Britain’s market towns have seen a major increase in office and co-working space usage as companies of all sizes enable their teams to work closer to home, reducing long daily commutes and delivering improved work-life balance.

Office attendance data from International Workplace Group, the world’s largest platform for work with brands including Spaces and Regus, shows significant increases across locations including St Albans, Windsor, St Neots, and Aylesbury. IWG measures attendance across its UK locations through daily Wi-Fi logins.

To meet growing demand for more localised working, IWG is continuing to expand its network right across Britain. In the first half of 2026 alone, IWG added 62 new locations in the UK, as part of a record 728 new locations signed globally.

Over the past two years, new locations have opened in market towns including Shrewsbury, Reigate, Hertford, Dorking, Chepstow, Congleton, Canterbury, Cheltenham, St Neots and Winchester. IWG’s network expansion is being driven through its capital-light strategy, which now accounts for 95% of signings.

Under this model, IWG partners with property owners to establish and operate flexible workspaces, enabling it to expand rapidly into new locations.

Market towns have emerged as some of the most desirable places to live in the country. Lloyds data shows that house prices increased 5% year-on-year in 2025, and 24% in five years**, as workers take advantage of hybrid working policies to live and work in more suburban and rural locations.

St Albans recorded the largest increase, with workspace visits rising by 49% in the six months to May 2026 compared with the previous six-month period*. Windsor followed closely with a 47% rise, while St Neots recorded an increase of 40%. Other locations with double-digit increases include Huntingdon, Harpenden, Henley-on-Thames and Leamington Spa.

The top 5 market towns with the highest growth in visits are:

St Albans: +49%
Windsor: +47%
St Neots: +40%
Aylesbury: +33%
Walton-on-Thames: +29%

The figures highlight how more flexible ways of working are reshaping the geography of work, with professionals increasingly using a network of flexible workspaces in locations that better fit their lives. This enables employees to benefit from a professional office environment while reducing commuting time.

Christian Schmitz, CEO of International Workplace Group, comments: “The sharp rise in workspace usage across Britain’s market towns shows how businesses and their people are embracing more flexible ways of working. Companies increasingly need workplace strategies that give their teams access to high-quality professional workspace wherever they need it, including closer to home.

“For businesses, this provides greater flexibility and reduces the need for unnecessary fixed real estate, while employees can cut long and expensive commutes. Our growing national network means we can meet that demand at scale.”