Office workers flocked to transport hubs as demand for workspaces closer to home ballooned in 2025, data shows.
Professionals are increasingly shifting away from the traditional daily commute in favour of more convenient working arrangements, according to one of the world’s biggest workspace firms.
Data from International Workplace Group (IWG) shows an average 33% rise in visits to transport-linked locations in 2025, compared with the previous year.
This spike was most prominent within some of the UK’s busiest motorway corridors, including the M25, M4, M3 and M5.
The strongest growth was recorded in Brentwood, Essex, which is located close to the M25 and nearby service-station traffic, where visits to offices soared by 50% year-on-year.
Visits rose by 37% in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, while Frimley and Fleet along the M3 corridor recorded increases of 35% and 30% respectively.
Office and co-working spaces in Berkshire including Reading and Slough saw growth of around 30%, which IWG said reflected professionals travelling between London Heathrow and demand for workspaces at one of the UK’s biggest hubs for technology and professional services firms.
IWG, which operates in about 120 countries and owns brands including Regus, Spaces and Signature, tracked attendance across its UK locations using wifi log-in data.
The data also showed spikes in attendance around rail-connected locations in major cities including London Blackfriars, where footfall rocketed 139%.
Flexible office locations close to major stations in Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Liverpool rose by up to 47%, as professionals sought out places to work between meetings or chose to commute part-time into city centres, the workspace group found.
IWG’s founder and chief executive Mark Dixon said: “Companies of all sizes are embracing more flexible ways of working for the long-term, empowering their people to work from locations that are most convenient to them and their lifestyles and at the same time boosting company productivity.
“As a result, we’re seeing a fundamental shift in the geography of work, with demand moving towards more local and accessible locations including travel hubs.
“Hybrid working has fundamentally changed how people think about where work gets done.
“Increasingly, professionals are choosing locations that fit around their journeys and lifestyles – whether that’s near a motorway, train station, airport or flexible workspace closer to home – allowing them to stay productive wherever they are and while on the move.”
