Wrapping up 2025; the Year of the Snake

‍A year of shedding, sharpening and surging forward

Every year, I use the Chinese zodiac as a lens through which to reflect on our journey. It is a tradition that forces me to look beyond spreadsheets and dashboards and consider the deeper patterns shaping both our business and the world around us. In 2023, the Year of the Rabbit taught us agility. In 2024, the Year of the Dragon reminded us of power and unpredictability. And 2025, the Year of the Snake, offered its own distinct wisdom.

The snake has long symbolised renewal, intelligence, patience, subtlety and reinvention. Unlike more dramatic zodiac creatures, the snake does not crash through obstacles. It senses, adapts and sheds what no longer serves it. It moves with quiet precision and strategic intent, evolving by discarding the old so that the new can emerge.

In 2025, the world behaved very much like the snake itself. Global politics twisted into unfamiliar shapes. Technology shed yet another layer of complexity. The South African economy loosened a decade-long knot. And Inospace stepped into a new phase of maturity, clarity and capability. This was a year of shedding and sharpening, a year in which our identity solidified and our system became stronger than at any point in our nine-year history.

A global backdrop of upheaval and reinvention

The global stage in 2025 offered no shortage of theatre. Donald Trump’s return to the centre of American politics dominated world headlines and created ripple effects across markets, alliances and investor psychology. Yet beneath the political noise, something more structural began to take hold. Central banks across the developed world eased interest rates, offering long-awaited relief after years of inflationary turbulence. Economies that once operated in crisis-response mode rediscovered the idea of planning beyond the next quarter.

At the same time, artificial intelligence advanced at a pace even the most optimistic had underestimated. Larger language models, more autonomous agents and new AI-driven logistics platforms began quietly reshaping industries. What electricity did to the twentieth century, AI is beginning to do to the twenty-first. Businesses that adapt to this computational revolution will thrive. Those that do not will watch their competitive edge evaporate.

For Inospace, the rise of AI is not a distant phenomenon. It influences how we price space, manage operations, forecast demand and how our clients run their businesses. AI will not replace entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs who use AI will likely replace those who do not. The Year of the Snake reminded us that reinvention is now structural and unavoidable.

South Africa’s tailwinds: a country finally catching its breath

While the world contorted politically, something remarkable happened at home. South Africa entered a new rhythm. For the first time in a generation, the Government of National Unity provided a measure of political equilibrium. Governance improved at the margins. Populism retreated. And confidence, fragile but real, began to return.

The economic indicators painted an even clearer picture:
• Interest rates fell steadily, giving households and SMEs much-needed relief
• Load shedding remained absent for the first full year in more than a decade
• The Rand staged a dramatic year-end resurgence
• Cape Town surged as a magnet for capital, development and innovation
• Johannesburg’s industrial and logistics corridors reawakened, boosted by e-commerce and renewed political optimism
• South Africa received a symbolic and long-awaited credit-rating upgrade

These were not just statistics. They signalled a national tide turning. And they turned in sectors where Inospace has its deepest strengths. South Africa needed modern storage, flexible logistics, SME-ready warehousing and fulfilment. We had spent years preparing for this moment. When demand arrived, we were ready.

Shedding old skin and refining the product ecosystem

If 2024 was about growth, then 2025 was about refinement. We sharpened every part of our ecosystem: storage, micro-warehousing, offices, and fulfilment. The model became clearer, more disciplined and more scalable.

Storage demand rose sharply as SMEs, online sellers and micro-entrepreneurs sought flexible and secure space. New parks in Cape Town and Johannesburg leased up rapidly, validating our thesis that storage is now a structural pillar of the urban economy.

Micro-warehousing matured into one of the country’s most relevant SME logistics solutions. We built fewer passageways, more innovative layouts and more replicable designs. Olympia Works in Sandton has become a living case study in design-led, SME-focused urban regeneration.

Fulfilment had its breakout year. We refined the operating model, strengthened warehouse processes and integrated fulfilment more deeply with storage and micro-warehousing. The appointment of Devan Cairns brought new structure and discipline. Powder Mill welcomed Takealot, positioning us inside one of the most influential e-commerce ecosystems in South Africa. And in 2026, we will take fulfilment into Johannesburg, establishing our first national logistics footprint.

For many SMEs, we are no longer just a space provider. We have become part of their supply chain.

New buildings and new horizons

Our physical portfolio deepened and diversified as projects long in planning moved into execution.

The Exchange advanced its transformation into a major innovation hub, anchoring our Cape Town network. Grand Works, Salt Exchange and Marine Works strengthened our footprint and created new clusters in our SME logistics ecosystem.

Many of our parks reached their highest occupancy levels ever, with Cape Town in particular seeing waiting lists across multiple locations.

A major milestone was the launch of Creation Works; our first sectional title scheme designed for owner-operators and investors seeking exposure to the SME logistics economy. It opens a new avenue of expansion that blends flexibility with long-term value creation.

Looking ahead, our pipeline includes new storage parks, micro-warehouse conversions, expanded fulfilment hubs and new Johannesburg developments. As demand rises, our buildings have become more than properties. They are part of the infrastructure powering the country’s modern entrepreneurship economy.

Becoming a platform: systems that think, learn and scale

2025 marked the year we transitioned from operating as a property business to behaving like a technology-enabled platform.

Lisa, our proprietary leasing engine, became a core internal operating system. She automated processes, improved conversion rates, strengthened pricing intelligence and created real-time organisational visibility. Our operational dashboards advanced dramatically, giving leadership transparency we had never had before.

Design, construction and branding systems became more standardised and replicable. Templates replaced improvisation. Guidelines replaced ambiguity. Data replaced anecdote. These changes were not glamorous, but they were transformative. They created coherence at scale, building a platform that learns and strengthens with each new park, each new client and each improved system.

Leadership renewal and organisational momentum

The Year of the Snake teaches that reinvention begins with people. In 2025, we strengthened both our leadership spine and the wider organisational muscle.

We welcomed Llewellyn Olivier as Chief Financial Officer, bringing strategic clarity and investor readiness. We formalised David Bernstein as Managing Director, sharpening accountability. We appointed Dean Venske as Chief Operating Officer, adding operational precision. We strengthened our strategic core with the appointments of Justin Stewart as Asset Manager, Stephan du Toit as Head of Projects and Devan Cairns as Head of Fulfilment.

Across leasing, fulfilment, operations, park management, design, development, finance and marketing, we saw people step forward with greater ownership. New joiners blended seamlessly with long-standing team members, creating a culture that is more collaborative, capable and ambitious.

Our culture revealed itself not in slogans but in action: early unlocks, weekend walkabouts, peak-season fulfilment pushes, construction deadlines and the thousands of invisible decisions that keep 50 parks running smoothly.

If a business is the sum of its people, then 2025 was the year our sum became greater than its parts.

Looking ahead: momentum in the Year of the Horse

We now enter 2026, the Year of the Horse, a symbol of speed, energy and forward movement. It is a fitting metaphor for what lies ahead. The macro winds are finally shifting in the right direction. The SME economy is awakening. Logistics and storage remain growth sectors. Cape Town continues to boom. Johannesburg’s industrial backbone is strengthening. AI is transforming how businesses operate.

And Inospace; sharper and more confident after a year of shedding and rebuilding, is poised for acceleration.

The Year of the Snake asked for intelligence, patience and reinvention. We honoured that. The Year of the Horse calls for motion, momentum and boldness.

Here is to the year in which we not only shed our skin; but build the muscle for the sprint ahead.

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