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Why your coworking space needs a Story before it can practise hospitality "Marketing makes these promises and service delivers that. So for us, StoryBrand and unreasonable hospitality, you know, really work together kind of hand in glove. And StoryBrand is, you know, really about thinking about how you communicate that you care to your customers. And the unreasonable hospitality side of things is how you prove it."— Sonya WhittamSonya Whittam and Julie Firth run Story22, a customer-centric marketing agency based in the UK. They're also two of the handful of certified Unreasonable Hospitality facilitators in the country, trained directly by Will Guidara. Bernie met them in Nashville in February 2020, just before COVID lockdown, when they were all training to become StoryBrand guides with Donald Miller and Dr. JJ Peterson. Since then, Unreasonable Hospitality has become the book of choice for the UK coworking industry. Operators read it, love it, and then struggle to implement it. The problem? Most people jump straight into implementation without first figuring out what their business actually stands for. This conversation unpacks the disconnect between reading the book and actually implementing it. Sonya and Julie explain why you need a clear Story first before your team can deliver hospitality. Without that "golden thread," random wow moments don't reinforce anything. They're blunt about the traps: generic positioning ("quality, service, and value"), rigid scripts that kill personalisation, and the hotelification obsession. The conversation covers the Honest Greens experience in Barcelona, the George Hotel flat white story from Scotland, why finance and compliance teams should attend hospitality workshops, and the critical difference between gimmicks and genuine care. For operators trying to figure out how to make their space feel hospitable without burning out or going broke, this episode is the operating manual. Timeline Highlights 00:00 – Bernie intro: "Unreasonable Hospitality has become the book du jour of the coworking industry... I worked in hospitality for about 3,000 years and I really, really rate that book." 01:42 – Sonya introduces Story22: "Marketing makes these promises and service delivers that... StoryBrand is really about thinking about how you communicate that you care to your customers. And the unreasonable hospitality side of things is how you prove it." 02:43 – Julie on why the two frameworks work together: "StoryBrand helps you understand who you are. And then Unreasonable Hospitality helps you then deliver what you stand for." 03:40 – Bernie, Sonya, and Julie met in Nashville in February 2020 doing StoryBrand guide training together, just before COVID lockdown. 04:52 – Julie on the biggest implementation problem: "Unless you have this kind of golden thread running through everything that you do about what you stand for, who you are as a business, what you want to be known for... people are at risk of going into a million different directions." 06:33 – Bernie asks: "Working out who you are, is that like a little bit at a time over a year, or is that writing it on a napkin in a cafe?" 07:04 – Sonya: "Positioning, understanding what you stand for needs to come before you even start getting into your messaging and should come before you get into thinking about the service elements." 09:00 – Bernie calls out the "quality, service, and value" trap: "That's like Marks & Spencer's in 1994. What do you actually believe in?" 10:18 – Julie on customer-first values: "You could have one [space] that is trying to be a home from home and they want this to feel cosy... That could have a very different personality to one that was very tech-focused where people needed efficiency." 11:56 – Sonya on team culture and non-negotiables: "Your culture internally, your team have to want to deliver those things for your customers. The non-negotiable that you agree with your team, they have to be brought onto that." 12:03 – Honest Greens example in Barcelona: "We had 4 or 5 different touchpoints... every single touchpoint was exceptional... they were brought into, we value our customers here." 14:31 – Julie on hiring for culture: "It's not about hiring someone that can be well organised and manage the bookings. It's how do they fit into that culture." 18:32 – Sonya on team empowerment: "If your team aren't free to act, they can't deliver the promises that you make." 19:34 – Will Guidara's "one size fits one" philosophy: "You're creating an experience that is for individuals... you want to empower your team to be able to solve those problems individually for customers." 21:36 – Julie on gimmicks vs genuine hospitality: "The Storys that we've shared are probably of things that have happened to us that have either cost nothing at all, or, you know, a couple of quid... someone has kind of gone out of their way to help you or to greet you or to remember something." 24:16 – Sonya introduces the June workshop: "We're running a 2-day event in central London, just outside of Holborn on the 10th and 11th of June... Dr JJ Peterson coming over to run the 2-day workshop with us." 26:43 – Julie on who should attend: "Anyone that has customer touch is the answer... I think the more of a mix of different perspectives you have in there, the more valuable it is." Lesson 1: Marketing Makes Promises, Service Delivers Them The UK coworking industry loves Unreasonable Hospitality. Operators read the book, get inspired by the New York hot dog story and the bottle of cognac at 11 Madison Park, and then try to replicate those moments in their own spaces. The results are often gimmicky. Cupcakes at the front desk. Branded tote bags. Free coffee upgrades. The problem isn't the gestures themselves. The problem is they're disconnected from any coherent Story about what the business stands for. Sonya and Julie's insight cuts through this: "Marketing makes these promises and service delivers that. So for us, StoryBrand and unreasonable hospitality really work together kind of hand in glove." Here's what that means in practice: StoryBrand is the framework for figuring out what you communicate to your customers. It clarifies your message, your positioning, and what you're promising to solve for people. Unreasonable Hospitality is how you prove those promises through the actual experience people have in your space. One without the other creates a disconnect. If you promise "home from home" but your team are rigid and scripted, people feel the gap between the marketing and the reality. If you create amazing hospitality moments but your website says "quality, service, and value" (the Marks & Spencer 1994 trap), no one knows what those moments are supposed to mean. Julie put it this way: "StoryBrand helps you understand who you are. And then Unreasonable Hospitality helps you then deliver what you stand for and how you want to project that onto your clients so that your customers, your members, have the best possible experience." The hand-in-glove relationship works because you need clarity before you can deliver consistency. For coworking operators, the lesson is this: before you buy fancy coffee beans or install a slide in your ...

Why your coworking space should partner with local creatives "Ideas are currency, you know. And you're never broke if you got ideas... Everything we are looking at around us came from an idea. So for me, they are, it is a currency within itself."— KoderKoder runs Undeniable Studios, a music production conglomerate built from youth clubs, pirate radio, and 10,000 hours of free studio time in Brockley. He's now the first Creative in Residence at Blue Garage in Lewisham, where he's installing a commercial music studio, planning his Circle the Ends tour, and bringing brand partnerships to local creatives. The partnership model is simple: the coworking space provides infrastructure and network access. Koder brings cultural programming, creative energy, and a proven track record of "fostering local greatness." This conversation unpacks how Koder built an independent music career without major label backing, what he learned from Miguel (co-founder of WeWork) about the tension between community and revenue, and why creative infrastructure in the neighbourhood matters for young people who can't afford to travel into town. Bernie met Koder at Unreasonable Connection on 24th February. The conversation kept circling back to one theme: barriers to entry. Who feels welcome in a coworking space? Who gets access to creative infrastructure? Who has to leave their neighbourhood to find the room, the equipment, and the people who believe in their work? Koder's philosophy is stark: "You're never broke if you got ideas." But ideas need space to develop. They need microphones, mixers, and rooms where you can close the door and record without your mum shouting upstairs. They need Uncle Dennis types—local mentors who teach you how to use a DAW without charging £500 for a course. This episode is for operators who want to turn a corner of their space into a studio, a rehearsal room, or a cultural residency. It's for operators who know their neighbourhood has talent but don't know how to give that talent access. Koder's built the model. He's willing to replicate it. The question is whether your space is ready to move from desk rental to creative infrastructure. Timeline Highlights 01:43 – Koder introduces himself: "I'm known for my ability to put my memories and my experiences on record, make music essentially. And I'm also known for being a connector of people." 02:24 – The Undeniable ecosystem: started as Undeniable Records in 2017, expanded into Undeniable Studios, then Undeniable Films. "It's a conglomerate... the arm that I would say is the most active at the moment... is Undeniable Studios." 03:31 – Early career: youth clubs in the ends, building local buzz, girls playing his songs on old Nokias at the back of the bus. "It was before social media... sometimes I'll be travelling around Lewisham, people be playing my songs on bus, singing the words, and they didn't even know it was me." 04:56 – Learning in real time: "The reason I can say words like conglomerate... it's not because I've done a business course... I was taking risks... betting on myself... and I was coming across people that was like, actually, what you're doing should all sit under one thing called a conglomerate." 06:48 – Uncle Dennis's front-room studio in Brockley: "When he found out that I was into music, he taught me the basics of how to record myself and how to use a mixer... my journey of self-sufficiency kind of started with... my Uncle Dennis." 08:41 – What he was listening to at 14: Craig David, So Solid Crew, S Club 7, Wiley, early Dizzee Rascal. "I was a very UK garage or super pop kid... I didn't really have a hip-hop upbringing." 11:19 – At 20: started Indigo Child Records with his friend Age. Artists like Nadia Rose and Sam Tompkins came through that era. "We didn't understand the business of things, but we just knew how we wanted to feel and the flexibility we wanted." 14:52 – The guest list rule: "If you wanted a free ticket or you was on the guest list, the rule was you had to bring someone who'd never heard of Koder before." 16:42 – Missing the stage: "That's why this year I'm gonna hit the road again on my Circle the Ends tour... I miss being out there and touching the people and just feeling that energy of being on stage." 21:54 – What he learned from Miguel (WeWork co-founder): "The importance of community in a space... but the danger of what happens when things are very community-centric and revenue's prioritised... finding that balance is key." 28:10 – The philosophy: "Ideas are currency. You're never broke if you got ideas... the ability to back and bring an idea to life is a form of currency." 32:08 – Creatives in Residence at Blue Garage: "We're gonna put a music studio in Blue Garage... also planning the Circle the Ends tour in the space... the merch, the signage, and all of the physical products... will be made there." 34:58 – Fostering local greatness: "My drive and my commitment is for other coworking spaces that are forward-thinking... if I'm able to set up an Undeniable Studios in different coworking spaces, then they can also start to attract that creativity." Lesson 1: Ideas Are Currency (But They Need a Room) Koder's entire career is built on a single premise: ideas are currency, and you're never broke if you've got them. But ideas aren't enough on their own. They need infrastructure. When Koder was 10, he formed Hazard Crew with his cousins. They burned blank CDs, designed artwork, and shopped them around the family. They didn't know what "marketing" meant. They just knew they had something they wanted people to hear. By 14, he was recording himself using his Uncle Dennis's front-room studio in Brockley. Uncle Dennis taught him how to use a mixer, a microphone, and a DAW (digital audio workstation). "My Uncle Dennis gave me them early skills and early lessons and took time out... he had a lot of patience... to teach me, not knowing what I was going to become today." That patience matters. Uncle Dennis didn't charge him. Didn't gate-keep the equipment. Didn't require proof of commitment or potential. He just taught his nephew how to record. By 20, Koder had started Indigo Child Records. By his mid-twenties, he was headlining Sickabit—one of the most important up-and-coming music showcases in London. People like Stormzy came through those early lineups. None of this required a major label. It required rooms. Microphones. Mixers. Blank CDs. Uncle Dennis types. Fast forward to now: Undeniable Studios gives away 10,000 hours of free studio time in Brockley. The space functions as a music studio, a coworking space, and delivery infrastructure for youth-related projects with brands like Universal. Koder realised early on that different people see the same room differently. "I see this as a music studio, but a corporate brand... sees this as a space that they can deliver programmes. The person down the road... they do work on their laptop. They see it as a coworking space." The room adapts to the user. That's the model. For coworking operators, the lesson is this: creative infrastructure doesn't require massive capital investment. It requires one small room, some equipment, and a willingness to let people use it on their terms. If Koder can give away 10,000 hours in Brockley and ...

