Co-working as a concept is nothing new, you will find first co-working spaces have been founded as far as 1903, however there were probably co-working spaces in existence even before that, just think of the original co-working spaces or market places where people came to trade and offer goods for sale.  The official resources state that the first co-working space was founded in 2005 by Brad Neuberg in San Francisco and this well may be true if it was not for the likes of Marx Dixon setting up the serviced office provider Regus in 1980’s or Schraubenfabrik in Vienna. The turning point did came in 2005 when Apple sold more laptops than desktop pc’s and this tells us that with mobility as a factor the traditional office model started to change as well.  

If you do a bit of research you will find that coworking is a shared serviced office space where entrepreneurs, remote workers, consultants, freelancers, and anyone else who wants access to a fully-equipped office space can get membership. Co-working has evolved over the years into a much wider phenomenon and a lot of co-working spaces refer to themselves as a community of like minded individuals or business. This is due to the fact that it co-working spaces act as business networks and encourage their members to refer work or expertise to each other. There are those spaces which are more corporate and are primarily focused on serviced office model rather than community and they do have their advantages as well. 

Co-working model also plays a huge part for those businesses that don’t necessarily need and office space but a place where they meet their clients or use the address for their business. Specifically this refers to using meeting room on ad hoc basis or business address to present themselves in a more professional light. 

This brings us to 2019 and London is currently crowned the capital of coworking, with more coworking spaces than New York, San Francisco and Berlin. In Birmingham the co-working figure is a lot less in comparison but the sector has experienced exponential growth over the last few years.

To summarise the co-working is cost-efficient model which offers businesses flexible workspace with short term contracts, encourages sense of community and provides excellent networking opportunities for members.

HUB 109 ticks all of the above but we are also here to help local businesses grow and create number of long term benefits for the residents of Birmingham and wider. If you are a start-up or a business looking for co-working space outside of City Centre, Hub 109 is an ideal choice.