How flexible offices are supporting ESG: Q&A with GPE

As part of our series to find out how flexible office providers are addressing ESG (Environmental Social Governance) within their spaces we caught up with David Korman, Leasing Manager at GPE to find out more. 

Tell us a bit about your business / offer

GPE’s Flexible Office offering was in response to changing occupational requirements and is an alternative to typical serviced offices. Our Fully Managed spaces cater to the increased demand for workspace less than 10,000 sq ft, and can support larger demand within our portfolio. We have been offering our Fully Managed spaces since 2018. Our spaces are designed by GPE’s in-house experts and are tailored to each business, and also include on-site service which are operated and maintained by GPE, all packaged into one monthly bill.  

Having joined GPE as a Leasing Manager in 2020, my role focuses on leasing our flexible workspace portfolio. GPE’s approach was invigorated following the successful launch of our first Fully Managed building at 16 Dufour’s Place, Soho.  

Recently, GPE has a new target to grow our share of the flexible office spaces to more than 1 million sq ft through new building purchases and adapting our current portfolio. This is an incredibly exciting time for us, as we continue to respond to the market growth in this sector.  

Are you addressing sustainability in the way you operate your business, and if yes what does this include for you?

Absolutely – sustainability sits at the core of who we are and what we do for our customers. Sustainability is a huge landscape to navigate but at GPE, our approach is straightforward. We are decarbonising our business to become net zero by 2030, whilst integrating climate resilience across our spaces and business processes. This means delivering on our energy reduction programme (guided by a target of 40% less consumption by 2030), providing renewable energy across the portfolio, and embedding circular economy principles across the business. While adding pre-loved furniture to our buildings, to reducing the embodied carbon of the steelwork by up to 99% at French Railways House (180P), W1. The latter involves us dismantling over 1,500 tonnes of structural steel for reuse.  

We see it as our responsibility to play a part in creating a more sustainable city, but also internally and for our partners and our customers who all wish to live and work in a more climate-resilient society.  

Are you addressing environmental, social and governance issues equally or focussing more on one of these areas?

As a business we place great importance on having a lasting impact environmentally, socially and culturally. We are supporting improved social mobility with charitable and non-profit organisations, such as Luminary Bakery and NEMI teas. We’re proud to be the first corporate partner for SEND Coffee – supporting baristas with special education needs and disabilities.

Recently, we launched the GPE Future London Photography Award, which supports young people when establishing themselves in the photography industry. We were proud to provide the winner of the 2023 award, Nico Froehlich, the opportunity to have his winning entry showcased in an exhibition in the centre of London in front of leading art curators.  

As a part of your work on sustainability, have you set a net zero target? If yes, what does your commitment include and what have been the main challenges so far? 

In our recently updated sustainability Statement of Intent document, “The Time is Now”, we set out our detailed roadmap to decarbonise our business to become net zero by 2030. 

The four key pillars that make up our commitment to achieving this goal are as follows:

• A reduction of embodied carbon from our developments by 40% by 2030 
• Increase energy efficiency by 40% by 2023 across our portfolio 
• Transition away from fossil fuel reliance and increase our investment in renewable energy - ensuring 100% of our energy supplies are from certified renewable tariffs.  
• Continued offsetting of residual emissions in a meaningful capacity.

Our first net zero building, 50 Finsbury Square raised £495k. We have already begun using the fund to facilitate the decarbonisation of our portfolio, supporting energy efficiency projects and other initiatives to substantially reduce the carbon emissions associated with our buildings. 

The greatest challenge we foresee will be retrofitting existing buildings. Whilst 2030 energy intensity targets can be achieved with existing technology, further reductions become increasingly challenging in the years beyond. Our older buildings ability to meet these is not yet known, particularly where the deep retrofit required is not compatible with historic buildings.

Are any of your clients/customers asking you about sustainability? If yes, what are they asking about? 

Some of our stakeholders are already seeing the advantage of joining our net-zero journey. Forward-looking customers are demanding higher sustainability standards and working with us to reduce carbon emissions. Meanwhile, our investors are recognising the impact of climate change on the financial strength of our portfolio. Throughout our value chain, we are actively seeking and implementing solutions.  

Do you think sustainability has been fully embraced by the flexible office sector? If not, what do you think are the barriers?

From my experience, it’s something we’re getting asked about more. Questions range from understanding our approach to net zero carbon, to how we actively manage our buildings to perform sustainably.

Our Fully Managed customers are increasingly looking to understand our sustainability objectives. This deepens the relationships and further positions GPE as a leading flexible workspace provider. 

What more can be done? 

Advances in technology will help us deliver these goals. Digital twin technology delivers real-time data allowing our customers to understand how the building is operating and being utilised, and is used at The Hickman, E1 - our most intelligent and technologically advanced building to date.

The technology helps us to monitor energy usage through our building with sensors, comparing current energy usage and associated carbon emissions against a building baseline energy consumption. This data can inform how we optimise the space to improve comfort levels for our occupiers. 

We are incentivising our customers to prioritise energy efficiency by tracking performance against sustainability goals. We are doing this by ‘gamifying’ tracking using our award-winning sesame® app, which provides smartphone integration to building access, thermal comfort, and lighting functionality.  

Explore GPE's workspaces in City Tower and Dufour’s Place.