“You might not be able to give them money donations for what they’re doing, but what you can do is give them support in various ways, which then means that you are effectively helping achieve those things in your community.” — Parisa Wright Parisa Wright runs Greener and Cleaner, a community sustainability charity that took over a vacant unit inside The Glades shopping centre in Bromley. Five days a week, the Hub teaches residents how to mend clothes, reduce energy bills, grow food, and repair electronics—all whilst sitting opposite a McDonald’s and the public toilets. The location is deliberate. Parisa chose accessibility over purity, planting a “hope hub” in the middle of the retail rat race where people already are, not where activists think they should be. The conversation centres on how coworking spaces can partner with community projects like Greener and Cleaner without running them. You don’t need deep pockets or a dedicated sustainability manager. You can offer free desk passes, meeting room access, or signpost volunteering opportunities. In return, your members get training (carbon literacy, energy clinics), CSR pathways, and visible proof that their workspace invests in the local community. Parisa also chairs the new Community Sustainability Support Network for England, launching in spring 2025. It’s a free network for anyone running a community sustainability project—coworking hubs included. Members share templates, case studies, impact data, and collaborate on funding bids. If you’re running a repair café, a community fridge, or a lending library in your space, you can join. The partnership model here is simple: local charities get breathing room (free workspace and promotional reach), and coworking operators can amplify their impact without taking on another full-time project. Both sides win. The community wins twice. Timeline Highlights 00:01:44 – Parisa introduces herself: founder of Greener and Cleaner, chair of the Community Sustainability Support Network for England (launching spring 2025). 00:03:22 – The Hub location: a prominent vacant unit in The Glades shopping centre, chosen specifically because it’s near McDonald’s, opposite public toilets, and accessible by public transport. “We specifically chose one that was near a McDonald’s... to be able to engage everyone.” 00:04:23 – What happens at the Hub: “People can learn how to mend things, how to repair things, how to grow food, how to insulate my home... It gives them an oasis of positivity, agency, community collaboration and connexion.” 00:06:16 – The knit, stitch, and crochet social: 30 people attend regularly, a mix of ages and languages. “Some people are going for their mental health, some people are going for loneliness... and they always have a community project on the go.” 00:07:06 – “It’s like a hope hub... because they’re like a ray of sunshine and people can feel like they’re not alone and that they can make a difference.” 00:09:14 – Why five days a week matters: “What there hasn’t been has been something that’s been 5 days a week and that is meeting all different areas of sustainability, but all different areas of community need as well.” 00:10:13 – The in-person advantage: “It’s very experiential. You can’t just do it online... come out of the misinformation... and actually come and have a conversation with someone.” Local issues like ULEZ become less divisive when discussed face-to-face at the Hub. 00:12:59 – The coworking partnership begins: “You can give [charities] membership for free or at a discounted rate... day passes... access to podcast studios, meeting rooms.” 00:13:58 – Community tech reuse: “A partner company... takes out the hard drives, returns them, and basically updates them... then we get them out to people who are digitally excluded... or schools.” 00:14:57 – Why coworking spaces benefit: “Contingent Works... can get the word out to its members... a visual reminder that our coworking space is investing into the community... and tells them about a cool activity or project they can get involved in.” 00:16:09 – Training at local rates: “A big corporate in London is like a grand and a half to two and a half grand... with a local coworking space... we are doing it to cover our costs.” Carbon literacy training, Climate Fresk workshops, lunch-and-learns—all priced for local partnerships, not London corporates. 00:17:14 – Volunteering pipelines: “Provide volunteering opportunities... in person locally... [and] remotely—designing a poster... marketing advice... helping create a video.” This gives coworking members CSR pathways without heavy infrastructure. 00:20:39 – The national network: “We are launching a network for the region of England... join the Community Sustainability Support Network for England for free... share our video case studies... templates... collaborate on funding bids... and have a bit more of a voice with government and with funders.” 00:29:21 – Library of Things funding: “We persuaded the council’s carbon management team to use the carbon reduction fund... [to fund] the Library of Things... brand new tools... trade quality... with regular and concession rates so people can borrow rather than buy new.” Lesson 1: Accessibility Beats Purity Greener and Cleaner didn’t open in a refurbished warehouse or a community garden tucked behind the railway arches. It opened in a shopping centre, near McDonald’s, opposite the public toilets. That choice was strategic, not accidental. Parisa explicitly wanted to intercept people where they already were—not where environmental activists thought they should be. The Glades gets footfall. It has lifts, toilets, changing stations, and public transport links. It’s where parents go with pushchairs, where elderly residents can get to without a car, and where teenagers hang out after school. “We specifically chose one that was near a McDonald’s and opposite public toilets because for us... We wanted to be able to engage everyone.” The location creates a jarring sensory contrast. Outside the Hub: bright retail lighting, the smell of fast food, aggressive visual merchandising designed to induce passive consumption. Inside the Hub: community sewing machines, returned power tools from the Library of Things, peer-to-peer conversations about energy poverty and ULEZ. This pattern interrupt is the point. If you bury your community project in an activist enclave, you only reach people who already agree with you. If you plant it in a mainstream commercial space, you intercept the accidental passerby—the person looking for the toilets, grabbing a coffee, killing time before a meeting. Matt Golding (the guest from the previous episode) called it a “hope hub.” Bernie described walking past and seeing a table full of people knitting in the middle of the mall—shop, lights, shop, lights, oh, table with lots of people. That’s the design working. For coworking operators, the lesson is this: don’t wait for the perfect purpose-built space to start a community project. Use what you have. A corner table. A meeting room once a week. A partnership with someone who’s already doing the work across the road. Accessibility beats purity every time. Lesson 2: You Don’t Have to Run It—You Just Have to Connect to It One of the most practical sections of this conversation is Parisa's explanation of how coworking spaces can partner with local charities without t...

Episode Summary The hero’s journey is broken. That 2,000-year-old storytelling archetype—the one from ancient Greece, from Jason and the Argonauts, from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—was built for a different kind of story. It’s individualistic, extractive, and violent. It works brilliantly for getting millions of people to watch Orcs die while Tom Cruise learns a personal lesson. But it doesn’t work for collective action. Matt Golding has spent four years learning how to fix it. He’s a filmmaker and the founder of Rubber Republic, a content studio he rebooted in 2019 to work exclusively on positive storytelling. Before that, he made viral campaigns—the kind that racked up millions of views and Cannes Lions awards. Comedy sketches shared across the early internet. He taught himself by doing it. After two years working for environmental and social justice organisations, he realised they were all making the same mistake. They were telling people what not to do. What to cut down on. What to avoid. Framed around the problem, not the solution. And even when they tried to tell positive stories, people didn’t believe them. The pushback wasn’t from ideological opponents. It came from people who agreed with the cause but fundamentally didn’t think community action could create meaningful change at scale. So Matt created the Antidote Project. It’s a framework for how to tell collective action stories in a way that makes people believe change is achievable. The podcast—Screw This, Let’s Try Something Else—demonstrates it in practice. Six episodes, made with Maryam Pasha and Immediate Media, each one showing how local communities are transforming the fundamentals of how we live: energy, food, housing, and decision-making. The framework has two parts: the Filter (eight criteria for which stories to tell) and the Narrative Arc (eight steps for how to tell them). It starts with a positive vision. It briefly acknowledges the problem. Then it shows how the idea can spread, how it’s already spreading, and how you can participate if you want. No pressure. No single call-to-action railroading you into clicking a link. Just agency. The first episode of the podcast is about a working-class community on the outskirts of Bristol. They rewrote the entire housing policy for their area—it’s now illegal to build a home there with a gas boiler, without EV charging, or without top-notch insulation. Then they built the UK’s largest community-owned wind turbine and now make £100,000 a year from it. That money doesn’t leave the neighbourhood. It stays in a regenerative economy. It shifts how rent, energy, and food bills flow. When money starts flowing differently, the whole game changes. Bernie and Matt get into why “positive stories” don’t work (people think they’re nice but not scalable), why social media is toxic for this kind of storytelling (park it for now), and why global solutions are a lie we tell ourselves. Humans work best locally. Where we can see the effects. Where ingenuity comes out of community action because people can see what they need and come up with brilliant solutions. This episode is a lesson, not an interview. It teaches the Antidote method so you can use it. Timeline Highlights [01:43] Matt on what he does: “I am learning how we change the way we tell stories around collective action to help us all believe we can change the world” [02:07] The Antidote Project: “Exploring how we change the way we approach progressive and collective action storytelling... to make it feel invitational, exciting, and like something you want to join in with” [03:55] On storytelling being hijacked: “The word storytelling has been abused... by overpaid people in marketing... The stories we tell shape the world that we inhabit... storytelling done badly has created the problems in the world” [07:33] The podcast as demonstration: “We’ve made a podcast called, Screw This, Let’s Try Something Else, which aims to demonstrate how we could tell collective action stories in a different way” [09:54] The hero’s journey problem: “We live in this very individualistic, very extractive, very violent culture... the hero’s journey... normalises theft, violence... That is okay because we’re on the side of these people” [13:39] World-changing ideas hidden in humble stories: “Amazing ideas are embedded in a load of community action, but they’re almost quite mutedly, humbly shared... These are world-changing ideas, and we need to shout about them” [14:51] The four universal needs: “The four things we identified are energy, food, housing, and decision-making. We tell all stories framed around those key framings” [16:02] The three scaling steps: “Bring it down to an action you can take part in today... scale that up... and network it and mention the fact that this example... is not the only example... This is happening everywhere” [17:33] Parking social media: “Social media... has toxic algorithms. It drives storytelling behaviours and habits that are not very helpful. So let’s park that one” [19:51] Why positive stories failed initially: “A lot of the pushback we got... they just fundamentally didn’t believe that this stuff would ever create a scale of change that was meaningful” [22:28] The Antidote goal: “How do you change the shape of storytelling to overcome that... and start to re-find that truth that together we can create big change?” [26:00] Humble beginnings matter: “We don’t tell any stories from communities who exhibit elements of what others could perceive as privilege... Let’s tell those stories... to prove that you don’t need amazing, stupid expertise to do this stuff” [29:09] Plural invitations: “We make sure that invitation is plural... We have to allow people agency in how they participate” [31:51] The Bristol example: “In Bristol, the community... rewrote the entire housing policy for their area... then went on to build the biggest community-owned wind turbine in the country and make 100 grand a year from it” [36:14] Why local works: “We’ve created a culture through globalisation that allows us to take more responsibility than we’re cognitively capable of... But how we do work really well is... with our communities around us, where we can see the effects” The Problem: Traditional Storytelling Was Built for Extraction Storytelling has been hijacked by marketing. That’s the first thing to understand. The word itself has been co-opted by overpaid people in agencies to describe what they do when they’re really just selling stuff. Bernie describes it perfectly: the social media week events ten years ago, full of blokes in skinny jeans two sizes too tight and £400 black-framed glasses saying, “It’s all about the narrative. Storytelling is the transformation of seamless integration.” Meaningless jargon. But the problem runs deeper than marketing. It’s in the structure itself. The dominant storytelling archetype in Western culture is the hero’s journey. It comes from Aristotle’s Poetics, the original backbone of Western narrative. It’s 2,000 years old. It governs nearly every blockbuster film, every novel on the bestseller list, every story we’ve been told since childhood. The hero has a want (bring peace to the galaxy) and a need (overcome a personal flaw). They go on a journey. They face obstacles. They achieve the want by fulfilling the need. The End. Here’s the problem: that structure is individualistic, extractive, and violent. Think about Jason and the Argon...

