What happened?

On January 1, 2023, StartDock acquired a competitor: Wheelhouse, at Achtergracht 17 in Amsterdam. This coworking space was founded by Balster van Duijn, a connection from the field with whom we had had frequent contact in recent years about all kinds of work-related matters such as 'Access Control Systems', 'Property Management Systems' and 'Internet in a coworking space'. StartDock and Wheelhouse were about the same age as coworking brands, both with a strong focus on people: Community first coworking. Under Balster's leadership, Wheelhouse had been running successfully for seven years, with a very close-knit community. For the past seven years, Wheelhouse has had a lease with the landlord that was renewed by one or two years each time. When we took over the keys to Wheelhouse in January, we knew it was a risk that the contract would run until the end of 2023.

In the talks with the landlord, we requested to be allowed to enter into a contract for at least five years this time. This is because we wanted to offer the members on Wheelhouse more peace of mind for the future, instead of worrying every year about whether the lease will be extended. A longer contract turned out not to be an option. In fact, the landlord wanted at least a doubling of the rent, with a lease of up to two years. This was an unfeasible request for StartDock after almost six months of discussions with the landlord, so we decided to close the Achtergracht location after 12 months under the StartDock flag.

Both our colleagues and our members on location were informed at an early stage in this process. Many were shocked, because this meant the end of-for some members-six, seven or eight years of Achtergracht. This was also a very sad course for our colleagues Caroline, Mo, Soraya and Soof, who have done fantastic work for the members on location for years. StartDock talked to all members and colleagues on the Achtergracht to see what we could do for them.

The prevailing feeling is disappointment. As StartDock, we had envisioned this adventure very differently. We hoped to take over Wheelhouse's close-knit community and give the property a major facelift, with a long-term lease with the landlord. Unfortunately, it did not come to that.

What have we learned?

Last week I was at the Coworking Europe Conference, a conference that I attend annually on behalf of StartDock and CoworkingNL . This year, as a speaker, I had the opportunity to talk about the theme 'Mergers and acquisitions'. I shared the full and honest story, after which a question came from the audience: "Would you have taken this step, with the knowledge you have now, at the beginning of this year?" My convincing answer was, "Absolutely." I am convinced that the core values of Wheelhouse and StartDock matched and that members of both concepts were able to meet similar needs in the Wheelhouse and StartDock locations. However, I would do some things significantly differently. For example, in the next situation, I would always look the landlord in the eye (and extend the lease) before we take such a step again. One learns by doing.

And now?

StartDock is coming up with a busy period. On 1 January, we will not only close StartDock Achtergracht, we will also receive the keys to StartDock Singel: Our newest coworking space of 1850m2 at Singel 126-130 in Amsterdam. All in all, we see the opening and immediate closure of StartDock Achtergracht as one very painful step backwards, only to go three more ways next year.