 , has warned that there are 'substantial doubts' over its ability to keep operating and its shares have lost 97pc of their value over the past 12 months. The company, which takes long leases from office providers and sublets them on monthly contracts, slammed the brakes on a global expansion and pursued profitability after founder Adam Neumann's 2019 plans for a New York flotation publicly unravelled. The company went public two years later. However, the rise of working from home and a surplus of office capacity has hit the business. WeWork had £3.8bn in UK lease commitments at the end of 2021, according to the most recent filings by its various UK subsidiaries. After closing some locations, it continues to owe at least £3.1bn in leases that in some cases last as long as 20 years across 56 properties. WeWork remains London's largest private tenant with around 3 million sq ft of space, according to data company CoStar – equivalent to the amount of floorspace in three Shard buildings. They include a 301,488 sq ft building on London's Southbank owned by Mike Hussey's Almacantar and 1 Poultry of South Korea's Hana Financial. Other landlords include the Qatari royal family and Brookfield Property Partners, who own a 285,000 sq ft WeWork office in Canary Wharf. Landlords are concerned that a potential collapse of the shared workspace company could leave them exposed to millions of pounds in owed rent. WeWork has been shedding office leases and properties it owns through its property arm, WeWork Capital Advisors. It is currently in the proce){kind=link}
Office provider blames rise of home working as it struggles with falling memberships
Landlords face losing billions in rent owed by WeWork, as the work space provider grapples with the rise of home working.
British landlords are exposed to more than £3bn in rental commitments from WeWork, London’s biggest private tenant.
A Telegraph analysis of WeWork’s UK subsidiaries shows the pay-as-you-go office provider has signed leases worth £3.1bn at more than 50 locations in Britain.
But the firm, once valued at $47bn (£37bn), has warned that there are “substantial doubts” over its ability to keep operating and its shares have lost 97pc of their value over the past 12 months.