“One of the attendees spoke about their local government saying that they could not show favour to specific business and therefore couldn’t collaborate with the coworking space. One of the panellists said, We’ll create a downtown alliance. They can work with an alliance.” —Lauren Walker Episode Summary Lauren Walker is a storyteller who’s spent 25 years behind the scenes. Reader’s Digest in the 1990s, where she learned direct marketing when things were still on paper. A couple of dot-com startups during the boom. Thirteen years at IBM, writing deep technical marketing before becoming the editor of IBM.com’s homepage. She’s been working remotely since 2005. Twenty years of distributed work before it became the default. Now she’s CMO at Coworks, a coworking space software company. And in February 2026, she helped organise the Coworking Operators Weekend in Raleigh—a small, focused gathering of 40 operators and managers at Raleigh Founded. The event started in LA in 2025. Jerome Chang and Jackie Latragna created it with one principle: small, no bells and whistles, just operators talking. Sean Brown, CEO of Coworks, attended and loved it. Jerome asked if Coworks wanted to bring it to the East Coast. They said yes. Lauren describes the energy simply: “It was folks recognising game. It was folks saying, I do what you do, you do what I do, but how do you do it?” What made it work was what it wasn’t. No vendor presentations. No polished keynotes. Just operators sharing what they’d learned by doing the work. There’s something else worth naming here, because Lauren shared it publicly after the event. She has brain cancer. She’s in remission, but she lives with a tumour on her cerebellum. The radiation treatment left visible effects—her face is droopy, her eye doesn’t blink, she walks with an unusual gait. She’d been hiding. Camera positioned to show her left side on calls. AI-generated headshot. Avoiding in-person events despite wanting to be there. Her anxiety about the Operators Weekend wasn’t about the logistics or the agenda. It was about explaining her face. But the people she told were warm and understanding. No one ran. She showed up anyway. That matters. Not because it’s inspirational theatre, but because it shows what these events actually are: spaces where operators can be honest about what’s hard without performing strength they don’t feel. Bernie and Lauren talk through the tactical lessons from the weekend—the downtown alliance hack, the circus metaphor for marketing, the AI panel’s three questions, and what FLOC is doing about career paths in coworking. This episode is for operators who need their peers more than they need another conference. Timeline Highlights [01:27] Lauren on being a marketer: “I’m not really known for anything because I’m a marketer. I have to be behind the scenes. But that is what I’m known for. I’m a content marketer. I’m a storyteller.” [02:55] On 20 years of remote work: “IBM... they kicked us out in 2005. They said, Work from home. I have been working remote for 20 years.” [05:25] The origin of COW: “Let’s have a small event. Let’s not plan this. Let’s not have bells and whistles. Let’s just get together and talk.” [06:42] Game recognising game: “These are the people doing the work. These are not the consultants. These are not the vendors.” [08:25] On articulating value to cities: “It’s being able to discuss the economic impact that you are having on that local area.” [09:41] The downtown alliance solution: “One of the panellists said, We’ll create a downtown alliance. They can work with an alliance.” [10:39] Proctor’s tactical hack: “Just create a coworking day. Go to your government and say, This is going to be Raleigh coworking Day.” [11:51] On impact reports: “What goes into what’s called an impact report, and then how do you quantify the value you bring to your city?” [13:05] The 3-5 year drop-off: “She’s really identified this drop-off after the first 3-5 years... we’re missing a pipeline of growth.” [14:26] Role title confusion: “Sometimes they’re hiring for a community manager, but what they really need is an operations coordinator.” [16:45] Samantha Reel’s AI questions: “What are you spending the most time doing? What are you ignoring that’s high value? And what is messy and should be cleaned up?” [17:35] Taylor Mason on training AI: “Everything that you put into it, you’ll get out of it. So if you don’t train your AI... you’re going to get something very generic.” [20:04] The real AI fear: “There was a concern like, is this going to change the makeup of our membership?” [23:26] The circus metaphor begins: “If you have a circus and you went looking for the right town to be in, that is market research.” [25:24] Marketing advice: “What’s the goal? What do you want to achieve?... work backward from that.” [26:19] Channel strategy: “Where is your audience? What channel do they use?... And go there” The Downtown Alliance Hack Here’s the problem operators keep hitting. You want to work with your city. You want them to understand the economic value you’re creating—the businesses you’re launching, the foot traffic you’re bringing downtown, the parking revenue, the local spending. But when you approach your local government, they say: “We can’t show favour to a specific business.” Dead end. One operator at the Coworking Operators Weekend raised exactly this. Their city wouldn’t collaborate because working with one coworking space would be preferential treatment. A panellist solved it in one sentence: “We’ll create a downtown alliance. They can work with an alliance.” Lauren explains what that means: “Work with the local coffee shop, work with the local printer, work with folks that are on this business corridor and create an alliance, and then your city can work with that alliance.” It’s not a coworking space asking for support. It’s a coalition of local businesses presenting a unified economic case. The city can’t work with you alone. But they can work with an entity that represents multiple stakeholders. This is already happening in the US. Lauren mentions the Denver Alliance, the Atlanta Alliance. City-based alliances, interest-based alliances. The infrastructure exists. For UK operators navigating the business rates crisis, this is the playbook. You’re not asking for relief for your space. You’re asking on behalf of a corridor, a district, a coalition of independents who are all absorbing the same systemic pressure. That’s a political entity. That’s something a council can work with. The Impact Report You’re Not Writing Lauren talks about the “impact report” like it’s obvious, but most operators aren’t doing it. “What goes into what’s called an impact report, and then how do you quantify the value you bring to your city? Collect this data, look at this data, and then present it.” What data? * The number of businesses you’re launching. * The number of people coming downtown for lunch because your members are there. * The number of people using the parking deck. * The total local spend your members generate in the surrounding area. This isn’t marketing fluff. This is economic evidence. Cities care about footfall. They care about business formation. They care about parking revenue because that funds other services. They care about vitality in the city centre. I...

