Coworking / office desk space for web developer

[zipsafe 10]

I have my own laptop but prefer to work on my desktop.

 

I found this place. http://www.burtonstreet.co.uk/Pages/create.htm £28 a week for a hot desk. In S6 rather than town centre but I can cope with that. Story in the Sheffield Telegraph about it. http://www.sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk/news/Another-day-at-the-office.4929102.jp

 

Have you found anywhere else?

 

There are many hot desk schemes but Burton Street and Workstation are the only reasonably priced ones.

 

At the Workstation you are only allowed in the Creative Lounge and other tenants are in their offices (not much chance to mingle). Burton Street has it's own cafe and gym - you'll meet lots of people.

 

As I said - there is a hive of activity at Burton Street - many community groups all of whom need websites, graphic design for leaflets etc - it would be a very wise move for a website developer / designer etc.

[ccbben 10]

There are many hot desk schemes but Burton Street and Workstation are the only reasonably priced ones.

 

At the Workstation you are only allowed in the Creative Lounge and other tenants are in their offices (not much chance to mingle). Burton Street has it's own cafe and gym - you'll meet lots of people.

 

As I said - there is a hive of activity at Burton Street - many community groups all of whom need websites, graphic design for leaflets etc - it would be a very wise move for a website developer / designer etc.

 

Forgot you already mentioned that Burton street place. Any reason you chose the showroom over that?

[purplehel 10]

looking at burton street, also if anyone is a graduate of Hallam Uni in the past 5 years check this out; http://www.shu.ac.uk/startup/hatchery/index.html

 

No use for me as I didnt graduate from Hallam Uni and am too old for this, but maybe for someone?

[zipsafe 10]

Forgot you already mentioned that Burton street place. Any reason you chose the showroom over that?

 

The Workstation offered telephone answering. They have more packages than Burton Street. Burton Street is a desk and a pigeon hole for your post - very basic.

 

Different businesses suit different places. The Workstation is full of media type businesses. There is the Showroom cafe but little chance to mingle as the cafe is open to the general public. With Burton Street the cafe is used a lot by community groups - there are many posters of various projects. For some businesses setting up at Burton Street would be great - offer discount to all the groups there, become their first port of call for flyers, leaflets, web design etc.

[lizardqueen 10]

Seeing if this thread is worth bringing back to life.

 

I work remotely from home too. I don't have productivity issues (if anything I have trouble *stopping* work) but some interaction with other web-dev types would be very very welcome.

 

Does anything like this: http://hatfactory.net/ or this: http://www.moseleyexchange.com/ exist in Sheffield?

[Satyr 10]

Does anything like this: http://hatfactory.net/ or this: http://www.moseleyexchange.com/ exist in Sheffield?

 

 

Not sure exactly how that works, but looks similar to the Workstation? Might just be barking up the wrong tree though

[ccbben 10]

I gave up looking in the end. The places in sheffield are just too expensive or don't have the atmosphere.

 

http://www.electric-works.net/offices/flexible-working This was the cheapest I found. At £50 a month +VAT its practically nothing but as no one else goes there, there is no atmosphere.

 

I prefer my desktop too and places like that only cater for laptops. I decided that with the time and cost of getting there it just wasn't worth it.

[S.M1 10]

Curious, What would make it worth it?

 

What would your ideal working space look like and what items would it hold, what would keep you there long-term?? What should not be there? Would you feel most comfortable working with people in the same field only or would it not make any difference?

 

Please feel free to go into detail as it would be most helpful to pass this on to a close friend of mine.

 

cheers

[indizine 10]

If you wanted the ideal scenario you would have to be prepared to pay for it, since to cobble together that scenario is a cost to the landlord so it has to be viable and profitable. The problem is people want the ideal without paying too much and the 2 just don't go.

[steveroberts 10]

...but some interaction with other web-dev types would be very very welcome.http://hatfactory.net/ or this: http://www.moseleyexchange.com/ exist in Sheffield?

 

I would have thought working closely with your competitors might be counter productive; surely it would be better to be co located with complimentary type sole traders so you can help one another?

[S.M1 10]

what about a balance... something thats smaller and easier/cheaper for the land lord to run...and still big enough to have an atmosphere. Also that has benefits and meets demands for the freelancers that other places don't. For example storage space for office materials/items, indoor secure storage space for cylces or motor bikes etc, and a receptionist service... taking appointments from clients.

 

If this was done for a few free lancers and they enjoyed the working atmosphere, it could work out cheap and still profitable for the landlord????

 

I'm just guessing...

[ccbben 10]

I think indizine is right about people not wanting to pay much for things like this. I budgeted £250 inc VAT a month tops for a permanent desk. That seems to be the low end 1 man office price. Even without travel thats 3k. A lot of profit to generate just to cover the rent. Hard to justify if you just need motivation and company.

 

I can't see how a for profit company can provide these services at the right price. A receptionist would just add to the costs.