DeVono launches managed office business with ex-WeWork director

Real estate agency DeVono has launched a managed office business, hiring a former senior director from co-working company WeWork to run it. DeVono said it wants Made to “bridge the gap” between the traditional leasing and flexible office markets. The firm, which acts solely for tenants in its agency business, will now partner with landlords to run managed offices. The new venture will be overseen by founding partner Hugo Morrissey, who spent almost six years with WeWork, latterly as head of accounts for the UK and Ireland, and has also worked for Instant Group. Morrissey said the business has been designed “through the eyes of the occupier, while being delivered in a way that enables building owners and those with surplus leasehold space to offer best-in-class flexible managed office space to the market”. Citing DeVono research that showed the amount of space taken in the average office letting has dropped by a fifth over a decade to 6,866 sq ft, he added: “Macro influences have sped up workplace change, subsequently influencing key decisions on lease duration, size, quality, and location.” Lease lengths have shortened to an average of 5.9 years.