“I found myself with a building, a smaller building than the one I’m in now, with the bills to pay, and was a bit like, Oh, dear, I’m going to have to do something about this.” —Teresa Jackson The journey continues - May 19th On May 19th at Space4, the Unreasonable Connection Goes Live! The London Coworking Assembly Forum is back for part two. A one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. Episode Summary Teresa Jackson didn’t set out to become a coworking pioneer. She was working from a flat in Glasgow’s city centre, bouncing between her dining table and a sofa three feet away. You know that feeling—laptop balanced on your knees, no separation between work and life, the walls closing in a bit more each day. She’d been running a networking organisation called 4 Networking—23 groups across Scotland in the first year—and knew plenty of freelancers and small business owners in the same boat. So she asked a few of them: what if we rented an office together? A few people said yes. Then she signed the lease on an attic space on John Street. No lift. Tiny kitchen. A proper commitment. Then, as often happens when it’s time to actually pay, some of those people vanished into the sunset. She was left holding the keys to a building she couldn’t afford alone. That moment—being stuck with the bills and no plan—is where Collabor8te actually began. Teresa applied the membership model she knew from networking to the space. Monthly subscription. No long-term commitment. Book what you need when you need it. She started with a 32-hour membership, then added a 12-hour “now and then” option when people said they liked the idea but weren’t sure they’d use it that much. That was 2014. By 2016, they’d moved to 22 Montrose Street—a Victorian sandstone building in the Merchant City with 40 desks, 9 meeting rooms, and room for about 100 people at any one time. Today, Collabor8te has 350 members. It’s still all subscription. Still no dedicated desks. Still monthly, flexible, all-inclusive. Bernie and Teresa talk through what it actually means to run a space like this—where members can cancel with a month’s notice, but you’re locked into a long-term lease. They discuss the difference between networking (transactional, two hours of business development) and coworking (ambient learning from just being in the room). They get into Teresa’s B Corp journey, which started as a lockdown project and ended with a governance structure that legally prevents the space from being sold to private equity. And they talk about the 4-day work week Teresa introduced for her staff, and how that works when your business is meant to be open and welcoming all the time. This episode is for anyone who’s ever signed a lease and then realised they had no idea what they were doing. Timeline Highlights [01:18] Teresa on what she’d like to be known for: “Providing the most welcoming coworking space that is possible to... in the world.” [02:09] The accidental start: “I got into coworking by a complete accident.” [03:09] When commitment gets real: “I found myself with a building... with the bills to pay, and was a bit like, Oh, dear, I’m going to have to do something about this” [03:46] The model that never changed: “It’s always been monthly. It’s always been all-inclusive memberships.” [05:11] Bernie on whether Teresa questions her model: “Do you see other people doing different memberships and go, Oh, my God, am I doing this right?” [06:00] Teresa on why their model works: “I think where we are based in the city centre, that we’re all subscription, we do buck the trend.” [06:49] On attracting the right people: “We attract a certain type of person because of what we do here... you have to want to share.” [07:27] Glasgow’s first: “It was the first coworking space in Glasgow.” [08:40] How people come for community now: “Now I think people are drawn to, I want to be with other people. I don’t want to be sitting at home on my own all the time.” [10:19] On the “hijacking” of coworking: “Everyone thinks they can open a coworking space these days. It’s just always nice and easy. But... it’s a big risk.” [13:15] Teresa on the accidental nature of it: “If I hadn’t found myself in that situation, would I have done it? I don’t know.” [16:54] Natural networking: “You aren’t just networking with people while you’re making a coffee in the kitchen... you get to know your fellow coworkers and become friends.” [18:18] The B Corp project: “We wanted a project. We were a bit bored... this would be a good challenge.” [22:20] What B Corp revealed: “We learned lots of things. One of the main things, I think, was we had to write things down.” [24:18] The 4-day week and other changes: “We introduced some things... private health care... cycle to work scheme... a four-day working week.” The Widow-Maker Lease Let’s be clear about what Teresa signed herself up for. A commercial lease in Glasgow’s Merchant City on a Victorian sandstone building is likely a 10-year Full Repairing and Insuring lease. That means every crack in the facade, every leak in the roof, every drain that backs up—that’s on her. Not the landlord. Her. If the Victorian roof at 22 Montrose Street fails, Teresa pays to fix it. If the sandstone needs repointing, Teresa pays. If the boiler dies in January, Teresa pays. This isn’t a month-to-month WeWork membership. This is a decade-long liability that could bankrupt you if the building turns against you. And who are her customers? People paying £200 a month who can cancel with 30 days’ notice. Teresa absorbs 100% of the risk. Her members carry none. “I found myself with a building... with the bills to pay, and was a bit like, Oh, dear, I’m going to have to do something about this.” That “Oh, dear” is doing a lot of work. It’s the voice of someone who’s just realised they’re standing on the edge of a financial cliff, and the only way forward is to build a bridge while walking across it. Most people in that situation would panic and try to lock members into long-term contracts. Annual commitments. Upfront payments. Anything to create certainty. Teresa did the opposite. She made it easier to leave. Monthly memberships. Cancel anytime. No questions asked. Why? Because she understood something fundamental: you can’t build community by trapping people. The subscription model works because it builds trust rather than extracting commitment. Members don’t stay because they’re locked in. They stay because they don’t want to leave. That’s a completely different kind of certainty. And it only works if you’re willing to carry the risk yourself. The Glasgow Texture Montrose Street sits in the Merchant City, the heart of old Glasgow money. The buildings here are Victorian sandstone—the kind that turns golden in rare Scottish sunlight and looks like they’re brooding the rest of the time. This neighbourhood used to belong to the Tobacco Lords, the merchants who built Glasgow’s wealth on transatlantic trade. The warehouses that once stored tobacco now store something else: human capital, ideas, the quiet hum of people working on things that might or might not succeed. Teresa’s building has weight. Thick walls. High ceilings. The kind of space that m...

Episode Summary “We’re not a service provider beyond being a great space. I think we’re a platform, and that’s key.” Hannah Philp Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Hannah Philp is sitting in ARC Tottenham when this conversation happens. Even through the recording, the space feels calm—that’s the word Hannah keeps using, and you can hear why. It’s designed to be the antidote to the chaos of working from a kitchen table. Bernie mentions he’s known ARC since the beginning, back when they hosted Urban MBA’s 12-week programme in 2021, just as London was allowed to meet in person again during COVID. That history matters because it grounds what Hannah’s trying to do. She didn’t set out to fix London’s housing crisis or redesign the high street. She spotted a simpler, more personal problem. Pre-COVID, she watched people—particularly new parents, carers, anyone with responsibilities beyond their income-generating work—drop out of the paid workforce because the 9-to-5 commute (really 8-to-6 if we’re honest) was incompatible with their lives. The only options were expensive serviced offices for venture-backed companies or working at the kitchen table. Nothing existed for the solo entrepreneur or small team who needed somewhere between those extremes. Hannah’s “why” isn’t abstract. It’s watching people she knew become isolated. It’s recognising that loneliness in dense urban environments has accelerated since the advent of smartphones. It’s believed that doing focused solo work among other people mitigates that loneliness without demanding you participate in organised networking. What started as neighbourhood coworking turned into something more pragmatic: a partnership model with residential developers who control ground floors. Not because developers suddenly care about community (though some do). Because the economics of residential development in the UK have become so challenging that social value is now commercially necessary to unlock planning permission. Bernie asks the question most listeners are thinking: Aren’t developers the problem? Hannah’s answer is refreshingly honest. She knows ARC’s limits. She’s not an urban planner or housing minister. She’s working with what exists—developers who need to make buildings financially viable and councils who want social outcomes. ARC bridges that gap. Then Bernie mentions something Hannah clearly doesn’t want to discuss: a central London hub that wasn’t commercially sustainable. “It’s painful to talk about, Hannah,” Bernie says. “I know,” she replies, and they don’t go deeper. But that failure taught them what they’re building now. The developer partnership model exists because going it alone in expensive central London didn’t work. The stakes are clearer when you understand what failure looks like. If ground floors stay empty—which they are across the UK—high streets die. Mum-and-pop businesses can’t afford business rates or twenty-year leases. US private equity buys up chains, loads them with debt, and only institutional money can survive. The neighbourhood loses the bakery, the dry cleaner, and the antique shop. Meanwhile, new residential buildings keep getting built. Someone will decide what goes on those ground floors. If operators don’t partner with developers, it’ll be another Tesco Metro, or the space will sit empty. In Tottenham, ARC received backing from Haringey Council’s Opportunity Workspace Fund. The social value metrics aren’t marketing fluff—they’re contractual obligations embedded deep in the business plan. Hannah describes ARC as a platform for local organisations already doing brilliant work in the neighbourhood, not a service provider helicoptering in with programmes nobody asked for. The three current ARC clubs—Earlsfield in southwest London, Stratford in East London, and Tottenham in North London—operate identically in format but differ significantly in practice. Hannah admits this was humbling. Even with similar member profiles, people's preferences for how to use space vary widely. This isn’t a business plan you can copy and paste. What Bernie and Hannah both recognise is that the best neighbourhood coworking spaces become what Hannah calls “your other local”—the gym, the pub, the place you buy bread. Where accidental interaction happens. Where you might not speak to anyone all morning, the presence of other people doing focused work mitigates the loneliness of working by yourself at home. Hannah calls it “small c connection,” and it’s the majority of what happens at ARC. Not events. Not networking. Just being around colleagues—even if they’re working on different things. The sense of being seen without forced interaction. For operators wondering whether neighbourhood coworking is viable, Hannah offers pragmatic hope. Work with forward-thinking developers. Be clear about what you can and can’t do. Acknowledge commercial imperatives without compromising your social mission. Be a platform, not a service provider. And most importantly: learn from what doesn’t work. The central London failure matters as much as the Tottenham success. Timeline Highlights [00:04] Bernie introduces the tension: “The commute and being a neighbourhood workspace... one size does not fit all.” [01:37] Hannah on ARC’s mission: “We deliver in partnership with new residential developers to open spaces that make working life more calm, more local, more human.” [02:13] “We go to the neighbourhoods where people are doing exciting things... We can be a place that’s potentially a catalyst for positive change.” [03:07] The pre-COVID origin: “We wanted to create somewhere that would sit between a draining commute or working at the kitchen table, and that would support focus.” [04:50] On mitigating loneliness: “Doing that among other people really helps... You could just be coming in and just being around my colleagues versus sitting at home by myself.” [06:40] The “other local” concept: “ARC [is] your other local... where accidental interaction happens... the majority of connection is this small c connection.” [07:26] Tottenham partnership approach: “We’re working with the council to actually connect with people who are already doing fantastic work in the neighbourhood... We can just be a space for them.” [08:26] The platform principle: “We’re not a service provider beyond being a great space... I think we’re a platform, and that’s key.” [09:27] Mixing communities: “We want to be a diverse hub... a mix of an existing community and new people... ensuring that these new buildings are also delivering social value for everyone in the local area.” [10:41] UK development reality: “The economics of residential development in the UK are really, really challenging... Construction costs have massively risen... The risks have gone way up.” [13:46] Commercial pragmatism: “We can help [developers] realise their commercial outcomes by putting something just brilliant and useful on the ground flo...

