
How are coworking operators keeping member communities engaged?
Keeping a coworking community engaged during a pandemic and working from home???
Kate Tattersfield, journalist & copywriter caught up with Suzanne Murdock, Our Co-Founder and Director part way through the pandemic to understand how The Hub as a coworking operator was keeping its member communities engaged during this time. Here’s an article that Kate wrote on behalf of Nexudus Coworking Software about The Hub Newry.Â
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Located off the A1/M1 between Belfast and Dublin is Newry (otherwise known as the âGateway to the Northâ). As well as being incredibly beautiful and steeped in historyâhuman settlement in the city dates back to 4,000BCâthe city is also known for its forward-thinking mentality and is home to a thriving and diverse business community.
Many of the cityâs entrepreneurs call The Hub Newry home.
Founded by Suzanne Murdock and her partner, Patrick, in 2012, The Hub is a coworking network with three spaces across the city. Think hot desking, private offices, meeting rooms, social areas, eco-friendliness and community spirit.
The first of the operatorâs locations opened in the middle of a recession, and now Suzanne faces new challenges. We caught up with Suzanne to find out more about her coworking journey and what The Hub Newry is doing to help its members navigate Covid-19.
Setting up in the midst of a recession
âIt all began when we moved to Northern Ireland about 11 years ago with our son Oliver who was 18 months,â Suzanne begins. âIâd been self-employed in finance head hunting and worked with Patrick. We didnât really have a support network of people and were operating out of a portacabin while trying to build our house. It became a bit unmanageable after a while!â
Suzanne goes on to explain that sheâd seen the coworking concept in action throughout Europe and thought it might work in Newry. The pair purchased the first floor of a former bar and ârenovated it into a large open plan office for the two of usâ. Soon afterwards, they decided to âroll out the coworkingâ aspect which was unheard of in Newry at the time. In fact, there was only one other coworking space in the whole of Northern Ireland.
âAs people started to fill the space it became more of a community than a workspace,â Suzanne continues. Today, her business has evolved to encompass two more spaces and a cafe, yet theyâve still managed to hang onto that all-important community feel.
Many of the founding members of St. Colmanâs, The Hubâs first location, began as freelancers and sole traders. After using it as a growth network, these companies outgrew the space and moved to Abbey Yard Studios which contains larger private offices. âMost of the people who joined initially are still with us. Weâve lost one or two along the way but given the fact most of them set up in a recession like we did, theyâve done really well. Everyone has had to evolve and change.â
Navigating the worldâs current challenges
The Hub Newry has spent the last few months helping its members to weather the storm of the pandemic, despite its own cash flow being adversely impacted. âItâs all about looking after our members and seeing what we can do to help,â says Suzanne.
âWe have lost several of our more established member business teams as well as a number of freelancers due to Covid-19 and meeting room bookings have obviously reduced. However, we are now starting to see a growing number of remote worker enquiries, predominantly from professionals based between Dublin and Belfast who cannot access their employerâs office, as well as from people who are unable to work productively from home because of family or household members being furloughed. We anticipate an increase in the number of shorter, more flexible term memberships due to the constantly changing landscape of the workplace that weâre all currently trying to navigate and so putting plans in place for this has been key. Flexing the model is what coworking is all about!â
Reconfiguring and adapting spaces for the short-term
In the absence of meeting room enquiries, Suzanne decided to flip the biggest meeting space into a desk overflow area to accommodate social distancing. âWeâve had so many enquiries for desk space for Zoom calls,â says Suzanne. âWeâve adapted the space knowing that people are going to be noisier going forward and itâs just the way itâs going to be.â
âWeâve taken chairs away and put the sneeze screens up. Weâve also been asking people what they need us to put in place for them to feel comfortable coming back.â
Personally, Suzanne admits to missing âthat natural human interactionâ.
âThe whole reason I set up the coworking space was for the community aspect to be there and to nurture teams and encourage everyone to learn from each other. For the time being, Iâm thinking about how we can transition these elements online.â
The Hub Newry recently launched an online series called Ask the Expert whereby Suzanne interviews members and wider connections and really âdrills down into their niche to get to know them as an individual.â
You can find out more about how The Hub Newry is supporting its members through its eHandbook, website blog and videos.Â
 Video snapshot of The Hub Newry’s Coworking Space
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