Legal & General levels up co-working space with platform launch for UK-wide rollout

The new business reimagines and repurposes commercial and residential buildings for micro, early-stage and growing small companies to:

• Promote local skills and employment
• Grow healthier, safer and more resilient communities
• Support the growth of responsible, regional business.

FOUNDRY enables businesses to choose a direct product that can be rented by the day, week, or month from a trusted landlord at the inception of their business. The space is beautifully designed and repositions an urban product, putting it in areas that are poorly served and completely curated to the towns it sits in. A place to work, retail and events are combined within one space. As brands mature and scale and office occupation needs shift, companies can move to Capsule, LGIM Real Assets’ ready to go workplace offer which provides high quality, furnished and work-ready space.

It is estimated that FOUNDRY will support more than 400 SMEs in its first six months of operation. LGIM Real Assets has ambitions to roll out the initiative more widely with 15 other shopping centre, retail park, leisure, office, and residential Build-to-Rent locations being considered. FOUNDRY is a cross platform as well as cross sector product and can flex to feature workspace, micro industrial, managed office, micro retail, amenity and food and beverage.

The FOUNDRY team identifies assets ripe for diversification and repurposing then retains full control by designing, building, curating, and operating the schemes. Work is currently underway on three initial sites which FOUNDRY members will have total freedom to move across. LGIM Real Assets has partnered with Adam Walker who founded Crate which operates workspaces for early-stage businesses.

The Beacon Shopping Centre in Eastbourne, East Sussex is the pilot site and comprises a 4,000 sq ft micro retail hub for seed and concept retail brands and event space at ground floor level and 12,000 sq ft co working space at first floor. Work is already underway with the building due to open later this month. Two more locations will follow this year. 

FOUNDRY creates flexible, affordable, professional, vibrant, mixed-use venues to give entrepreneurs space to think differently. The curated work-play spaces are in geographies that haven’t previously been well served by local, modern working spaces. Each FOUNDRY will be different and reflective of the wants and needs of the local market, driven by a local management team at each location which includes a community curator. The workspaces will range in size from two person up to a 10-person office.

The micro retail hub will include seven rentable ‘wardrobes’ and two serviced retail spaces  giving local makers and merchants a platform to launch ideas and grow organically. Successful brands could then expand into the main shopping centre. The co-working space features a mix of rentable desks, two to six person offices and three amenity retail rooms which will be rented to bookable operators for therapy, yoga, and health treatments.

LGIM Real Assets recently entered the second phase of its Future Retail Blueprint with the launch of the Gather, Street Market and Public programmes. The Blueprint rethinks and reinvents how the company does retail and seeks to diversify revenue streams and transform the rhythm of environments. Gather curates more than 3,000 live performances and programmed events, Street Market features a selection of local makers, merchants and foodies and Public stitches the whole offer together with public realm designed to develop a greater sense of community.