Episode Summary “We seem to be out front with this when it comes to, I suppose, government support at a national level of coworking as an industry.” Graham Clarke Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Graham Clarke didn’t set out to wire an entire country for coworking. He was a community manager in a space in Ireland, burnt out from running events just to hit KPIs, when the Western Development Commission approached Baseworx with a question: Could a single booking system connect over 100 rural hubs? That was 2018. Now it’s 407 locations. For-profit, not-for-profit, social enterprises, and major operators—all on one platform. You can land at Dublin Airport, hit “near me,” book a hot desk in Skibbereen, and get a pin code sent to your phone before you leave the terminal. If the hub has integrated access control, you can walk in and start working without speaking to anyone. But the real story isn’t the technology. It’s what happened when hub managers across Ireland started talking to each other once a month. When they realised they could pool their buying power to negotiate better deals on EV chargers. When a digital nomad could extend their holiday because they found a desk 30 minutes from the beach. Graham has seen both sides: the operator trying to keep the lights on, and the software builder trying to automate the boring bits so operators can focus on the human work. In this conversation with Bernie, they explore the economics of who pays for coworking (the bootstrapper vs. the corporate remote worker), the “golf clubification” thesis (what if coworking memberships were curated like BNI chapters?), and why the best thing software can do is act as “guard rails” to prevent community manager burnout. This episode is for anyone who thinks coworking is just about desks and WiFi. Graham and Bernie talk about Ireland’s post-crash entrepreneurial mindset, the housing crisis threatening the “brain gain” success, and why proximity still matters when your members could work from anywhere. Timeline Highlights [02:55] Bernie asks Graham to explain Connected Hubs: “That’s revolutionary” [03:24] Graham on Ireland’s lead: “We seem to be out front with this when it comes to, I suppose, government support at a national level of coworking as an industry.” [04:58] The three pillars of Connected Hubs: “A team to run it... capital funding to upgrade... a standardised booking engine.” [06:23] Graham on the national event calendar and economic impact: “I think it’s after contributing, as of last year, 1.6 billion to the economy in its current structure.” [09:58] The collaborative culture: “Once a month, there’s an open call, and they have a dedicated community manager who gets all the hub managers together.” [10:23] Group buying power in action: “They were able to sit down and compare notes, and actually collaborate and say, Right, if we wait 10 of them off you, what can you do as a deal on?” [14:28] Ireland’s startup support system: “Every county council has its own local enterprise office.” [16:00] The runway advantage: “If you’re a startup that can do business globally and you don’t need to be paying Dublin rent, then that absolutely has an effect on your runway as well.” [20:56] Graham’s “golf clubification” thesis: “Is there an opportunity to have a coworking space where you have one person from one space or one industry... it’s, I don’t want to say exclusive, but it is like you’re voted in” [24:23] Bernie on intentional business groups: “When you sit down with a group of fellow business people with intention and vulnerability and openness and trust, it all moves faster.” [26:56] The directory solution: “That’s why I think it’s important to have a directory anyway in your coworking space.” [29:14] The demographic shift: “I would contest that that may not be the same today because the audience and the user type of coworking space has shifted, where you have more employees of larger businesses now.” [33:09] The critical hire: “One of the most important people you can have in your coworking business is a good community manager.” [34:42] Software as protection: “If you can get all that stuff automated and worked out, you can leave them in the community management place.” Connected Hubs: When Booking Becomes Infrastructure Bernie called it revolutionary. He’s right. But to understand why, you have to understand what the Western Development Commission was actually solving for. The West Coast of Ireland wasn’t just losing young people to Dublin. It was experiencing decades of structural abandonment—the legacy of an economy that concentrated wealth and opportunity in urban centres whilst rural areas managed decline. When the 2008 crash hit, multinationals laid off skilled workers who would have historically emigrated to London or Boston. This time, the Irish government tried something different. The WDC identified over 200 spaces suitable for knowledge workers. Enterprise centres. Community halls. Dated business centres that needed upgrading but had good bones. Their research said you need three things: A team to run it. Capital funding to bring spaces up to modern standards. A standardised booking system. Baseworx became that third pillar. Now there are 407 locations. Graham clarifies: “All of the different, I suppose, entity types and for-profit, not-for-profit, social enterprises, and even some of the larger well-known operators, all on one system.” This isn’t just Airbnb for coworking. It’s post-austerity infrastructure. It’s what happens when a government treats remote work as a regional development policy, not a tech perk. You can book a hot desk, a meeting room, or an office. Depending on the hub’s access control setup, you might receive a QR code or a PIN on your phone. You sell the service yourself. But the system also powers community infrastructure: event calendars, blogs, a collaborative news board. By default, Ireland now has a national coworking event calendar. You can see what’s happening in every corner of the country. The economic case is measurable: independent economists estimated the project contributed €1.6 billion to the Irish economy as of 2024. Graham talks about the human side, though. Extended holidays. Working near home. Choosing to stay in the village instead of moving to the city. The Collaborative Culture That Makes It Work Picture this: It’s a Tuesday morning. You’re a hub manager in rural Ireland. Your WiFi’s been dodgy. Your biggest member just left. You’re trying to decide whether to invest in an EV charger but you’ve never bought one before and the quotes you’re getting range from €3,000 to €12,000. You’re alone with this. Except you’re not. Most coworking networks are competitive. Connected Hubs is collaborative. Once a month, an open call brings hub managers together. They share what’s working. They talk about what failed. They compare notes. Graham tells the EV charger story. EV chargers were ...

“Hospitality is the art of being hospitable.” Ian Minor Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Hospitality has become one of those words shouted from every coworking LinkedIn post, usually next to a photo of a nice coffee machine. But Ian Minor has spent 30 years in actual hospitality—nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and health clubs across three continents. The kind with burns, late nights, and a ruthless feedback loop where if the vibe dies, the room empties. He created Working From_ for The Hoxton. He’s a partner at Brave Corporation with Caleb Parker. He’s rethought everything from what you call your front desk staff to how many times a day you should nod at a member in the corridor. This conversation strips away the Instagram aesthetic and answers the hard question: what does hospitality actually cost when you’ve got two staff and a hundred members? This episode is for operators who know “hospitality” matters but aren’t sure what they’re supposed to do about it with limited resources. Timeline Highlights [02:53] Ian’s definition: “Hospitality is the art of being hospitable.” [03:37] “You’re going for an experience within hospitality, and that’s the thing that you’re really delivering. The food and the drink, for me, are part of the product, but they’re not the main thing.” [06:03] What an experience actually is: “Trying to make something that’s personal to that customer.” [07:28] The reputation multiplier: “That starts to build a reputation that has come from the experience or the service that they’ve been given... which was more than what they were expecting” [10:20] Going above and beyond: “If you always go above and beyond what is expected, you’re always going to deliver a lot more than what they even wanted, but they’ll always remember it.” [15:19] The critical question for operators: “What level of hospitality can they comfortably give with the current operation they have, and what do they aspire to give?” [16:54] The language shift: “I changed from reception to host. I’ve always called that department the Host Team.” [21:52] The test: “The human connection that you’re driving or you’re trying to get to is what can define whether or not your hospitality or not.” [22:47] Restaurant staff costs: “Anything between, let’s say, 23 to 28% of revenue goes on staff salaries.” [24:06] Flexible workspace reality: “You could probably be down, and what I’ve seen from what I’ve done, between 9% to 11% staff cost against revenue.” [26:38] Where to start: “Understanding if they’ve got operational manuals written, if they’ve got standard operating procedures written, which are the SOPs.” [27:55] Why consistency matters: “This break in consistency is the worst thing that you can have in an operation because as a customer, you just don’t know what you’re actually getting from them.” [29:03] Mapping the member day: “What does their day look like and how many touch points... can I get a nod... or a quick one-minute chat along their day.” [31:07] The foundation: “The first point of hospitality is just making sure that the service is consistent at the very basic level.” [32:34] The final instruction: “Just think about what you can deliver and then just try and deliver that consistently at a high level and then a higher level as much as you possibly can.” The Kitchen Confidential of the Workspace Ian Minor doesn’t come from the world of serviced offices or real estate. He comes from nightclubs. Bars. Restaurants. Health clubs. Late-night operations across three continents. In that world, the feedback loop is immediate and brutal. If the vibe is wrong, the room empties. If the ice runs out, if the security is too aggressive, if the lighting is too harsh—revenue collapses that night. There are no five-year leases to hide behind. Bernie captures it perfectly: “If you’ve ever worked in hospitality, there’s like grind, hard work, blood, sweat, and tears and a lot of burns and cuts from doing it.” When coworking spaces started shouting “hospitality!” around 2020, Ian saw a gap. The sophisticated consumer—used to the high-touch service of a Soho House or a boutique hotel—was being forced into sterile, fluorescent-lit serviced offices with receptionists who barely looked up. He realised the skills of the nightclub operator—lighting, sound, service speed, emotional connection—were exactly what the office market lacked. So he brought them over. What Hospitality Actually Means Bernie asks directly: “If someone bumped into you in Liverpool Street Station and said, What’s hospitality? What would you say?” Ian’s answer is deceptively simple: “Hospitality is the art of being hospitable.” But he immediately adds layers. It’s not about the product. It’s about the experience. “You’re going for an experience within hospitality, and that’s the thing that you’re really delivering. The food and the drink, for me, are part of the product, but they’re not the main thing.” Bernie illustrates this with his own example—a taco place in Vigo. It looks like a greasy spoon. It’s chaotic. The guy behind the counter is shouting. But the food is brilliant, and they walk 20 minutes in the rain on Sunday nights to go there. That’s hospitality. Not designed. Not Instagram-ready. But felt. Ian explains what makes it work: “It’s understanding or taking cues from the individual that’s gone in there or the couple that has gone in there... trying to learn a little bit about them... then seeing what little added things that you can do during the course of that sitting to make it extra special.” The test: when they leave, are they still talking about it weeks later? If yes, you’ve created an experience. If no, you’ve just completed a transaction. The Motivation Question Bernie presses on with motivation. Is it about making someone’s day, or is it about making them come back? Ian cuts straight to it: both are true, but the driver should be love. He talks about a moment from his own career—serving a couple who used to come into a bar at Lakeside Shopping Centre. They ordered a margarita with no salt and a Corona. Three years later, they walked into the Covent Garden branch where Bernie was working. He just put their drinks in front of them without saying a word. They were stunned. “How did you know?” Bernie got a real kick out of that moment—not because it guaranteed loyalty, but because it was a random act of care. Ian: “You can do this in any walk of life. You can engage with life or not engage with life. If you engage with it, you’re always going to get better and reach your experiences from that.” If you always go above and beyond what is expected, you’re always going to deliver a lot more than what they even wanted, but they’ll always remember it. Yes, this might lead to a good tip or repeat business. But the deeper reward is personal. “You’re going home from your shift or your night’s work or your day’s work, knowing that fo...

