BubbaDesk continues to evolve with WOTSO partnership

BubbaDesk, a hybrid early childhood business which combines coworking spaces with onsite care for children, has partnered with WOTSO FlexSpace to expand its footprint to potentially all 29 of WOTSO Property’s (ASX: WOT) sites in Australia and New Zealand.

Founded in 2022 by Lauren Perrett on the NSW Central Coast, BubbaDesk is soon to open its fifth centre at a WOTSO site in Sydney’s Neutral Bay, with a sixth planned for Sydney’s Inner West come April 2025. 

BubbaDesk cares for children aged between four months and three years and will have separate, branded ancillary childcare facilities and desk space within the WOTSO sites where it operates.

Ms Perrett founded the business based on her experience of being a young mother who found a lack of support in balancing the needs of a growing family and her career after returning to work. 

WOTSO is a property group which has experienced rapid growth in recent years, mostly driven by increasing demand for flexible working arrangements. The company currently operates 29 ‘FlexSpace’ centres that are largely located in suburban and regional areas.

Ms Perrett believes that the services of each business are complementarym and that working together will make each business stronger. 

“The opportunity for BubbaDesk is a rapid rollout and being able to deliver on the demand quicker,” Ms Perrett, a finalist in the 2024 Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards, shared with Business News Australia. 

“For us the demand seems to be pretty much everywhere there’s a WOTSO, and so it makes sense to combine the two.”

“They’ve got the coworking infrastructure, and we’ve got the playbook to run both under one roof. The value of having one landlord across multiple sites is also really appealing.”

For WOTSO CEO Jessie Glew, also a new mother, the concept of BubbaDesk is one which is exciting.

“For us it was about providing an extra service to our members,” Ms Glew said.

“I recently had my own child and can see all the benefits of BubbaDesk, which makes it easier for parents returning to work by combining childcare with coworking.”

Given that parents are onsite under the BubbaDesk model, the service is not eligible for Child Care Subsidy.