‘The creation of collaborative, flexible workspaces will be central to Bristol’s success’

‘In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity’ is a quote misattributed to figures from Sun Tzu to Jean-Luc Picard. Whoever composed it had a point. Right now, we’re amid a crisis of unprecedented scale – and where the earth is scorched, green shoots appear.

Uber, Facebook, Disney, Airbnb, EA – all of these companies were born of recession. People start businesses when jobs are scarce. Space to grow is created by cost-cutting incumbents. That ‘big idea’ seems more achievable when you have nothing to lose.

While it’s no question the coronavirus pandemic has affected many businesses, there are positives to the situation. In the UK, new business formation is up 30 per cent year-on-year, as of December. We are today less ‘a nation of shopkeepers,’ and more a nation of entrepreneurs, eager to find our own way out of this mess.

But businesses also need support to grow. Once this crisis is over, we need to see action from the top to encourage it including through developing the infrastructure to support businesses across the UK – be it improved transport, enhanced digital connectivity or funding schemes.

Bristol is a hub for startups and entrepreneurs – photo by @JonCraig_Photos

Perhaps the most important is creating the best environment for businesses to succeed and I believe truly collaborative, flexible workspaces are central to this.

Flexible working has become somewhat a buzz word over the last year, as the nation set up desks at home. But as news headlines show, it looks set to stay and the post-pandemic working model is likely to be a flexible one.

In tandem, as businesses realise teams can work just as well away from a central office, many people have reassessed living arrangements and taken this as an opportunity to move across the UK. Businesses are setting up shop in cities elsewhere, including in Bristol, which is an attractive option for those looking to relocate, and this is boosting the local economy.

The future, however, is not a workforce based solely at their kitchen table – people thrive when working together face-to-face and there’s evidence to show this is when teams are most productive, employees are happiest, and businesses succeed.

The creation of high-quality, collaborative and flexible workspaces will be central to Bristol’s success as the future evolves. The city needs space for its creative minds to clash like a hadron collider and produce the world-beating businesses that will put the city on the map.

Bristol is already home to giants like Strava and Channel 4, but there is also a burgeoning community of startups and scale-ups that need support and the city and should be doing everything in its power to help these businesses flourish. This means getting creative; going beyond infrastructure investment and giving new firms a shot in the arm (alongside their vaccine!).

At Clockwise, we’re looking forward to the opening of our first space in Bristol and are working to renovate The Generator, one of Bristol’s most beautiful heritage buildings. It is a place where collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurialism exist in equal measure.

We want to be a part of Bristol’s growth and help it become a serious destination for enterprise by providing room for its businesses to flourish. We take pride in providing the resource and space these emerging companies need. With a bit of investment, this crisis will be turned into not just an opportunity, but a turning point in our collective history.

Alexandra Brunner argues the future is not all about home working – photo courtesy of Clockwise/Story Comms

Alex Brunner is the chief operating officer at Clockwise, which is opening its new workspace in Bristol this year

Main image courtesy of Clockwise

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