“We’re keeping people in Wigan, both in jobs, both in supply chain, young people not jumping on the train any longer to go in 30 minutes down the train track to Manchester or Liverpool. You don’t need to go outside of Wigan now. You can do everything in here.”Lee Dalgleish Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. *On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive.* It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Lee Dalgleish fixes problems. Not the tidy, admin problems. The ones where young people leave town because there’s nothing for them. Where historic buildings rot because nobody knows how to bring them back. Where talent drains to bigger cities because local economies can’t retain it. He’s the Commercial Property Manager at The Heaton Group in Wigan. But that title doesn’t capture what he actually does. The Heaton Group bought Eckersley Mills in October 2021. Three massive mills from the late 1800s, right in the centre of Wigan, sitting between Manchester and Liverpool. The sort of place most people write off as too expensive, too complicated, too far gone. They renamed it Cotton Works. Then they started building something nobody expected. Three Mills Pub opened in May 2024. Four and a half thousand square feet with original slab stone flooring. The sort of character you can’t fake. Lee’s daughter manages it now. Feast at the Mills followed in October 2023. An outdoor food hall in the old weaving sheds. DJs, street food, families, dog walkers, and bottomless brunches. Over 2,000 people show up every weekend in summer. But here’s what matters. Cotton Works isn’t just hospitality. It’s a regeneration project built to stop the brain drain. Wigan Youth Zone sits at 35,000 square feet. The largest youth facility of its kind in Europe. Young people aged five to early twenties. Non-means-tested. Music studios, climbing frames, arts, life skills. Teaching kids how to use a washing machine and turn on a dishwasher alongside creative work. Lee’s the Chair of Development on the committee. The Youth Zone runs on patrons—local businesses that support financially and in-kind. IT companies, joiners, and electricians. Not just writing cheques. Doing the work. Then there’s Weave. The coworking space at Cotton Works. Hot desks, resident desks, offices. Built to keep Wigan’s young talent in Wigan. To stop the exodus to Manchester and Liverpool that costs the town billions. And the Friday Club. Second Friday of every month. Over 250 people. Free drink when you arrive. Business owners from Bolton, Warrington, St Helens. Doors that were slamming shut elsewhere stay open here. All the proceeds go to local charities. Team Wigan & Leigh. The Brick. Daffodils Dreams. Wigan & Leigh Hospice. The Youth Zone. This episode is for operators who’ve been told you need venture capital to make an impact. For anyone who thinks regeneration belongs to property developers with offshore accounts. Lee’s got a five-yard rule. Anyone within five yards who makes eye contact gets a hello. Sounds basic. But it’s how you build a town where people don’t just work. They stay. Timeline Highlights [02:00] Lee on what he’s known for: “Commercial Property Manager at the Heaton group, Wigan.” [02:29] What Lee wants to be known for: “If you’ve got a question enough, I can help you. Come to me. I’ll do my best to help you.” [03:38] Eckersley Mills purchased: “In October 2021, we purchased the Ecclesley site, which is now known today as Cotton Work.s” [04:56] Three Mills character: “It’s just got full of character... epitomises everything that we’re doing here... the restoration work, the respect that we’re paying to all these buildings.” [06:22] Keeping people in Wigan: “We’re keeping people in Wigan... You don’t need to go outside of Wigan now. You can do everything in here.” [07:54] Feast at the Mills: “We opened up that in October 2023... what we wanted to create is just people starting to come down to Cotton Works.” [10:21] Summer numbers: “In the summer months, we’re getting over 2000 people every weekend into the venue, and it’s just snowballed.” [12:09] Wigan Youth Zone scale: “Wigan Youthsown is the largest Uson of its kind in Europe. It’s 35,000 square feet.” [13:35] Youth Zone inclusivity: “It’s not means-tested, Bernie... there’s no way of distinguishing children or young adults when they walk in the building... it’s for everybody and anybody.” [16:29] Lee’s role: “I’m now Chair of Development within the committee... we bounce off each other, and we support each other.” [18:54] Weave’s purpose: “Weave is about community... It allows small businesses to organically come in... to collaborate with other like-minded professionals.” [21:23] Friday Club origin: “Come down on the second Friday of each month to three mills or to Feast at the Mills... you get a free drink... come and meet us.” [23:32] Friday Club impact: “People are coming up to me now saying... we’ve got clients based in Wigan that we’ve never, ever had before.” [27:03] Five-yard rule: “Everybody that’s within five yards of me, if they make eye contact with me, I’d know them and say hello to them.” [29:47] Where to connect: “I’m always here at Cotton Works. I’m based up in Wiv in the centre of Wigan. You can connect with me on LinkedIn.” What 2,000 People on a Weekend Actually Means Most coworking spaces spend years trying to build community. Cotton Works drew 2,000 people per weekend within months of opening Feast at the Mills. Bernie asked the obvious question. How? Lee’s answer is simpler than you’d think. They created a place where people wanted to be. Not just a venue with food and drink. A space where Doris and George bring their dog for a pint and listen to live music. Where Lee’s daughters turn up for bottomless brunch and DJs. Where families find activities for kids without feeling like they’re at a soft play centre with alcohol. “We’ve got dorming on the door, but I beg to differ whether or not we’re at the touch of what we ever need them because everybody comes in.” No security incidents. No trouble. Just people from across Wigan finding a reason to come down to the canal on a Friday night. This isn’t a hospitality strategy. It’s proof that when you build something the town actually needs, rather than what property developers think will maximise yield, people show up. Feast at the Mills opened in October 2023. Within a year, it became the place people from outside Wigan know about. “How do you know Wigan, Mitchell?” Bernie gets asked. “Feast at the Mills,” they say. That’s not marketing. That’s what happens when 2,000 people have a good time and tell their mates. The Patron Model That Funds a Youth Zone Wigan Youth Zone costs money to run. Serious money. 35,000 s...

“Community is a really irritating word to me right now. We ask it to carry too much. Everything’s a community.” Rose Radtke Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Rose Radtke is a brand strategist, writer, and community manager. She positions herself as a “smart connector”—someone who finds the links between brand, community, and marketing. Six years deep in community building, she’s watched the word “community” stretch thinner each year. Everything became a community. Discord servers. Email lists. Substack comments. The word stopped meaning anything specific. Rose makes a distinction that matters. Audience, community, and village are not the same thing. One lets you lurk. One expects participation. One demands mutual care. Bernie and Rose unpack the framework. They move from COVID’s online community boom to the messy reality of engineering community in coworking spaces. Rose is watching 2026’s trends closely. Coworking spaces struggling to meet rent. Pricing strategies getting flexible—day blocks, modular memberships. The lines between workspace and third space blurring. Pop-up markets in coworking spaces. Coworking desks in bookshops and gyms. And she’s asking a question that hospitality venues should be terrified of: Why don’t they have community managers? This episode is for operators tired of using “community” to mean everything and nothing. It’s for anyone trying to work out whether they’re building an audience, a community, or a village—and what the difference actually means for the people who show up. Timeline Highlights [01:51] Rose describes herself: “I’m actually a bit of an octopus. I am a brand strategist, I am a writer, and I’m a community manager.” [02:12] What she wants to be known for: “Being a real connector, being someone that’s really smart and that connects people up in interesting ways.” [03:04] The frustration: “We ask it to carry too much. Everything’s a community. We want everything to be a community, and it just carries an awful, awful lot.” [04:49] The distinction: “Participation is optional. You can either be a lurker... but then you can fluidly move into being a participant.” [06:46] Village versus community: “In a village, there’s an expectation of care. You extend to each other and everyone has their part to play.” [08:49] COVID’s turning point: “Communities were lifelines for people in COVID. Most of those communities were online.” [11:31] Engineering community: “Your branding and your marketing and your community have to work as one for it to work.” [13:34] Bernie on his favourite spaces: “Started by people who are scratching their own edge.” [16:25] Rose on 2026 struggles: “Coworking spaces seem to be struggling a bit more this year... a shift towards more flexible memberships.” [19:46] The blurred lines: “The lines becoming blurred between work space and third space in coworking spaces.” [21:27] Multi-use strategy: “I want to create reasons for people to stay beyond their work day... and ways to make additional revenue.” [22:53] Hospitality insight: “I’m really interested in whether or why hospitality venues don’t have community managers. I feel like that’s madness.” [24:19] Multi-use excitement: “Really make it multi-use. That’s a really interesting and exciting space at the moment.” [26:38] The future is now: “Lines are being blurred in lots of areas, and I think spatially, that’s the case as well.” The Three-Type Framework Rose has been working in community for six years. She started through branding—branding communities, finding the work fascinating. Then the word stretched. “Over the last 6-8 years, we ask it to carry too much. Everything’s a community. We want everything to be a community, and it just carries an awful, awful lot.” She’s right. The word “community” used to mean something specific. Now it means anything a brand wants it to mean. Rose thinks we need to go back to basics. Stop calling everything a community. Work out what you’re actually running. An audience is passive. They consume what you produce. They might engage, but they don’t expect to be part of the thing. A community is fluid. Participation is optional. You can lurk. You can absorb what you’re reading, overhear conversations, eye things up. Then you can fluidly move into being a participant when you’re ready. No pressure. No expectation. A village is different. Everyone’s participation is needed. Everyone has a role. There’s an expectation of care. You extend care to each other. Even if your role is just taking your rubbish out on the right day, you have to participate. Rose thinks coworking sits somewhere between community and village, depending on how the space is designed. Some members want to get out of their house. Leave behind the mess and the half-eaten Rice Krispies. Work somewhere clean and tidy. Get their head down. Leave at the end of the day. Go home. That’s valid. Other people want to network. They want to go to a place where people know their name. They want to be part of the programme, learn stuff, be all in. That’s valid too. Both are community. But they’re not the same kind of community. Calling them both “community” without distinction makes the word useless. COVID Broke the Word COVID was a huge turning point. Community went online. It had to. Online communities became lifelines for people. They were essential, not optional. “We piled a lot on the word community during COVID,” Rose says. “That is where it all became a bit stretched and misshapen.” She’s not wrong. The word community used to imply something physical, something local, something you could walk to. COVID made it mean “any group of people who talk to each other online.” Online communities are just as important and valid as in-person communities. But they’re very different. The expectations are different. The rhythms are different. The care structures are different. We’ve never quite come back from that. The word “community” now has to work for both. It has to mean your local pub and your Discord server. Your coworking space and your Substack comments section. No wonder it’s irritating. Engineering Community in Coworking Rose makes a distinction that matters. Some coworking spaces start because someone needed a place to work. They had extra space. They built something around what they were doing. The Skiff in Brighton. Coworking Lisboa in Lisbon. Indy Hall. Other spaces start as a brand first. Someone decides to start a coworking space. They build the brand, then they build the community. Both can wo...

