The workhubs I run are very deliberately in town centres. Maybe it’s just my aversion to out of town business parks but it seems to me that coworking fits best with high streets or at least interesting/upcoming urban neighbourhoods.
That’s not to say they can’t work on industrial parks and the rest, it’s just that those places feel like they are from a different economy, a different era perhaps. Which is not to say that every coworker needs to be a hipster or look like they can only exist in the Northern Quarter/Mile End. But the whole feel of most successful workhubs is less formal, more friendly/collaborative.
In a sense these places can be a little bit the equivalent to great but relaxed restaurants (no waiters combing crumbs off a starched tablecloth) or to a unique café not a well-known chain.
It’s not complicated to recognise what a high street location for a workhub offers. It appeals to the members who want to be part of a wider buzz not a gated community. They like the idea of cycling in, of nipping to the shops, going to a café, having a choice of places to eat lunch. They like the idea of asking clients and work partners to visit them there – and the clients/partners like it too. Meanwhile the town or neighbourhood centre itself benefits enormously from the footfall of people who have some money to spend. If you are a local authority with an economic development team, why keep sending ‘SMEs’ to business parks by car nowhere near shops and restaurants? Why not build up the appeal of your high street by attracting a coworking provider to set up there?
There are now lots of urban ‘villages’ in the big UK cities. Not just the obvious ones like Chorlton, Montpellier, Clifton or Brixton. Even hitherto (or at least I thought so when I was in my 20s) quasi-Siberian wastelands like Walthamstow or Bow are now villages, don’t you know! Even suburbs are going this way. Everyone seems to want independent shops and bars. Why not independent workspaces too?
Recently I dropped in to a classic independent coworking space at the back end (literally) of a vibrant café in East Dulwich, Oru. OK I’ve never seen so much lycra and the ‘yummy mummy’ community seems real here. But look at the effect on the high street. Did coworking or the café come first? Who knows. Who cares. The place is buzzing and there’s plenty of business going on in there (you can see the coworkers hard at work through the glass divide as you munch your cardamom buns). There are electric bikes and buggies outside. Macbooks charging and events advertised. And just a sense that Oru is a completely integral part of an obviously successful high street. I am certain the fact it has a workhub is what glues it in and makes it an HQ for the village.
https://oruspace.co/east-dulwich
Meanwhile across the UK there are some fantastic and up-and-coming market towns with high streets crying out for a workhub. Our own Workbox in Truro, Cornwall’s capital city (no less), is in just such a spot. Close to all the coolest cafes, bars and restaurants but not overwhelmed with passing chainstore shoppers.
In my opinion the greatest opportunity for new workhubs now is in towns like this, particularly those struggling to retain traditional retail while seeming to be attracting returning or incoming workers who no longer need to or want to commute to work in big cities. The returners as we call them in Cornwall. If high street vitality is your thing, you really need to look at getting a workhub into your community
