… shared workspaces, meeting rooms and communal facilities that are particularly attractive to small start-up businesses, creative industries, freelancers and solo consultancies.
A number of initiatives had been emerging in smaller towns and rural areas prior to the pandemic…
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Before the pandemic, things were going very well for small businesses:
A boom in small start up businesses in Devon – Vision Group for Sidmouth
At the same time, an enterprise which was really helping out other enterprises was the Lighthouse hub: WHICH HAS NOW CLOSED,
It reopened after the pandemic but was unable to continue.
Lighthouse Sidmouth Workhub to reopen – Vision Group for Sidmouth
And it seems that the changing work patterns brought about by the pandemic will mean such hubs will be even more important – with studies and reports looking at the phenomenon:
The role of co-working spaces in digital rural futures • Digit
Rural co-working spaces are on the rise – Rural Services Network
Paddington Works by Threefold offers a model for post-Covid co-working
Co-working is the future for offices | Insight | Property Week
With the Regional Studies Association also looking at these spaces as a rural service:
The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked many questions about the future of work and employment with increasing rates of remote working expected to persist. The possibility that commuters will spend less time in city centres, has led many industry experts to predict new growth in rural coworking. In this article, we draw on interviews with 15 coworking operators to examine the new opportunities that coworking offers to integrate rural entrepreneurs and commuters in their communities and potentially to renegotiate interdependencies between urban and rural regions.
Coworking Spaces are managed facilities that offer shared workspaces, meeting rooms and communal facilities that have been particularly attractive to small start-up businesses, creative industries, freelancers and solo consultancies (Füzi, 2015). The essential values of coworking include a better work-life balance, reduced commuting and network opportunities to support collaboration and overcome isolation (Spinuzzi, 2012). Although co-working has traditionally been an urban phenomenon, drawing on the “buzz” of city-centre locations, a number of initiatives had been emerging in smaller towns and rural areas prior to the pandemic…
RSA Regions Rural coworking: “It’s becoming contagious” – RSA Regions
image: The Lighthouse on Behance