“What concerns me most is this idea that we’re returning to the norms from before... when we tore down the walls between home and work and childcare.” Georgia Norton Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Georgia Norton spent spring 2024 interviewing founders, childcare workers, and parents across co-located childcare and coworking spaces. What she documented wasn’t a pandemic oddity for affluent families. It was a structural shift in how people want to arrange work and care. The report, “The Case for Childcare plus coworking,” argues that these spaces should be treated as essential social infrastructure, not premium amenities. Georgia calls it social infrastructure because that’s what it functions as: * Places where work happens alongside childcare * Where childcare workers gain professional development opportunities shoulder to shoulder with laptop workers * Where bridges get built between people who’d never otherwise meet But Georgia’s facing pushback from two contradictory directions. Front one: This is elitist. How could this ever be universal childcare? The spaces look too nice, too intentional about natural light and materials. Front two: Not everyone wants work and care integrated. Some people prefer separation, long commutes, and wrap-around daycare. Both critiques miss what Georgia is actually arguing. She’s not trying to universalise a single model. She’s pointing out that thousands of families restructured their lives during the pandemic and don’t want to return to the way things were. They’ve tasted something different—messy, overlapping, human—and the old binary (office or home, parent or professional, boss or employee) feels like a lie. The teens who kept wearing sliders and pyjama pants to school after lockdown? That’s the same cultural shift. We loosened our grip on “how things are supposed to be” and got more realistic about what actually matters. Georgia names fixable barriers: * Licensing rules that block grant access * Outdated funding structures * The assumption that childcare innovation requires private equity backing She’s taking these findings to the House of Lords in June. She’s exploring intergenerational models that integrate eldercare alongside childcare. Her next horizon isn’t scaling Playhood into a chain—it’s asking smarter policy questions about how to fund site-specific, adaptive models that serve neighbourhoods. This episode is for: Space operators are wondering if childcare integration makes sense. Parents who’ve felt the guilt of separation and want to explore alternatives. Anyone asking whether coworking can do more than rent desks—whether it can actually function as civic infrastructure that builds bridges across differences. ⏱ Timeline Highlights [02:07] What Georgia wants to be known for: “Making an impact... putting that report to work to help inspire entrepreneurs, to defend the childcare workforce.” [03:34] The provocative question that drove the report: “So many people wanted this... Why aren’t we funding models to pilot this?” [04:56] Why the report’s lens was American: “I’m sitting on more of a global picture.” [05:53] The tension Georgia feels most: “What concerns me most is this idea that we’re returning to the norms from before.” [09:10] On loosening standards: “We all loosened our standards... But I think we just got more realistic about, let’s not waste any time on that separation.” [10:20] The power of bridges: “We need bridges to other people... not binary employee versus boss, teacher versus parent.” [11:11] What the pandemic revealed: “The pandemic let us see childcare workers as key workers... We should hold on to models that integrate with families.” [14:03] The contradictory feedback: “Two key pieces of feedback contradict one another—how is this equitable? And also, this isn’t for everyone.” [15:21] On not dismissing the model: “If there’s a model here that could work in other neighbourhoods, we’ve got to look at smarter ways of funding.” [16:48] Georgia on fixable problems: “The barriers to making this more accessible—things like you can’t get grants without the licensing. Really old-fashioned things that get in the way. Fixable problems. I like those.” [17:42] Why childcare changes everything: “When you add or integrate with a childcare offering... there’s something next level going on.” [19:11] The workforce development story: “One of the strongest stories... is the workforce development that occurs here.” [24:09] On species needs: “Openness, open-heartedness and open-mindedness to being around other people is absolutely critical to our social cohesion right now.” [26:30] Small solutions matter: “Microschools, micro-nurseries with coworking show you don’t need the private equity-backed chain—there have to be entrepreneurs trying things out.” [27:56] What adaptive means: “We need to be site-specific and grow and adapt to meet each other’s needs... potentially even go into the House of Lords in June to share policy ideas.” The Two-Front Fight Georgia’s fighting two battles at once. And they contradict each other completely. Front one: This is elitist. How could this ever be universal childcare? The spaces she profiled look gorgeous. Full of plants, natural light, and intentional materials. People see that and assume expensive, inaccessible, designed for the 2.5% with disposable income. Georgia pushes back hard: “It’s really sad to me that people assume we can’t all have nice things.” Why should designing for human thriving automatically signal exclusivity? Front two: Not everyone wants this. Loads of parents are perfectly happy with the separation between work and care. They want to commute, drop off, access wrap-around daycare, and keep the worlds distinct. Georgia’s not arguing against that choice. She’s arguing against the assumption that integrated models shouldn’t exist because some people prefer separation. The contradiction exposes the real problem. We’ve built a system where innovation in childcare is assumed to be the preserve of premium membership models. And simultaneously, we’ve normalised the idea that “for everyone” means erasing specificity and choice. Georgia’s not trying to universalise one model. She’s documenting what happens when you give families actual options—and then asking why we’re not funding more experimentation. The answer involves fixable barriers like licensing and grant eligibility, not inherent inaccessibility. What the Pandemic Actually Taught Us Some people untethered completely after the pandemic. Sold everything, joined travelling villag...

“If freelancing is the future of work, then coworking is the future workplace.” Szilvia Filep Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Ten years ago, Szilvia Filep quit her multinational job in Budapest because they wouldn’t let her work remotely. Back in 2016, that decision meant becoming a freelancer when Hungarian society viewed freelancing as code for “can’t get a proper job.” It meant moving from the capital to Veszprém—a countryside city—with her husband and young daughter. It meant choosing time over salary, proximity over prestige, freedom over the illusion of security. Today, Szilvia runs the Hungarian Coworking Association, operates a coworking space in Veszprém, and serves as Communications Manager for Coworking Europe. Everything she needs—her kids’ school, her coworking space, the city centre, supermarket, her mother-in-law for childcare—sits within a 10-minute walk from her front door. She calls it her “10-minute city.” Where Paris has Professor Carlos Moreno’s ambitious 15-minute city vision, Szilvia built her own version through strategic decisions about where to live, what to prioritise, and how to structure work around life instead of life around work. The contrast with her previous existence is stark. One to one-and-a-half hours each way in Budapest traffic. Now? She chooses how to spend that reclaimed time. Not stuck in traffic jams. Not at the mercy of delayed trains. Freedom to prepare for her day on her own terms. But here’s what matters for you as a coworking operator: Szilvia’s journey from corporate employee to freelancer to association founder mirrors the transformation happening across Europe right now. What seemed risky in 2016—outcome-based work, autonomy, side projects, choosing flexibility—has become mainstream. In Hungary, the average person under 35 now spends just two years at one company. The future Szilvia bet on has arrived. And if freelancing truly is the future of work, then coworking genuinely is the future workplace. Not because of hot desks or good coffee. Because people working flexibly still need human contact. They need spaces designed around connection, not just productivity. They need to know they’re not alone “slogging it out” trying to make WordPress work or deciding whether to invoice before or after completing the work. Szilvia’s experience in smaller cities reveals something corporate chains can’t replicate: 60% of her coworking members joined when the space opened two-and-a-half years ago and are still there. That loyalty stems from limited options, yes—but more powerfully, from genuine belonging. In smaller towns, you run into each other outside the space. The connections run deeper. The community isn’t strategic; it’s real. This episode is for operators building local coworking spaces, running regional associations, or wondering whether European Coworking Day matters beyond marketing. Szilvia shows how grassroots movements gain credibility through continental connection whilst maintaining fierce local loyalty. You’ll leave understanding how to design a life that actually fits your values, why freelancing skills translate directly to coworking operations, and how European Coworking Day on 6th May gives your local work the visibility it deserves. Timeline Highlights [00:04] Bernie announces European Coworking Day is on the sixth of May [01:26] Szilvia introduces herself: founder of Coworking Hungary Association, runs a space in Veszprém, recently joined Coworking Europe conference team [02:07] Coworking Europe 2026 will be in Paris on sixth of November [02:39] “I’ve created my life, my basic needs in a way that everything is just 10 minutes walk from my home” [04:52] On reclaimed commute time: “It’s freedom” [08:34] The brave 2016 decision: “I had to quit. That was the time when I became a freelancer to be able to create the life I wanted to live” [11:49] Essential freelancing skills: “Creativity... you have to be quite brave... good in marketing and pretty much in sales... personal branding... Very, very thoughtful on financials” [13:54] Szilvia’s realisation: “It’s just the future of work” [16:38] On selling outcomes: “It’s not the time what you sell, but it’s the results what you sell” [17:57] Job tenure in Hungary: “The average time a younger person under 35 years spends at one company is two years” [21:03] The defining quote: “If freelancing is the future of work, then coworking is the future workplace” [22:38] Why European Coworking Day matters: “This gives an extra credibility and visibility to the things that we do here in Hungary” [25:21] On loyalty in smaller cities: “60% of the coworkers who are currently using the space, joined at the very beginning when we opened the space two and a half year ago” [29:59] Bernie’s reminder: “Collaboration over competition” The 10-Minute City You Can Build Today You don’t need municipal permission to create a 10-minute city. Szilvia designed hers through decisions: choosing Veszprém over Budapest, paying more for a flat near the city centre instead of cheaper suburbs, opening her coworking space within walking distance of her home. The trade-off was clear. Living centrally costs more. But the return—time, autonomy, presence with her children—proved worth every forint. Before moving, Szilvia and her husband sat down and asked: “How do we want to lead our family life together?” Both had spent their childhoods travelling to school in different cities. Both commuted 30-40 minutes one way to university in Budapest. Both wanted something different for their kids and themselves. What makes this relevant for coworking operators? Your members face the same calculation. They’re weighing commute time against flexibility, corporate salaries against autonomy, prestige against presence. The operators who understand this friction—who position their spaces as infrastructure for freedom, not just desks for rent—win the loyalty Szilvia describes. Sixty per cent retention over two-and-a-half years doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when your space solves a life design problem, not just a workspace problem. When “Freelancer” Meant “Unemployed” In 2016, telling people in Hungary you were a freelancer translated roughly to: “I can’t get a proper job.” Szilvia heard it constantly. “Poor freelancers, it’s how hard for them to get a job, how it’s just not stable, it’s just unpredictable. It’s unsafe financially.” She could count on her hands how many people she knew doing the same work. So she organised a freelance conference. She ran events for freelancers to meet and learn from each other. She told everyone she could about this emerging way of working. Ten years later, the world has caught up. Remote work. Outcome-based projects. Side gigs. Portfolio careers. These aren’t fringe anymore—they’re how most knowledge workers operate, whether officially freelance or not. But here’s the insight that matters: the skills Szilvia needed to succeed as a freelancer in 2016 are exactly the skills coworking operators need today. Creativity. Courage. Marketing yourself ...

