IWG helps tenants tap government coronavirus funds

Serviced office operator IWG has given struggling tenants an e-mail template to help them access the government’s £617m Covid-19 fund. In an e-mail seen by EG, IWG and its various brands gives tenants a template they can send to their local council, asking for financing under a £617m fund for small businesses falling outside the scope of the business grant funds scheme. “There might be some good news hopefully for all the businesses that have been unable to access the Small Business Grant Fund scheme due to not having the correct rates relief criteria for their offices,” the e-mail read. “The government has finally recognised the issue and listened to all the lobbying (including from IWG & Colliers) and has issued the following update on their website… Should you want to reach out to your local councils now with this announcement to ask for an application, you can use this template.” Colliers International has lobbied the Treasury to introduce a flexible policy towards smaller businesses that may not be able to access government loans. An IWG spokesman said: “A number of our customers told us they are experiencing difficulties in claiming their small business grants and we want to help. “We were encouraged to see the government announce additional measures last week for businesses that couldn’t access the original grant fund and, to make things as easy as possible, we drafted a template letter that our customers can use when contacting their local council for assistance.” IWG’s move to help struggling tenants comes at a point when keeping customers happy and healthy is paramount. Analysts at UBS Asset Management have described a downturn in demand during the pandemic as “the true test” for the serviced office business model, adding that small business tenants may go bust and those that survive will likely want to cut costs on office space. Take-up may look better over the longer-term, UBS said, but the key question is how many of the serviced office operators “will survive this downturn to benefit from any potential upside from a longer-term structural shift”. JLL chief executive Christian Ulbrich also said recently that demand for co-working space in particular “has obviously dropped very significantly”. “What was very cool before may not feel that safe and healthy going forward,” he added. IWG itself is feeling the Covid-19 bite. The company announced last month that its directors will halve their pay in order to reduce the group’s costs as a result of coronavirus disruption. The board, including chief executive Mark Dixon and chief financial officer Eric Hageman, will reduce their fees and salaries by 50% . IWG has also put its £100m share buyback programme on ice as a result of the growing impact of coronavirus on global business. To send feedback, e-mail lucy.alderson@egi.co.uk or tweet @LucyAJourno or @estatesgazette