Mone launches new flexible office space

Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman have launched a flexible office space in Aberdeen in what they expect will be the first in an international chain of workplaces called Neospace.

Doors have now opened on Neospace in Aberdeen following an £18 million investment led by Ms Mone and her husband overlooking the River Dee.

Ms Mone, who spoke exclusively to The Press and Journal, said the building offered a new concept for workers and entrepreneurs as they approach a new era of “hybrid working” following the pandemic.

She also called it a “labour of love” during lockdown for her and Mr Barrowman, in what they describe as their first collaborative project as a married couple.

Neospace in Aberdeen is based at the building formerly called Riverside House on Riverside Drive.

The 55,000sq ft building has been completely refurbished and features a gym including a bike suite, steam room and sauna, a golf simulator, and a juice bar, as well as more traditional things you might expect in an office space, including conference facilities, training rooms and hot desks.

All the facilities are available on a flexible basis, meaning no one is required to sign lengthy rental contracts.

“These long leases for five, 10 or 15 years are a thing of the past,” she said. “What is good about Neospace is if you are a start-up business it is flexible and you can grow or if you are a bigger company you can use it to downscale a bit.”

Speaking via Zoom from her home in the Isle of Man, the baroness, who was made a life peer in 2015, said: “I love Aberdeen.”

She recalled how she travelled to the city often in the earliest stages of her career when she worked for

a beer company, before founding her famous lingerie firm, Ultimo.

“Even before I started Ultimo I used to visit Aberdeen when I was running Labatts. Aberdeen and Glasgow were my most profitable areas,” she said.

Mr Barrowman acquired the building in 2013 – at the height of an oil pricedriven property market boom – for around £14m through his company, Aston Property Ventures.

It was the largest building in the couple’s commercial property portfolio when they decided to make it the first Neospace.

Ms Mone estimates the couple’s Scottish portfolio reflects over £100m in investment. “We are big investors in Scotland, I don’t think many people know that,” she said.

Ms Mone was born in Glasgow, as was Mr Barrowman, and she said the couple travel often between their homes in London, Scotland and Isle of Man. “We have buildings in Aberdeen, Stirling, Edinburgh, Ayr and loads in Glasgow.

“We could have opened this up anywhere but because we are both Scottish we looked at the biggest building we had in

Scotland. We are all or nothing. That is what the two of us are like, we just do it.”

She admitted that the investment was a “gamble” but one she is confident will be a success. She envisages it will be rolled out across other properties in the couple’s portfolio or to other landlords looking to adapt their office properties to something more suitable to post-Covid work patterns.

She added that the couple plan to grow the concept organically, first across the UK, adding: “We’d love to grow it internationally.”

GOOD DAY AT THE OFFICE: Entrepreneur Michelle Mone has opened the flagship Neospace venture.

Gym facilities at Neospace in Aberdeen.

The new building has been refurbished.