THE upper floor of a building in the heart of Old Town has been given a new lease of life.
Lee Marner and Andrew Careswell of the Business Generation Group have just settled into the space above Eggelicious and RUN on 3 and 5 Wood Street - and spent £50,000 doing it up.
In six weeks, they knocked down walls, bought new furniture, and rewired, replastered and repainted the disused rooms into offices that can be hired by small start-ups and members of the community in a venture called Wood Street CoWork.
Lee said: "The offices were quite dated and in need of some TLC, so we completely re-did this entire area.
"We always wanted to come to Old Town because it's perfect for us and where we live, and we know people locally because we spend time in the cafes and restaurants.
"When this place became available, we jumped at the chance to buy it - and we have a lovely landlord.
"The space is too big for us so we wanted to make it a base for other businesses to grow. We've had good feedback and interest already.
"It can be very insular and isolating at home, sometimes people need to interact in the same shared space."
Between four to 15 people can hire the desks and equipment, and access a kitchen area with a coffee machine and snacks for a half day, five days, or up to a whole month.
The Business Generation Group's offices fill part of the floorspace. Lee and Andrew used to work for recruitment companies before switching to focus on sales and marketing three years ago.
Old Town's Christmas Lights Switch-On ended up being an accidental trial run for the office space, as around 50 people popped upstairs to use it as a social area.
Andrew said: "We realised that after Covid, a lot of people were working on their own, so our purpose is to help them with their business needs, put people in touch with their customers and get them back in the same room after Covid forced people to stay home.
"This could be used for meetings, training sessions, events, one-to-ones, or if you just want to get out of the house for a while.
"Our business also offers help with building websites and filling other gaps in their knowledge."
For more information about the co-working space, visit www.woodstreetco.work
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here