Trailblazing Women: Nikita and Rhea Patel's 'The Bureau' Offers a Dedicated Space for Female Professionals to Thrive in the UAE As the global female workforce seeks policies that allow for better work-life balance, the Patel sisters have co-founded UAE-based female-focused co-working space The Bureau.

This article is part of a series entitled "Trailblazing Women" by Entrepreneur Middle East in celebration of International Women's Day 2025.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered many aspects of the working ecosystem as we once knew it- in both good ways and bad. But one rather unfortunate consequence was the impact felt by female employees across the world. A March 2021 study by McKinsey and Co. had shown that one in four women had considered leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers (versus one in five men) in the aftermath of the pandemic. This disparity was particularly prominent with parents of kids under ten: the rate at which women in this group were considering leaving was ten percentage points higher than for men. Since then, workforces have often grappled to find ways that help female employees not only achieve a positive work-life balance, but also perform well alongside personal responsibilities- approaches that, as per a 2024 study by Deloitte, account for 21% and 20%, respectively, of the factors that make women want to stay with their employers for more than five years. Coincidentally, it was during the coronavirus pandemic that sisters Nikita and Rhea Patel were on their own journey of discovering the need for better working environments for women in the UAE. "During the lockdown, we found ourselves working together in the same space while pursuing our individual ventures," the Patels recall. "After years of living on separate continents, we quickly realized how different our working styles were—while I thrived in pin-drop silence, Rhea preferred a more social environment filled with music. I needed a traditional desk and chair, whereas Rhea loved working on a comfy couch. However, the one thing we both agreed on was how much we missed being surrounded by people, particularly other like-minded women…Two years later, The Bureau was born!"

Nikita Patel is the co-founder of The Bureau. Image source: The Bureau

Indeed, it was in 2022, that the duo co-founded The Bureau as a female-focused co-working space in Dubai's Gold & Diamond Park. "Beyond creating workspaces that cater to our differing styles, we wanted to design beautiful environments that inspire us and others to achieve great things," they explain. "We envisioned an authentic space where people could wear whatever they felt comfortable in and be unapologetically themselves while getting work done. We aimed to create a hub that brought together individuals from all industries—freelancers, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and professionals—a place to connect with like-minded, bold, and ambitious individuals who uplift one another. In short, we recognized a significant need for a workspace and community in Dubai, and the broader region, that combines the convenience of an office with the comfort of home."

Rhea Patel is the co-founder of The Bureau. Image source: The Bureau

As such, The Bureau's workspaces cater to varying work styles. "We have everything from private offices and dedicated desks, to phone booths, meeting rooms, and a plethora of coworking areas," the Patels add. "We realized early on in the process that preferences are varied in regards to seating, therefore, we provide it all! We have high tables, couch seating, cozy nooks and more!"

But at the heart of the venture was a vision to address the very problem that is mentioned at the beginning of this article. "There was this staggering statistic we came across: nearly one in two women in MENA take a career break to tend to family, raise children, or recover from childbirth," Nikita shares. "However, only 19% successfully rejoin the workforce after a career break of five years or less. As a result, female labor force participation for the 25-34 year old cohort has steadily decreased. We as co-founders are therefore committed to increasing the number of women who rejoin the workforce in the MENA region."

Image source: The Bureau

The Bureau aims to achieve this through a three-tiered approach: through its physical space itself, a series of upskilling programs, as well as through creating a professional network of women. "The Bureau's physical space includes a nursing room for new moms, a vanity and shower area, flexible child and baby policies and is purposefully situated near schools and nurseries," Rhea explains. "New moms use the nursing room daily and express that restarting working without such amenities would be much more challenging. It is a simple yet highly impactful offering. The Bureau places a huge emphasis on upskilling and lifelong learning. We actively work to combat the misconception that returning women lack experience or have outdated skills. Since its inception, they have hosted workshops on leveraging AI for marketing, public speaking, pitch deck creation, business finance and more! The Bureau also hosts the Bureau Connect program, connecting members in similar industries and lines of work and a peer-to-peer skill-share program. The Bureau also holds regular "needs and leads" sessions for entrepreneurs to support one another. Additionally, a retail wall showcases female-founded brands and helps drive CPG growth for those brands."

In designing these amenities for The Bureau's users, Nikita has deployed some of her personal experiences as a new mother as well. "I've become a mother in the last year and what I've learned is that saving time and efficiency is the most valuable thing to help with balance," she adds. "The Bureau has been so wonderful in helping me improve this, as well as for others, because it serves as a hub where you can do everything under one roof - complete work, host meetings, attend an event, and grab a coffee at our cafe. We designed The Bureau purposefully with women's needs in mind and not as an afterthought. We have a nursing and pumping room for new mothers which allows those returning to the workplace to do so quicker and with ease."

