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The short answer
A co-working desk in Lagos is the quickest way to give a UK company's Nigerian team a reliable place to work, but compare operators on what the fee includes: backup power, internet, meeting rooms and service charges. Prices are set by each operator, so get a written quote. Before signing in the UK company's name, check two things: whether a desk at your disposal could create a permanent establishment under the UK-Nigeria tax treaty, and how Nigerian company law treats a foreign company with a place of business in Nigeria.
When a UK company hires its first two or three people in Lagos, the home-working arrangement usually breaks down within months. Power cuts, a weak mobile connection or a noisy compound make video calls with London unreliable. A co-working membership is the common fix. It is quick to arrange, needs no fit-out and can be cancelled. What it costs and what it actually delivers vary a great deal, and the paperwork has consequences in both countries.
What you are paying for
Lagos operators publish their own price lists, and many quote only on enquiry. There is no official benchmark, so treat any figure you see on a forum as out of date until the operator confirms it in writing. What matters more than the headline price is what sits inside it:
- Desk type. Hot desk (any free seat), dedicated desk (your seat, sometimes with storage) or a private office for a small team.
- Hours. Some memberships run office hours only; check whether staff can work late for UK afternoon calls, especially in winter when the gap to London is one hour.
- Power. Whether backup generation or inverters are included, and for which hours. Ask what happens when grid supply fails at 7pm.
- Internet. Whether there is more than one provider, so one outage does not take the whole space offline.
- Meeting rooms. Usually a monthly allowance of hours, with extra hours charged.
- Extras. Service charge, VAT on the invoice, parking, printing, mail handling and security deposits.
- Notice. How much notice you must give to leave, and whether you pay for months in advance.
For the operator's side of pricing, the Nigeria library explains day passes against monthly memberships; read it to understand which plan suits a small remote team.
Power: why it drives the bill
Grid electricity in Lagos is sold by band. In NERC's July 2025 supplementary order for Ikeja Electric, Band A was priced at ₦209.50 per kWh for non-maximum-demand and maximum-demand customers, with lower tariffs for Bands B to E. Tariffs are revised by NERC orders, so check the current order before you rely on that figure. A space on a Band A feeder with a good record will run its generator less, and a space that runs diesel for long hours has to recover that cost from members. You can ask an operator which band its feeder is on and how many hours a day it ran on backup last month. The Nigeria library explains how bands work and how to check one.
Worked example (illustrative)
Example: two quotes for three dedicated desks. Operator A charges ₦150,000 per desk per month with backup power during working hours only. Operator B charges ₦180,000 per desk with backup until 10pm and two internet lines. A costs ₦450,000 a month (3 × ₦150,000) and B costs ₦540,000 (3 × ₦180,000), a difference of ₦90,000. If your team regularly joins UK calls after 6pm, the cheaper plan may cost more in lost work. These figures are invented for the arithmetic; get real quotes.
Whose name goes on the agreement
This is where a UK owner needs to slow down. Two separate questions arise.
Tax: could a desk create a permanent establishment?
Under Article 5 of the 1987 UK-Nigeria double taxation agreement, a permanent establishment is a fixed place of business through which the business is carried on, including an office or a place of management. Preparatory or auxiliary activities are excluded. If your UK company holds a membership in its own name and its staff carry on its core business from those desks, Nigeria may treat the company as having a permanent establishment, which brings Nigerian tax on the profits attributable to it. Separately, EY reports that the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025 requires non-resident companies to register for a Tax ID from 1 January 2026 even without a permanent establishment in some cases. Take advice on your facts; see when a UK company creates a taxable presence in Nigeria.
Company law: a place of business in Nigeria
Nigerian company law, as summarised by Gresyndale Legal on section 78 of CAMA 2020, requires a foreign company to incorporate a separate Nigerian entity before carrying on business in Nigeria, and says that without one it cannot have a place of business there, apart from steps preparatory to incorporation and listed exemptions. Many UK owners therefore put the membership in the name of a Nigerian subsidiary, or in the name of an employer of record, rather than the UK company. Compare the routes in Lagos office options for a UK startup.
Is a co-working agreement a tenancy?
Usually not. Most memberships are written as licences or service agreements, which give you the right to use space rather than a lease of it. That matters because the Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 applies to premises including business premises, limits how much rent in advance a landlord can demand (for a new tenant, no more than one year), and exempts Apapa, Ikeja GRA, Ikoyi and Victoria Island. If you take a private office on a lease rather than a membership, read which regime applies to that address.
What to check first
- Decide which entity will sign: the UK company, a Nigerian subsidiary or an employer of record.
- Ask at least two operators for written quotes listing power hours, internet providers, meeting-room hours, VAT and service charges.
- Visit in the evening as well as the morning, and test a video call from the desk.
- Read the notice period, deposit terms and what happens if the space closes.
- Check insurance. GOV.UK says employers' liability insurance is not compulsory if you only employ someone based outside England, Scotland and Wales, but you may still want cover for staff abroad; see insurance for Nigerian operations.
- Agree how the team will work during long outages, in line with your continuity plan.
Where Pryme fits
A Pryme Business Account holds naira alongside pounds, dollars and euros, so a UK owner can pay a Lagos operator's naira invoice from a naira balance without converting each month at the moment of payment. Swap shows the rate and the fee before you approve. Serviced offices are one of the sectors in Spaces, Pryme's merchant network in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. See the Business Account and Spaces.
Questions people ask
How much is a co-working desk in Lagos per month?
Each operator sets its own price and many quote only on request. Compare written quotes on what is included: backup power hours, internet, meeting rooms, VAT and service charges.
Can my UK company rent office space in Lagos directly?
It can sign contracts, but CAMA 2020 section 78, as summarised by Gresyndale Legal, says a foreign company needs a Nigerian entity before carrying on business or having a place of business in Nigeria. Many owners sign through a subsidiary or employer of record.
Does a co-working desk create a permanent establishment in Nigeria?
It can. The UK-Nigeria treaty treats a fixed place of business, such as an office, as a permanent establishment unless the activity is preparatory or auxiliary. It depends on what your staff do there; take advice.
Do Lagos co-working spaces have constant power?
It depends on the feeder band and how much backup the operator runs. Ask which band the building is on, what hours backup covers and how often it ran on diesel last month.
Sources
- NERC: July 2025 Supplementary Order to MYTO 2024, Ikeja Electric (ORDER/NERC/2025/064) · accessed Oct 2026
- GOV.UK: 1987 UK-Nigeria double taxation agreement (in force) · accessed Oct 2026
- EY Global Tax News: Nigeria tax registration for non-resident companies (17 Feb 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Mondaq (Gresyndale Legal): Can a foreign company do business in Nigeria without incorporation? (8 Apr 2024) · accessed Oct 2026
- Lagos State Tenancy Law 2011 (policyvault copy) · accessed Oct 2026
- GOV.UK: Employers' liability insurance · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.