As lockdown rules ease across the UK, all eyes are now on how businesses will adapt to a new normal, with many companies reappraising the need for expensive permanent offices and rigid 9 to 5 regimes.

Remote working has largely been successful during lockdown, allowing for business continuity and even improvement. There is no question that people still want/need human interaction in their working lives, this is where co-working spaces come in, providing a solution that is the best of both worlds.

Use.Space, an innovative co-working space based in central Manchester, is set to re-open its doors on the 1st July, with a plan to not only help businesses and freelancers survive, but to help them thrive during this transitional period.

David Walter, founder of Use.Space, says ‘Co-working spaces offer the flexibility that traditional offices simply can’t, and as well as the benefits a remote desk space allows, we also ensure our members are given additional support in the form of resources, strategic intelligence, business mentoring and investment.’

Commitment to providing members with the very best support has led the team at Use.Space to develop three additional pillars of the business. Use.Invest will provide mentoring and support for start-up businesses, Use.Today will be a physical and digital hub for positive change and sharing sustainable solutions, and Use.Smart will be a centre for learning, with masterclasses, talks and workshops.

David added ‘We know from experience that co-working can add real value in comparison with the normal 9-5 experience, and we aim to expand these benefits when we reopen our doors.’

A recent survey by Coworking Insights reported 88.6% of people who utilised co-working spaces before the pandemic are set to return. The survey also highlighted a majority of first-time remote workers who worked in an office prior (to lockdown) said they would consider joining a coworking space in the future.

All of the evidence suggests that the traditional 9to5 permanent office regime is out of date and out of sync with modern life. It’s clear that coworking could become the default office space of the future, and Use.Space is aiming to provide coworking with benefits.

During July and August Use.Space will be offering 20% off memberships for new sign-ups for the ‘drop-in’ level membership – usually £199+VAT. This gives unrestricted access to our co-working spaces within opening hours with no fixed desk.

Use.Space is based on Paddock St in Manchester City Centre and is open 7am-7pm.

Landwood Group’s Commercial Asset Management division in Manchester has bucked the trend of a Covid-19 downturn with a raft of high profile new instructions.

The new business wins stretch across the team’s full range of property management disciplines, including service charge work, rent reviews, lease renewals and facilities management.

Highlights include a new instruction with Landwood appointed by Cervidae to manage its One Didsbury Point development. The 60,000 sq. ft, four storey, Grade A office development sits on Princess Parkway, one of the main arterial routes into Manchester, with close links to Manchester Airport, M56 and M60.

At present, it is occupied by Optegra, Carrier Travel, Bouygues and IBI Group.

Landwood Group’s Commercial Asset Management team, led by Director Anna Main, will deliver a full facilities and property management service to the building.

At the same time, a North West-based high net worth individual has instructed Landwood to manage his portfolio of six property assets across the UK, with a total footprint of 150,000 sq. ft.

In London, the Cashlong Group has instructed Landwood to carry out rent reviews and lease renewals on its properties.

Anna Main says: “At this time more than ever, businesses are looking for hands on property management services, from experienced, director-led teams. It’s been particularly pleasing that even in a period of unprecedented uncertainty, demand remains high.

The £11.6m construction of two new facilities to manage the safe flow of gas into thousands of homes around Manchester remains on track to complete this year, project managers confirmed.

Cadent, which manages the North West’s 21,000-mile gas mains network, is building new ‘above-ground installations’ (AGIs) within the grounds of its existing depots in Hollinwood and Rochdale.

These sites receive gas at high pressure and, through a series of on-site processes, reduce that pressure and heat the gas for its safe onward underground journey to customers’ homes.

As the UK went into lockdown, these critical projects were already well-advanced, so the teams quickly adapted to social-distancing and other safety procedures to keep the builds going.

Work undertaken by Cadent and the other energy networks has been classed by UK Government as essential during the coronavirus pandemic, in maintaining a safe supply of gas to homes, hospitals, schools and other buildings – both during lockdown and also into the future.

As well as workers keeping two metres apart, a coronavirus management plan ensures every machine is cleaned after use and there is a weekly disinfection of offices, cabins and stores. Teams also go through an amended induction process as they arrive onto the football pitch-size sites.

Cadent’s Callum Finegan, who is managing both projects, said: “It’s been incredibly rewarding to see the initial concepts come alive on site. These jobs have not been without their challenges – big engineering projects never are – but we’ve responded brilliantly and kept the projects on track.”

The two new facilities are replacing very old existing ones, which are nearing the end of their safe operational lives. They are part of a network which helps Cadent distribute gas to hundreds of thousands of buildings in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale, and the wider area.

At Hollinwood, the team is building a new AGI on land that previously held a giant metallic gasholder, once a prominent feature of the local skyline before demolition decades ago.

This site has needed extensive work to ensure it is capable of safely holding the new facility, including making 16 wells to remove excess water before building the necessary solid foundations.

Once the new AGI starts operating, due to be around September time, the existing AGI will then be decommissioned.

At Rochdale, the project involves replacing each section of the existing AGI with new, modern equipment in a phased way – in effect, replacing the AGI section-by-section, with the team commissioning each section (bringing them into operation) as they go.

In different ways then, gas supply to local homes continues without interruption.

Cadent has contracted J Murphy & Sons Limited to deliver these two upgrades, as well as two other similar projects in Cadent’s East of England and North London networks. In total, the four builds represent around £20m investment by Cadent.

“This is major investment, and big engineering, to secure a safe and reliable gas supply for generations,” said Callum.

“These facilities help distribute gas to keep thousands of local homes warm.

“They’ll have the latest technology, including noise-reducing elements that will make our operations much quieter for our neighbours.

“It’s also part of a larger commitment to get the gas networks ready to carry ever-greener gases like biomethane and hydrogen – both of which will be crucial to the UK achieving its net zero ambition.”

Cadent is the UK’s biggest gas distribution network.

In the North West, it manages a network of more than 21,000 miles of gas pipes that distribute gas to millions of homes, hospitals, schools, businesses, offices, industrial sites and other facilities. Placed end to end, that amount of pipes would stretch from Manchester to Sydney, Australia, and back again. Cadent also provides the 24/7, 365-day gas emergency service for the region.

Cadent is supporting Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and other local authorities, in finding solutions to decarbonise how we heat our homes, power industry and fuel transport.

It founded the HyNet North West project, now backed by a range of industrial and political supporters. This aims, by the mid-2020s, to capture carbon and distribute hydrogen – a zero-carbon gas at point of use – to heavy industry and more than two million homes in the North West.