A Northern Ireland start-up is hoping its services may help those who struggle with working from home, while also giving the hospitality sector a much-needed boost.
VennWorks, the brainchild of founders Susie Hall and Ross Harrison, is a new booking platform that aims to turn unused space in cafes, bars, restaurants and hotels into hot desk solutions for freelancers, start-ups and remote workers.
The pair came up with the concept in 2019 but had to put it on hold due to the pandemic though now, with the changes in working lives looking like a long-term shift, they are expecting a greater demand than they could have previously anticipated.
Susie explained: “Even before Covid-19, remote working was becoming more commonplace. Ross and I were living and working in London and I had used a similar service and thought it was great. When we were moving back to Northern Ireland we started talking about if, and how, such a concept could work here and couldn’t see any downsides to it.”
The concept is simple, members can join on either a £20 monthly rolling contract or pay £200 for a yearly subscription, find a venue and book a ‘desk’ from one hour to a full day.
Venues have complete control over the booking, there are no sign-up costs and the individual businesses set their own opening hours and how many spaces are available at any one time.
Venues already on board include Hastings Hotels, the Denes restaurant chain, Bullitt, Castle Espie, General Merchants and Haptik but VennWorks is hoping to roll the venture out across the entire Province, with plans to eventually become an all-Ireland initiative.
Ross said: “We believe a realistic and sustainable model of working is a hybrid of working from home, the office and in public venues and this is where we come in.
“The wheels have been in motion from early last year and we’ve been slowly plugging away behind the scenes. Now with the kids back to school and everyone settling into routine again it really feels like the right time.
“Our website is live and we’re slowly but surely building a diverse portfolio of venues. So far the feedback has been fantastic but we realise this is a new concept for many people so we’re offering a 14 day free trial and also have a click-through form where people can suggest a venue that would be convenient for them.”
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