Launch Pad for a great new facility

New hot-desking facilities which will provide local start-ups and self-employed people with flexible workspace have been unveiled by Croydon Business Venture.

Launch Pad, a bright new room providing affordable facilities, was shown to guests at Croydon Business Venture’s first Business Breakfast networking meeting, which is set to become a regular date on the calendar.

The facilities are located at the organisation’s state-of-the-art Weatherill House Business Centre, near to Wandle Park tram stop, and comes complete with superfast broadband, charging points for laptops and mobile phones and access to meeting rooms.

Chairman David Robinson told assembled guests: “Croydon Business Venture has been around for over 30 years and our ethos is very simple – we help individuals to start their own business, to hopefully grow and thrive and be substantial businesses in the future. We provide office space, we’ve got training courses, we offer mentoring and advice; we’re here to help.

“One of the great things for any business person is that they must recognise change and that’s exactly what we’ve done with Launch Pad. We think it is a new exciting initiative to cater for new exciting businesses on the move

“We are doing is to provide a hotdesking facility where an individual may only want an office for a day here or a day there, or right at the other extreme want the facility of a desk five days a week, six days a week or whatever.

“It is about providing flexibility. You can rent it for a short period of time or all the time.”

Renting space for four days a month is £75 per month – or £18.75 a day – while using the facility on a full-time basis for a year would work out at around £5 per day.

The first Business Breakfast session also featured a talk from Rose Farrar of local jobs board LoveCroydonJobs who unveiled plans to launch the Be the Change project, a mentoring scheme designed to help improve the life chances of young people.

Mr Robinson said: “What they are looking to do is really inspirational and the passion in Rose’s voice said it all in terms of what they are trying to achieve. We intend these

Business Breakfasts to be informative but, just as importantly, to provide a networking opportunity and we are looking for ideas on other topics we could cover.”

For details of future networking meetings call 0203 747 4747 or visit www.cbvltd.co.uk