“The unsung heroes are the smaller companies who are… They’re not trying to raise a billion pounds... Being a home where they feel happy, safe, productive is a good thing.” Tom Ball Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Tom Ball has been banging the drum for micro and small businesses longer than most people have been paying attention. While everyone else obsesses over billion-pound unicorns and corporate flex contracts, Tom’s been quietly building DeskLodge in Bristol—a coworking space that actually makes money whilst refusing to become a soulless corporate service provider. The tension he lives with daily is the same one every independent coworking operator faces: you can’t be a purist because you can’t pay the bills that way. But you also can’t rip out everything that makes your space special just to chase higher margins. Tom chose a third path. He runs a financially viable business with a diverse tenant mix—freelancers, small firms, and corporate teams—whilst maintaining what he calls an “indie-friendly culture” and refusing to compromise on the values that matter. The conversation covers what the last brutal year has done to small coworking spaces, why government and big corporates consistently fail small businesses despite calling them “the backbone of the economy,” and the practical frameworks Tom’s developed over a decade to stay solvent without losing his soul. He shares DeskLodge’s award-winning flexible pricing model, including the “Flex One Plus” membership that changed how they think about belonging. The environmental design philosophy that treats productivity as a design problem, not a community-building one. The “Pay It Forward” scheme that gives free hot desking to well-connected people between jobs—not out of charity, but as strategic network investment. This episode is for operators who are exhausted from pretending the last year wasn’t brutal. Who want to support freelancers and micro-businesses but can’t figure out how to make the maths work. Who know their space needs corporate revenue but refuse to become WeWork. Tom doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. What he has is a decade of making it work whilst staying honest about what it actually takes. Timeline Highlights [01:24] Tom on what he’d like to be known for: “They’re actually really productive and we love small companies” [02:26] The unsung heroes: “I think the unsung heroes are the small companies... Where you spend your money matters. We should be doing more to support these people” [04:11] The brutal year: “Small coworking spaces... huge verbal hug to everybody out there running a space because the last year has been brutal... The build-up to the last budget was basically creating paralysis and nobody was making decisions” [05:48] How to support small businesses: “Use small businesses, pay them well... Pay them on time... And give a good fair shout out. Don’t ask for makes rates. Just treat them well” [07:02] The purist trap: “I don’t think you can be a purist because I don’t think you can pay the bills... We would make more money if we ripped out a load of the hot desking... but we choose not to” [09:50] Being home for small companies: “The unsung heroes... are the smaller companies who are… They’re not trying to raise a billion pounds... Being a home where they feel happy, safe, productive is a good thing” [13:24] Environmental design matters: “We’ve got a silent zone... places that are designed for doing video calls... open plan areas... We deliberately designed these different spaces for doing different things” [16:58] The Flex One Plus insight: “You pay a monthly membership and it gives you one day a month, and then you get a discount rate for other days... having that one a month means you feel that you belong and you’re leaning forward slightly” [17:31] The pricing breakdown: “It’s 30 quid for a day pass, 25 quid a month with one day included, and then it’s 25 for the extra days” [21:50] Community acquisition strategy: “The best thing that we do is let other people host their events in our space... free hot desk for free as a group... as a way of pulling in new people” [23:55] Pay It Forward: “If somebody well connected leaves their job, then I give them a few months free hot desking... It’s a lovely thing to do... what goes around comes around” [25:29] The Gap defined: “The Gap is from when you realise you’re doing the wrong thing to when you start doing the right thing... We’ve got the wrong energy around it... it’s a time when people want, deserve, need help” Nobody Actually Believes in Small Teams Tom doesn’t waste time being diplomatic about this. Labour is big government. Tories are big corporate. Nobody in power actually believes in smaller teams, despite the rhetoric about small businesses being “the backbone of Britain.” If you look at government, it’s small teams that make stuff happen. Massive hierarchies spend more time in meetings. Yet policy consistently favours large organisations because that’s where the power sits. The same pattern shows up in coworking. Everyone talks about community and supporting freelancers. Then they optimise for corporate contracts because that’s where the reliable revenue lives. Tom’s watched this play out across his members. The two-person consultancy doing brilliant work. The small coffee shop. The slow-growing companies that have been with DeskLodge for a decade, slightly bigger now but not chasing unicorn status. These are the actual lifeblood of local economies. And they’re systemically unsupported. Where you spend your money matters. Not as a moral statement—as an economic one. When you choose the indie coffee shop over Starbucks, you’re keeping wealth circulating locally rather than extracting it to shareholders. The challenge for coworking operators is you can’t run on ideology. You need revenue. The question becomes: how do you build a business model that supports small companies without going broke yourself? The Brutal Year Everyone’s Pretending Didn’t Happen Tom offers what he calls “a huge verbal hug to everybody out there running a space because the last year has been brutal.” Not just tough. Brutal. And it wasn’t Indies getting picked on whilst chains thrived. The whole market struggled. The build-up to the last budget created paralysis—nobody was making decisions. That meant nobody was moving into spaces. Clients’ pipelines delayed. Projects stalled. Small coworking operators felt it hardest because they don’t have the cash reserves to weather extended slow periods. One bad quarter threatens survival. Tom’s point isn’t to wallow. It’s to stop pretending. Knowing everyone’s finding it tough helps. It’s not you. It’s not your pricing. It’s not your marketing. The external conditions have been genuinely difficult. You’re in the right place doing the right thing. It won’t be like this forever. That acknowledgment matters. Too many operators are quietly drowning whilst scrolling past other people’s Instagram posts of “sold out” events and “record months.” The isolation compounds the financial stress. The indie coworking community needs more honesty about when things are hard. Not as resignation, but as solidarity. Use Them, Pay Them Well, Pay Them On Time Tom’s call to action for corporates is blunt. If you’re a big co...

“Inclusivity basically doesn’t mean that you have to include everybody. It’s just making sure that the space that you’re offering is where people can feel safe... it’s about who feels comfortable staying or speaking up or knowing that whatever opinions they have to give will be heard.”Rosee Shrestha Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. The best version of your space is being specific about who it’s for. Being for everyone is a recipe for building somewhere nobody belongs. Rosee Shrestha writes and creates content at Cobot, where she documents what actually works in coworking. Through her newsletter and interviews with operators across Europe, she’s noticed a pattern. The spaces that thrive aren’t casting the widest net. They’re being specific about who they serve—because that’s the only moat they have. In an industry where the rent keeps climbing and corporate chains can outspend you on marketing, your community is the one thing they can’t replicate. Bernie and Rosee unpack her recent piece featuring perspectives from Ashley, Silia, and Hector on what’s shaping coworking in 2026. The thread connecting all their insights? Hyper-local spaces that know exactly who they’re for. Ashley talks about returning to first principles—community hubs that serve multiple purposes, not just desk rental. Hector describes members choosing an ecosystem that fits into their daily lives, not just a place to sit. Rosee shares what she learned from Selina at Werkhain in Berlin about what it means to be “seen” in a space without anyone forcing interaction on you. Bernie brings his own observations from FENTO coworking near Vigo, where Camino pilgrims walk past speaking German, Dutch, French, and English—and from a hostel café in Kathmandu where travellers and locals found each other without strategic community programming. This episode is for operators tired of competing with everyone for nobody in particular. Timeline Highlights [01:35] Rosee on what she wants to be known for: “Write in ways that it feels honest and helpful for every operator or just anybody who wants to learn about the industry” [02:29] The hyper-local thread: “One thing that was in common between every perspective... you really were betting on hyper local coworking spaces” [03:37] On Ashley’s first principles: “The essence of coworking was just having a hub where people can come together instead of having to work alone at home” [04:47] The buzzword confession: “Meaningful human connection... it does sound like a buzzword a little bit. But when it comes to coworking, I definitely feel like it’s true” [05:49] Bernie on foundations shaping communities: “How you build the foundation of your community in the beginning will help shape what happens later on” [06:15] The Urban MBA example: “Community is basically the Caribbean kitchen at Urban MBA or people taking care of Elena Giroli when she had to be away” [07:08] Hector’s ecosystem insight: “Work just now happens across so many different settings... does it really fit into everything that I try to do” [08:42] On Werkhain in Berlin: “It didn’t feel like a coworking spaceship that had landed in the neighbourhood unannounced” [09:30] What being “seen” actually means: “Having these daily interactions... being supported without really forcing interaction” [11:06] Bernie on coworking’s grounding effect: “You’re sitting in a room with other people doing the same thing. It’s really grounding” [12:30] The “for everyone” trap: “Inclusivity also not saying we are open to everybody. It’s just about making this safe space for people, like-minded people” [16:23] The hostel in Kathmandu: “There was so much cultural exchange going on... one person brings somebody there, then it’s like oh, it’s open for everybody” [19:56] On travellers with intent: “There’s this energy you get from people travelling with intent” What “First Principles” Actually Means Ashley’s phrase stayed in the conversation: getting back to first principles. Rosee frames it simply: “The essence of that is based around the connection between each other, like how you form the community in a space.” It’s not nostalgia. It’s recognition that AI and remote work have stripped away so much human contact that the original premise of coworking—gathering with others instead of working alone—matters more than it did five years ago. When everything else becomes commoditised, the irreducible core remains. People need to see other people. Not through screens. Not in managed corporate environments. In spaces where they can sit with their own thoughts while knowing they’re not alone. Bernie nails what this actually feels like: sitting in a coworking space knowing you’re not the only one “slogging it out, trying to work out how WordPress works and whether I use ChatGPT for this or Claude for this, or do I send my invoice now and then do the work or do the work and then send the invoice.” The spaces getting this right aren’t trying to be WeWork. They’re becoming what Rosee calls “multi-purpose community hubs”—places where the coworking is almost incidental to the gathering. Why “For Everyone” Creates Nobody’s Space Bernie pushed Rosee on language that matters. She used the word “tolerant” when discussing inclusion. Bernie picked it up immediately: “If you said to me, you’re going to have to tolerate three women in your coworking space today, I’d be like, I’m not really… that makes me feel like I’m putting up with them.” Rosee clarified what she actually meant: “It’s about just making this safe space for people, like-minded people who can just be there for each other instead of having to tolerate each other.” Inclusion doesn’t mean inviting everyone. It means being clear about who your space is for, then making sure those people feel genuinely welcomed—not tolerated. A space for gamers includes gamers. A space for climate activists includes climate activists. A space that supports caregivers considers childcare. A space designed for neurodivergent members considers sensory needs. Rosee mentions this in her recent article on neurodivergence—”just creating a space where you can actually recognise those people.” When someone says “our space is for everyone,” they’re really saying “we haven’t thought about who we’re actually serving.” The Ecosystem Fit Hector’s contribution reframes how members evaluate spaces. It’s not: “Is this a nice place to work?” It’s: “Does this fit into my actual life?” Rosee explains: “Work just now happens across so many different settings, like home, coworking spaces. Instead of being like this is my main office, does it really fit into everything that I try to do.” When billing is confusing, when booking is painful, when the systems feel unreliable, members don’t just get annoyed—they lose trust. As Rosee puts it: “When the system at the coworking space doesn’t feel so reliable, it’s easy to lose that trust a little bit. People do tend to disengage.” Members are evaluating your space against every other option: home, cafés, libraries, other coworking spaces, client offices. If you make their life harder rather than easier, you lose. Being Seen Without Being Forced Rosee learned something from visiting Werkhain in Berlin—a space that transformed a former gym into a fully booked ...