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Rayon: local coworking to revitalize bedroom communities
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The facts are clear: office space in Paris is hypercentralized. But what about employees living outside the capital? How can we meet their needs? Rayon offers fully-equipped offices in its neighborhood. Local coworking, an alternative to home-based telecommuting.
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People living on the outskirts of Paris, and whose offices are in Paris itself, feel penalized by these journey times.
Rayon offers an intermediate alternative between the office and home-based telecommuting. This new player focuses on local coworking, with fully-equipped offices just down the street.
The company was created around 4 challenges:
Rayon's solution is a fully-equipped workspace close to home, in a friendly atmosphere.
Some towns in the Paris region became deserted. Shops closed down because residents went to Paris to work, and only returned home in the evening to sleep. The result was a lack of consumer activity in these residential areas.
Rayon's aim was to revitalize local commerce in these towns on the outskirts of Paris, and to facilitate the management of transport flows by providing local workspaces. To support the development of local work, Rayon is backed by the Banque des Territoires.
This new local coworking model is a godsend for the dormitory towns of the Paris region. Rayon will boost the dynamism and attractiveness of areas on the outskirts of Paris.
Rayon offers workspaces of around 150m2, designed to accommodate between 20 and 30 workstations, close to employees' homes. Each space is equipped with phone boxes for seclusion, or meeting rooms for hosting clients. Rayon has a network of 9 workspaces around Paris.
These high-quality workspaces are a genuine alternative to on-site work and home-based telecommuting. They offer a friendly, fully-equipped office environment, without having to leave the city. Teleworkers benefit from a fully-equipped office (double screen, ergonomic furniture, phone box, etc.) for optimal working conditions.
Users can choose a shared workspace alongside other professionals, encouraging collaboration and social interaction. As an added bonus, they can return home for lunch if they wish.
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The aim is to offer extended opening hours (until 11 p.m., including holidays and weekends) in a high-quality space where you can feel at home. To book, 3 types of subscription are available:
Currently, Rayon's customer base consists mainly of :
Rayon is actively expanding its network throughout the Paris region, to provide practical solutions on the outskirts.
In the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), reducing the carbon footprint of the daily commute to and from work is a major concern.
Around 40% of employees who commute to Paris do so by car, thus contributing to CO2 emissions. In other conurbations, such as Marseille, public transport to the outskirts is less developed. To address these two issues, Rayon's long-term ambition is to develop workspaces outside major cities, throughout France.
The company also plans to expand its footprint through partnerships, and to work with real estate companies with properties that they are unable to rent.
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For Rayon, the challenge is to bring workers together by location and not just by skill. Thanks to an in-house architect and various partnerships, Rayon is now able to open new spaces in just 3/4 months, depending on demand. Want to try out local coworking?
How does it work?
"We have developed a application that allows users to select select workspaces independently and cost-effectively. Once they've chosen a location, they receive an access code, enabling them to enter and find their assigned workstation. It's simple and seamless!
- Stanislas Chaillou, co-founder of Rayon
What is your communications strategy?
"Our communication strategy is mainly local. We organize actions in collaboration with municipalities and local local retailers. We're counting on word-of-mouth to spread the word about our initiative.
- Stanislas Chaillou, co-founder of Rayon
Subway, work, sleep
is the average time it takes Parisians to get to work.