StartUp Spaces is a powerful online tool which matches empty office space from start-up hubs and office providers with businesses that are looking for a base for expansion or a place to co-work with other start-ups.
The service is part of the national campaign’s mission to stimulate start-up growth and was created in reaction to the recently-published Enterprise Report , authored by Enterprise Adviser to the Prime Minister, Lord Young, which suggested that the opening up of more spaces to start-ups is essential to ensure they are offered the best conditions and environment in which to grow.
StartUp Britain co-founder Emma Jones said: “We know that over 60% of businesses are started from home but a number of businesses outgrow the home and an even greater number look for out of home office space in which to conduct client meetings or attend co-working sessions to feel the buzz of working alongside like minds.
“By encouraging office providers and big businesses with available space to post their offer on our website, this opens up a wealth of opportunity to start-ups and growing businesses and simplifies the process of looking for grow-on space or a local enterprise hub.”
Start-up friendly office providers or businesses with spare office capacity can upload their spaces to the StartUp Britain website using a specially-designed form, and those looking for a space can search the map to find a match.
The campaign hopes to sign up more than a thousand spaces from around the UK onto the site in the next six months and expects empty Government spaces to be posted online by Christmas. The StartUp Spaces feature is powered by Instant, an entrepreneurial UK business founded 12 years ago to bring the fragmented serviced office market into one online market place.
CEO of Instant, Patrick Elliott said: “We are delighted to be working with StartUp Britain to make this feature available. Over the past few years we’ve seen a significant expansion in the property and office options made available to small businesses in terms of Virtual Office products, flexible leases and add-on services. It’s a great time to be a small business with so many options at your disposal!”
In his report into the state and sustainability of Britain’s enterprise community, Lord Young, said: “The UK has a good supply of office facilities, however many more companies could benefit from affordable space.
“StartUp Britain is responding to this need and has set up a dedicated tool to locate available spaces by region.”
