i

Showers over Windermere from Holbeck Lane near Troutbeck.

Off to Work, with a Smile

November 14, 2017
This-Space-KRC

Continuing the recent theme of feel good, work better, here is a great Cumbrian reframe concept around property investment and urban regeneration. The concept: take an unloved building or site, make it iconic and inspiring, turn it into co-working community where people are inspired, and even let start-ups become their own landlords.

The notion at the heart of Michelle Rothwell’s disruptive approach is that the environment we work in should inspire us – and a desk in a dim corner is just not going to do it.

Michelle, who is from Windermere just down the road from my digs in Grasmere, and who is a double world-record holder for endurance swimming, got disenchanted as a commercial property advisor leasing inflexible and uninspiring spaces.

Her insight was that being part of an inspirational community in a flexible collaborative environment is a rich recipe for business growth. “The idea is that businesses don’t lease the space because there’ a desk, but because they want their business to grow.”

Michelle’s first start-up opened an office at 31-33 Princess Street in Manchester city centre in August which it billed ‘the UK’s first property co-working space’. She based her own company there. “I’ve kept hold of the top floor as a co-working space to create and inspire a community. We’re running events there, we’ve got yoga classes, bike facilities, free beer. The next project is to transform a Cumbria pub into a creative business hub.

And get this from a recent HBR article “The Case for Investing More in People” by Bain & co partner Eric Garton, when an employee goes from satisfied to inspired, productivity doubles – and only one in eight employees are inspired!

Work should happen in amazing spaces and places. Bring on the disruptors.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR
NEWSLETTER

To stay updated with the latest workshops & speeches

Subscribe Now