Co-Space, a vibrant new flexible working space which opened today [3rd September] in Stevenage is expected to herald a new era of entrepreneurship for the county and accelerate a rapid recovery from COVID-19 in one of the best places outside London to launch a business.

Previously, 25 Town Square, an underutilised space at the heart of Stevenage town centre has been transformed into new high quality, flexible workspace, with the help of £1.5m of funding from Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). The project was delivered by Stevenage Borough Council, who purchased the building to kick-start regeneration, in partnership with developer Mace and contractor Ashe, as part of the Stevenage Even Better 20-year £1bn regeneration of the post-war New Town. This will provide much-needed space to support local business growth and stimulate town centre activity.

The workspace was opened by The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire Lionel Wallace DL; Cllr Sharon Taylor OBE, Leader, Stevenage Borough Council; Stevenage Mayor Sandra Barr; Cllr Lloyd Briscoe, Executive Member, Economy, Enterprise and Transport; Cllr John Gardner - Executive member regeneration / Deputy Leader; Mark Bretton, Chair, Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Chair, LEP Network; Adrian Hawkins OBE, independent Chair, Stevenage Development Board, Chair, Hertfordshire LEP’s Skills Advisory Panel and Chair of biz4Biz, a Home Counties business group; Wenta CEO Ed Jordan; Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce Corporate Relations Mary Sykes and Co-Space co-founders Alistair Thomas and William Stokes.

Lionel Wallace DL said: "This facility comes at a time when the need for investment in entrepreneurs, particularly young people could not be greater. I do not consider it an exaggeration to say that this new opportunity will literally transform many lives for the better and I am delighted to be a part of today's celebrations."

Cllr Sharon Taylor OBE said: “The events of the last 18 months have brought lasting change to how and where we all work. As one of the fastest-developing business locations outside of London, Stevenage is at the forefront of those new working practices, and can now provide an easily accessible, fully-equipped and affordable working environment in the middle of our fast-rising town centre transformation.

"As we have recently shown, our town is already attracting the very best STEM talent from around the country, and the opening of Co-Space will help us to attract more businesses and foster an entrepreneurial community that will benefit our local economy, attract skills, and create much needed jobs and opportunities."

Mark Bretton said: “Hertfordshire LEP has invested around £100m in Stevenage and the local area to support its key sectors and town centre renewal. Our new Enterprise and Innovation Strategy puts people at its heart by ensuring we have the skills and space to support entrepreneurship and that the local economy benefits our young people.”

Adrian Hawkins OBE, independent chairman of Stevenage Development Board, said: “Today is a tremendous day of celebration for Stevenage, building on its legacy of innovation and showing a way forward for the next generation of entrepreneurs. As the recent research shows, Stevenage is one of the best places outside London to do this, and thanks to Hertfordshire LEP’s opportunities portal HOP www.hopinto.co.uk , which signposts to available sources of support, such as WENTA, we can help budding entrepreneurs every step of the way to success. I am feeling highly HOP-timistic about the future of our town and its people thanks to this new workspace and the crucial early-stage advice HOP now provides.”

Stevenage, one of best places to launch a business outside London

The choice of Stevenage as the location for a new ‘model of working’ comes as little surprise after recent research from business bank Tide named Stevenage and Watford as two of the best places to launch a business outside of London.

With its super-fast train links to London (22 minutes) and the East Coast main line running to Edinburgh, as well as direct access to the A1, Stevenage offers a fantastic opportunity for businesses and residents to embrace new ways of working post COVID-19.

The 'hub and spoke' model of working, where businesses, both large and small, can allow employees and owners to work near home 1-3 days a week whilst travelling to a central hub for the rest of the week, is increasingly being seen as the way that people will want to work.

Flexible workspace operator Co-Space’s latest location will provide over 15,000 sq.ft. of design led, in-demand private office and co-working workspace as well as two roof terraces, event space, meeting rooms and break out areas for communal use. The three-floor transformation is part of the ongoing mixed-use regeneration of Stevenage, part-funded by a £34m Local Growth Fund investment from Hertfordshire LEP.

Alistair Thomas said: “Co-Space is proud and excited to be providing a central hub for entrepreneurship in the heart of Stevenage Town. Now more than ever as we come out of the pandemic, entrepreneurs and SMEs will need flexibility, a supportive community and a network of fellow businesses around them in order to thrive.
Co-Space seeks to be the ‘go-to’ location for entrepreneurs and businesses in the area to share a workplace, share ideas and create that network.”

Generation Start-Up page gives young people access to free ‘crucial early-stage advice’

Earlier that day, Jack Parsons, President at the Youth Group, and the proclaimed ‘UK’s Chief Youth Officer’ visited the workspace and spoke passionately about the opportunities it would deliver. He said: “Stevenage is clearly a town that has its act together in providing the dynamic space for enterprise and fresh ideas to flourish. HOP is a trail-blazing resource for parents, pupils and residents and its new Generation Start-Up page will help young people access all the information they need to go out there and get enterprising!”

Wenta is a not-for-profit, social enterprise and the second largest enterprise agency in England, with workspace in Stevenage, Watford, Potters Bar and Enfield along with nearly 40 years of experience in helping small business start-ups with growth ambitions. Hertfordshire Growth Hub is Hertfordshire’s LEP’s flagship business support provider integrating national and local business support. Working in tandem, Wenta provides free, impartial early stage start-up and growth advice, helping fledgling businesses to access the scaled-up support delivered by Hertfordshire Growth Hub.

Chief Executive of Wenta, Ed Jordan, said: “Stevenage has a proven track record as a great place to start a business. Whether you’re looking to become a dog walker or lab scientist, you can also find Wenta alongside Stevenage Borough Council’s provision of free and impartial business advice and training support at The Business & Technology Centre on Bessemer Drive.”

The visit by Jack Parsons and the High Sheriff followed the publication of ‘The impact of COVID-19 on young people in Hertfordshire’ commissioned by HM Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Robert Voss CBE CStJ, which highlighted the impact COVID-19 has had on young people over the past 12 months and presented HOP as part of the solution.

The High Sheriff has vowed to promote youth empowerment during his year of office. At his declaration ceremony, the new High Sheriff launched his Youth in Herts Programme, which has 3 core pillars: The Young Leaders Award, ‘Be Your Own Boss – Hertfordshire’ project and 30’ Under 30 project. The ‘Be Your Own Boss’ project aims to increase young people’s employment opportunities by supporting budding young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses.

At an International Youth Day Celebration on 12th August, the High Sheriff launched his award programme for charities and voluntary groups who support the following 3 focus areas:

• Empowering Young People to become today's leaders
• Supporting Young People to serve in unique or new areas of community life
• Promoting youth engagement in the Magistracy

The awards will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 10th March 2022.

View the Generation Start-Up page here.