The Hive, North Somerset’s business development centre for start-up and growing businesses, has welcomed four new tenants. The latest additions mean that 65 per cent of available office space is now let at the centre, which offers office space, facilities and on-site business support.
Virtual tenancies are also on the increase with 25 local businesses now having a presence at The Hive or using the centre as their base address.
The latest tenants at The Hive include award-winning Independent Financial Advisers Invest Southwest, law firm membership group Symphony Legal, website designers Weider Web and Craegmoor which has services across England, Wales and Scotland providing innovative, creative support enabling people with mental health problems, autism and learning disabilities to live the lives they want and have the opportunities they deserve.
Karen Weider from Weider Web, which launched in 2007 to offer website design and digital marketing and also specialises in conversion optimisation, chose The Hive as the ideal space to hold client meetings and workshops.
“I originally planned to be Bristol-based but didn’t see anything that I thought was value for money. ” explains Karen. “The Hive, however, has fantastic parking, is bright and modern and reasonably priced and I now work within a very supportive environment. With plans to recruit this year, I am envisaging moving to one of the larger offices in due course.”
Matt Duncan of Invest Southwest offers high quality Independent financial advice for life and serves a wealth of clients in North Somerset and Bristol, as well as across the South West and London. With a need to expand his administration team Matt has moved from smaller premises in North Worle.
“The Hive is convenient location-wise and I also like the aesthetic, professionalism and ambiance of the building.” says Matt. “Everyone has been ultra-friendly.”
Symphony Legal has been formed by six business professionals, who have been delivering business advice and support to law firms for the past 20 years. The team, which works with clients across England and Wales, needed offices to accommodate its core team plus its specialist consultants.
“We chose the Hive for a number of reasons – primarily location but also the light airy feel of the offices and the fact that everything was set up ready to go.” says Operations Director Louise Gash.
“Having been here for some weeks now The Hive has exceeded our expectations. The support that the onsite team have given us is over and above what we had expected and having the meeting rooms available for hire has been another huge bonus for us.
“We originally thought that we would maybe move here for the short term before finding a more permanent base. Our experience so far, however, has led us to realise that we probably won’t need to, or want to, move. It’s useful to know that as we expand we have the option of staying here but moving into a larger space.”
The Hive’s Business Development manager Rob Hicks says that is rewarding to see the building filling up. “When we opened The Hive we were delivering a new concept in office space, meeting space and business advice to North Somerset. We are delighted to see that our belief in this being a much-needed facility for local businesses has been justified.
“It is a pleasure to welcome our newest tenants on board and to get to know them and their businesses. Our aim is to make sure they enjoy their new workspace and have everything they need – from training and networking on the doorstep to business advice at their fingertips and comfortable and enjoyable offices to a vibrant business community – in place, to help their enterprises flourish.”
The Hive, which is owned and managed by North Somerset Enterprise Agency – a not for profit organisation with social objectives which invests profits from the centre into local business development – is now putting plans in place to move to Phase II of its development. It has the option to build an additional wing, which will link to the existing building and create another 40 offices when required, giving even more businesses the opportunity to take space in a thriving business community.
