Why three women are ditching home for their own office – and going viral

When financial coach Hannah Mayfield posted about renting office space with two friends in Lisbon, she didn't expect thousands to engage.

But her LinkedIn post tapped into something profound: a new wave of workers rejecting the isolation of home. 

Going viral

When Hannah, who moved to Lisbon in late 2021 after a career as a fashion buyer in London and Manchester, saw a ridiculously good deal on a small office in Lisbon, she didn't hesitate. Within 24 hours, she and two fellow British entrepreneurs, brand designer Charlotte Osmond and career coach Anna Goodman, had signed the lease, splitting €500 a month between them for their own private workspace. 

Hannah, founder of What is Wealth, a financial coaching platform, recalls:

"I messaged them and said I'm thinking of renting this space, would you be interested in sharing it?

"They were at dinner together at the time, and they literally messaged back, 'Oh my God, yes.'" 

She excitedly decided to post on LinkedIn about the new arrangement, and it went viral. Comments poured in from remote workers across the UK and beyond, desperate to replicate the model. She says:

"Everyone was like, 'oh, I need this'. Now loads of people here are trying to find nice office spaces with friends." 

Striking a nerve

Hannah's post struck a nerve at a pivotal moment in the workplace evolution. As of October 2025, 27% of workers in Great Britain were working in hybrid roles, while 13% were working fully remotely, yet only 42% of workers would comply with a five-day return-to-office mandate; 9% say they would quit. It’s clearly not evidence of a wholescale return to the office, and flexibility remains key.  

A third way

The shared office model Hannah and her friends created offers a third way, neither fully remote nor back in corporate offices, but something more intimate than traditional co-working spaces. 

Hannah explains:

"Working from home is just not super effective for me. I find it really hard to concentrate. But co-working spaces are really expensive, and I don't even want to sit at a desk all day surrounded by strangers." 

The economics of escape 

The trio's workspace sits within an architecture firm that scaled down, leaving several small rooms available. For roughly €165 each per month (including bills), they get their own dedicated room, plus access to a shared kitchen, meeting rooms, and crucially, each other. 

For those who crave a space outside the home, the average membership for coworking costs £180 per month, according to CoworkingCafe's report, which works out at roughly £9 per day for a full working week. While that makes co-working a reasonable alternative to daily café expenses for remote workers, it still represents a significant outlay for freelancers and small business owners managing tight margins. 

Hannah's previous co-working membership left her frustrated:

"I joined a co-work and it was quite expensive, and I was like, oh, I don't even like it that much.

"I used to work from home and just eat out a lot or go out for coffee because I needed to get out of the house. Now I don't really need that anymore because I have a nice place to go anyway." 

While the UK's 4,048 shared workspaces make up one of the most extensive networks in the world, nearly a third are coworking spaces in London, finds CoworkingCafe's Q3 2025 State of the Coworking Industry Report. And while more spaces are popping up across other major cities like Manchester and Glasgow, there are significant regional gaps when it comes to access to flexible working spaces, making creative solutions like Hannah's even more appealing. 

"We're all so supportive of each other" 

For Hannah and her office-mates, the benefits extend far beyond cost savings.

Hannah says:

"We're all so supportive of each other. Sometimes we'll talk about our financial goals, goals for getting new clients. It's a good sounding board. It's kind of like hanging out with your mates, but we all do different careers." 

The productivity gains have been tangible too:

"I have found my productivity has really increased. I'm thinking, what was I even doing before?" 

Charlotte, whose design business, CEO Studio, serves both UK and international clients, and Anna, who coaches women in leadership while also working with a US culture consultancy, have reported similar benefits. 

Perhaps more significantly, having a workspace outside the home has shifted their relationship with their living spaces. Hannah says:

"When your home is where you work, it does change your relationship with home." 

A model catching on 

Their experience comes as resistance to full-time office returns hardens. The number of workers who said they would look for a new job with homeworking opportunities rose from 40% to 50% between early 2022 and late 2024. Women are particularly determined to maintain flexibility, with 55% saying they would seek a new job if required to return full-time, and another 9% saying they would quit, compared to 43% of men who would look for a new job and 8% who would quit. 

The model isn't just working in Lisbon. Hannah says:

"A few friends have done it. I had one friend, he got six of them together, and they hired a room, a kind of private office in a co-work." 

Since her post went viral, Hannah has been fielding questions from entrepreneurs and remote workers eager to replicate the arrangement.  

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