The lift doors opened on the 30th floor.
And my first thought was… “wah, this is a co-working space?”
Warm wood, soft curves, beautiful lighting, and through the windows, sweeping views towards Keppel Harbour and Sentosa.
I was visiting 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐚𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, @JustCo's luxury workspace concept.
Nice? Definitely.
But after walking around and chatting with the team, what interested me wasn't really the furniture or the view. It was the business model behind it.
CEO Kong Wan Sing shared an analogy that I thought explained the strategy rather well: Marriott.
Marriott doesn't have one hotel brand for everyone. Different brands cater to different customers and different price points.
JustCo is taking a similar approach.
THE COLLECTIVE at the luxury end.
JustCo as its core premium offering.
And the wonderfully named the boring office 😂 for customers who simply want the essentials.
𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦.
Then there is the geographical reach.
JustCo operates across major Asian cities. For regional companies, employees can tap into the wider network when they travel. That, to me, is where scale starts becoming interesting.
And they are still growing.
At 160 Orchard Road, JustCo is taking around 150,000 sq ft for a new integrated concept spanning coworking, retail and eventually coliving. Deloitte Singapore has already committed to the entire coworking space before opening.
Of course, as an investor, I can't admire the view from the 30th floor and ignore the share price downstairs. 😅
JustCo listed at S$0.94 in May, and the shares have since fallen significantly below IPO price.
The market clearly still needs convincing.
Fair enough.
But this is also a company that has been in the business for 15 years. It survived COVID, when occupancy bottomed at just over 60%, and has an experienced senior management team behind it.
I like the scalability of the model, the multi-brand strategy and its regional network. But ultimately, execution matters. The real test is whether JustCo can translate that potential into sustainable profitability and shareholder returns. From what I saw and heard today, I believe the ingredients are there.
A big thank you to CEO Kong Wan Sing, CFO Lee Hui Yeow, CBO Michelle Lee and VP Marketing / HOD Andre Chong for the candid sharing and hospitality.
And thank you Amanda Huang, Shimona Wong and the SGX team for organising the visit. Always useful to get out from behind the screen and see the business for ourselves.
I left Labrador Tower with one question:
𝐈𝐟 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲?
#CorporateVisit #CoWorkingSpace #TradeSGX #POEMS #danccs