Gareth has invested time and energy into every facet of the Welsh start-up scene. In 2011 he founded Welsh ICE, one of the UK’s largest communities of entrepreneurs which offers coworking and office space for over 200 innovative businesses. In 2017 he set up TownSq to develop his vision of bringing the insights of his work in Wales to entrepreneurs around the rest of the UK. He has been a member of Creative Cardiff’s Coworking Collective since it began in 2017 and is a great advocate for building communities and encouraging individuals.
He writes:
In the last decade the coworking revolution – seen the world over - has created communities of freelancers and creative industries professionals working side-by-side in Cardiff’s thriving coworking spaces.
The magic when you see members meet strangers, build relationships and create something bigger than they could alone is so powerful.
The sense of isolation experienced in a career as a freelancer can be a major reason to quit, and it’s why I’m so passionate about coworking. When we created our first space, I was only interested in surrounding myself with inspirational people. Now we’re doing this in communities across the UK. Across the Cardiff Capital Region, coworking spaces are connecting diverse networks of people to trade and learn together. They’re creating local wealth, keeping that wealth in their communities and creating opportunities for future generations.
While I was CEO at Welsh ICE in 2016, Sara Pepper and the team made contact to explain how Creative Cardiff wanted to further support the emerging collective - recognising the role that coworking spaces can play for the creative industries.
Creative Cardiff has created a valuable platform for a community of independent businesses to connect and share, recognising the old adage - a rising tide lifts all boats. The more we can do together to raise awareness and understanding of coworking, based on research rigour, the more sustainable our spaces become.
There is also a role for policymakers to support this growth, and create these essential pieces of public infrastructure for more communities. Coworking spaces still have to deal with high business rates and little protection from landlords. Creative Cardiff has given us the environment to discuss these challenges collectively, through their formation of the Coworking Collective, and raise them with the people who can make a difference. Connecting the spaces gave them strength. And this collective power, backed by the team’s work internationally, has raised the profile – and demonstrated the value – of coworking in our part of the world.
We see the shifting sands of 2020 as creating the perfect conditions for more coworking spaces to thrive for years to come. People are not keen to return to their office, backed by research from countless studies, or their commute, even when the crisis is over. This change of habit has one asterisk - people miss the camaraderie of the workplace. If coworking spaces in the Cardiff Capital Region, and beyond can become that local place for headspace, for productive days, and for a coffee with someone who knows what you’re going through, then they have a bright future. We believe we can take cars off the roads, benefiting the environment, and build local communities that we all know deliver so much value.
