UBCUK, a nationwide supplier of flexible office space, has announced the appointment of Karen Osborne to the role of Operations Director.
Karen brings 18 years’ experience in the flexible workspace industry to her new role at UBC, which is headquartered at Birmingham Business Park in the West Midlands.
Karen started her career in the industry as a Centre Manager with Basepoint Business Centres in 2002 and progressed within the company to Regional, Systems and Operations Manager. She supported the transition following the sale of Basepoint to IWG (Regus) in 2017 and then accepted the role of Operations Director for IWG in Central London.
Karen joins UBC at an unprecedented time for the flexible office industry, which is currently navigating the challenges of the global COVID-19 health crisis. During the pandemic, UBC’s Centre Managers have managed their workspaces and assisted clients remotely, now the team is back to the office and have implemented return to work plans across all 7 centres, ready to welcome clients back to their offices safely.
Commenting on joining UBC as Operations Director, Karen said:
“We have exciting new beginnings and challenges ahead. I am really looking forward to working with a team who are passionate, share the same values and work together supporting each other and their clients to achieve success.”
Richard Johnson, Managing Director of UBC, commented that Karen’s arrival will strengthen UBC’s position as a regional workspace network and help ensure hundreds of individuals can get back to work in a safe and productive environment.
“Our workplaces are flexible and service-led, which is exactly what entrepreneurs need to focus on their business growth and kick-start the economy. We fully expect a strong recovery for our sector, and Karen brings a wealth of experience to UBC at a time when we are equipping our business in readiness for the increasing demand we are now seeing, especially in the regional markets in which we operate.
We are also talking to a number of medium and larger businesses that are re-evaluating their property portfolio and moving away from city centre corporate offices. They are turning to regional towns nearer to where their staff live and are looking to outsource their office requirements to the flexible workspace sector.
UBC is well placed to meet that demand with 7 locations across the UK, on spacious business parks and market towns, enabling staff to work in private well-maintained offices with dedicated desks. All of our centres also provide ample car parking on-site or close by, ensuring that UBC customers aren’t reliant on public transport and get to work.
These are the new priorities for businesses, and at UBC we are ready to meet these needs and get the workforce back to work, safely.”