Building a repeatable commercial model from one site to twelve

The situation

I joined Fora as its first marketing hire, with one building roughly half full and another due to open within months. Sales had been founder-led up to that point, and private equity had committed around £300m to a pipeline of new buildings. We believed there was white space for a more premium, hospitality-led alternative to both traditional offices and coworking. The immediate challenge was to create demand for the next building and prove we could do it repeatedly.

What I did

There were two jobs: create demand for the next building and build a commercial model that could fill every building after it.

I developed the initial go-to-market strategy, secured the first budget and headcount, and built the team and partner network around it. The early focus was demand generation: direct acquisition, PR, targeted events, broker and agent channels, and working closely with sales on enablement.

That worked, but over time lead volumes tightened and acquisition became more expensive. We were competing too far down the funnel. I led the repositioning from end to end: commissioning the customer research, appointing the partner that helped us refine the proposition and brand strategy, appointing the design agency for the visual refresh, and owning the rollout across the customer experience. The work codified what customers genuinely valued about Fora and carried that through the buildings, content, nurture, sales materials and the way teams ran tours.

£0.5m to £32m in three and a half years

The result

Revenue grew from £0.5m to £32m in three and a half years. We launched twelve buildings, each reaching more than 90% occupancy within twelve months, while establishing Fora firmly at the premium end of the market with headline rates set at around a 15% premium.

Direct sales rose from 8% to 51% of the total, with annualised churn below 20% against 38% for broker-originated members. When Fora later merged with The Office Group, the Fora brand was retained and rolled out across the combined portfolio.

What it took

Understanding what customers genuinely valued about Fora, then turning that into something we could repeat.

The product was more differentiated than our communications made clear. The work was to understand how customers used the buildings, what they valued as their companies grew, and then codify that experience so it could be delivered consistently across every new location.

The same thinking then had to carry through the commercial journey, so what people saw in the brand, heard from sales and experienced in the buildings all reinforced the same proposition.