will open up to collaborations with coworking operators.
We thank Homan Tehrani for sharing his insights and look forward to following IOFFICE's further journey!