GCUC UK and OctoberFlex at TOGETHER

Before the day

GCUC UK booked TOGETHER in 2025, before the doors had opened. Booking a conference into a room that didn’t exist yet took some trust. Then in August, Elliott sat down with GCUC founder Liz Elam on the GCUC Podcast to talk about TOGETHER, hospitality and why physical experiences matter more as the world goes digital.

His view is that TOGETHER is a hospitality business that lives inside a building. Landlords know how to build and manage real estate. Delivering a high-touch experience for thousands of people is a different craft, and it rests on the team: chefs, front of house, AV engineers, all working as one.

Liz left the conversation already planning how GCUC London would use the LED wall. By October, the room was ready for them.

The day

GCUC UK London brought 250 operators, landlords, investors and suppliers into the Pavilion. Across the floor, from 8am to 11am, 150 more came to Workthere’s OctoberFlex in the Collective. By the afternoon, the Collective had turned over to GCUC UK’s workshops and roundtables. Between them, the Gallery became the place where the day kept going: coffee, introductions, the conversations that started in one session and finished in the next.

Two events, two audiences, one floor. The work was in making each feel like it had the place to itself, while letting people move freely between them.

What that took was mostly invisible. Easy arrivals. AV that held in both rooms all day. Food people went back for. And time built into the schedule to talk, which, for an industry that exists to bring people together, mattered as much as anything said on stage.

The room, explained

On the Places People Thrive panel, Elliott joined Cheré Falconer of Quarterback, who fitted out the space, with Jonathan O’Byrne of The Coworking Institute in the chair. They talked through the decisions behind the room. Everyone listening could look up and see them.

Some are easy to miss. The air handling responds as CO₂ levels rise, so a full room stays comfortable through the afternoon. Columns and doors are placed so each client can wrap the space in their own brand. And a curtain in place of a cloakroom door cut the time to get 500 people out from 35 minutes to 15.

Elliott also answered one of the morning’s big questions: is this a real estate business or a hospitality business? Real estate, he said, until the fit-out is done and the door opens. From that moment on, it’s hospitality.

His case for the whole venture came down to one line. As the world takes in more artificial content, people will value physical experiences more. “You can’t fake sitting in a room.”

What people took away

In GCUC’s own recap of the day, Emilie Lashmar, Director and Producer of GCUC UK and also TOGETHER’s Creative Director, picked out the design details from Elliott and Cheré’s session as the things that stood out. Her summary: “Design for the person in the room, not just the person who signs.”

Fenton Cayless, founder of CameThru, ran his connection app in the room all day so attendees could see who was there and stay in touch afterwards. His write-up covers everything from neuro-inclusive design to the gap AI has yet to fill, and how he spent much of the afternoon in conversation in the foyer. Read his recap here.

That’s the part we like best. The sessions gave people something to talk about. The space gave them somewhere to do it.

Thank you

To GCUC UK and Workthere for trusting us with their event.

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