Image source: The Bureau

But in addition to the motherhood-specific additions, The Bureau's interiors have also been carefully designed to ensure it is aesthetically pleasing to women in general as well. "We often say The Bureau combines the comforts of your home with the convenience of your office," Rhea explains. "During our focus groups, we learnt early on that women prefer spaces with more of a residential feel than a commercial one. Office spaces have historically been very conventional, and a little institutional. We here at The Bureau believe an office of any kind needs to feel enticing. Wooden floors, high ceilings, and a plethora of natural light created a great base for us to build upon. We used bright, warm colours, as well as soft neutrals in our space to stimulate energy, and create a productive work environment. We added a healthy sprinkle of coffee table books, candles, plants, and wall art to really bring the space to life, and to give our office that effortless 'lived-in' feel. Assouline books, female biographies, and New Yorker magazines are just a few of the delightful things you can find on the shelves of The Bureau library."

But do not confuse The Bureau's female-focused approach to be one that is exclusively for women. "We at The Bureau are female-focused and female-friendly, as opposed to female-only, meaning that we have both men and women utilizing our coworking space," the co-founders share. "That being said, due to our design, amenities, and community, our current ratio is about 70% women to 30% men. What does female-focused mean you may ask? Women have unique needs, especially in the workplace, and more specifically depending on their stage of life and The Bureau remains committed to thinking about women's needs at its core, not as an afterthought. Female-focused spaces are extremely important from a career longevity and workforce perspective."

Adopting such attention to detail across its combination of workspaces, personal spaces, and events spaces, as well as adopting a flexible pricing plan, has paid off monetarily for the co-founders as well. "We believe in being price inclusive, and catering to individuals with various budget requirements," the duo explains. "Having a range of price points ensures a diverse crowd, which is essential in creating an authentic community. We have a day pass for as low as AED120, as well as single and all location access coworking memberships. For longer term commitments, we have dedicated desks starting at AED1,200. We have 16 private offices at The Bureau Gold & Diamond Park location, at 100% occupancy, which has been a stable and great revenue source for The Bureau. We are now also on the brink of opening our second location in the iconic Opera Grand Residences in Downtown Dubai. We have already leased 60% of our private offices, and 80% of our dedicated desks prior to opening. An unexpected revenue source has been our event space rental, as well as full space takeovers. From company offsites and industry panels, to pop ups, and video shoots, we really have seen it all."

Image source: The Bureau

But the sisters point out that reaching this point has not been an easy ride, particularly because both of them had been in different careers prior to plunging into the world of creating co-working spaces- Rhea's background was in Media and Digital Transformation, while Nikita has previously run a special needs center for young adults as well as a hydroponics vertical farm in Dubai. "The most challenging part of building The Bureau has quite literally been 'building The Bureau.'" Rhea notes. "Neither Nikita nor I have a technical or fitout background, and therefore it was quite a steep learning curve. Fitting out a space is often associated with the more 'glamorous' and 'fun' aspects such as picking out wallpapers, paints, and funky furniture. However, the reality is much different, and we have learnt more than we desire about firefighting, mezzanine builds, and plumbing to name a few. Being in business with a sibling has been extremely helpful in this regard, as we are able to split the workload and divide and conquer."

Nikita, on the other hand, notes that learning how to pivot constituted a major lesson for the duo. "Another great challenge has been not getting overly attached to the initial business plan, and allowing The Bureau to take its natural course, and allowing The Bureau to evolve," she adds. "Like in any business, consumers resonate with certain aspects of a business more than others. A prime example for us was the incorporation of a workout studio in our coworking space. During focus groups, consumers are generally overly optimistic, and believed this amenity would be of great use. However, fast forward two years and two different yoga and pilates operators later, we made the decision to convert the space to three private offices, as this was where the demand was."

Filled with a passion to continue their journey, the Patel sisters now hope to expand The Bureau beyond the UAE as well. "In all honesty, the plan was never to have one Bureau and one location," Nikita and Rhea declare. "Our Gold & Diamond Park location is definitely the pilot project. 2025 brings us the opening of our second location in Downtown Dubai. Our next step is to expand The Bureau across MENA, South Asia and beyond. Something we would like to explore this year is how to keep adding value to our community with additional amenities in current and future locations. Some concepts we are exploring is the integration of childcare, a podcast studio, or perhaps even a content studio. We are born and raised in Dubai and Dubai teaches you to dream big. In the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, "The future belongs to those who can imagine it, design it, and execute it." We aspire to embody that every day with The Bureau."

Nikita and Rhea Patel, co-founders, The Bureau. Image source: The Bureau

'TREP TALK: Nikita and Rhea Patel on the perks of co-founding a startup with your sibling!

The ability to make decisions quickly "There are two clear decision makers, and therefore we are able to move forward with things quickly. Whether it be strategy, a new process etc, being a sibling in business allows us to have a very agile organization."

Having the same core values courtesy having grown up in the same household "Some of our core values include overcommunication, respect, and hard work. This allows us to have great synergy, especially when building a team. We are aligned on the type of individual we want to hire, and the values they should have. Having a rock solid foundation is essential for any set of co-founders, which can be built upon alongside the business."

With all benefits there are always unique challenges "One big challenge with working alongside a sibling is unlearning the typical familial roles, and re-establishing yourselves as equals and co-founders. In our case, we had to unlearn our traditional roles of 'older sister' and 'little sister.' The second large challenge is separating our work and personal life. Setting those clear boundaries upfront, and then following them is super important, and something we work on everyday."