Co-working space opens in major city redevelopment

A new co-working space in the heart of a major city centre redevelopment has opened its doors.

Charities, entrepreneurs and long-standing businesses have moved into Patch, in Gloucester's £107m new Forum development.

Patch site director Laura Griffiths said the new facility provided space for people who "want to be part of something".

Gloucester City Council hopes the Forum, which opened later than originally planned, will make the area more vibrant by increasing footfall.

The pandemic brought an end to long daily commutes into the office for many workers. But with some feeling isolated working solely at home, there has since been a rise in the number of more localised co-working spaces.

"We've got this space where people can [still] go and make a cup of tea, but you can have a chat in the kitchen," Griffiths said.

"We're already seeing people collaborating and people just who want to be here and part of it."

The new space is now home to workers from a range of industries.

It has sound-proof phone boxes for meetings, a content creation studio for podcasters and video producers and a wellness space used by coaches and therapists.

Ellie Watkins, fundraising manager at the blood cancer charity Linc, said the organisation's expansion into Patch had helped create "the perfect community feel that we needed".

A seven-minute walk from the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, the charity now uses Patch to hold its patient groups, as well as connect with businesses.

"It's just a really lovely space - we feel we can have people pop in for a cup of tea whenever they needed to chat and that's just exactly what we needed," Watkins added.

Graphic designer James Symonds told BBC Radio Gloucestershire he has been using the co-working space to help launch a new venture with a freelance colleague.

Having worked from home since before the Covid-19 pandemic, he said: "The thing I've missed the most is people.

"To be here with such a vast selection of people from different industries, different sectors, some people working for themselves, some people in bigger companies, is just super inspiring and [it's] a great place to work.

"It's great to be around people again," he added.

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