Coworker:      Nuala Devlin

Company:      Brack Tours

Nuala is one of The Hub Newry’s longest resident coworkers.  Having been here from our early days, she’s seen many changes over the years, in our business as well as her own.  We caught up with Nuala for a chat about the business and what her coworking experience here at The Hub has been like.

Nuala, tell us a bit about you and your company

I’m Nuala of Brack Tours. We specialise in inbound tours of Ireland, mainly targeting the American market, which accounts for 95% of our sales.  We’re also branching into the Scottish market, combining Northern Irish and Scottish tours as well.

What brought you to our coworking hub?

At the beginning, I just needed to get out of the house. As I have small kids, it was lonely working from home. I was nervous when I first entered The Hub, but within a matter of days I felt like part of the community. If I have good days or bad days there is always someone to chat to, all whilst getting your work done.  We call it ‘The Hub family’ now, probably because we have been here 6 years, longer than any other resident members.  We always try and make a point of meeting the new members that move in to ensure they feel comfortable, and to let them know that if they have any questions we can give them the answers.

What have been the main benefits of coworking for you?

The main benefit of coworking is the networking opportunities it presents.  We meet new people and find out what everyone else does and if we don’t have someone in The Hub to help us with a query, no doubt about it, we will be referred on to someone else who can help us.  There is a strong sense of family and being part of a team – a team that we grew with.  We watched this business grow and simultaneously ours also. Personally, I definitely couldn’t return to working at home.  Having the natural networking that goes on in The Hub has helped me personally, but also Brack Tours as well.

What do you think of the facilities here at The Hub Newry?

Since joining in 2012, it’s been fantastic.  Patrick and Suzanne provided us with this office space, and we know that if we were to grow in size down the line, they would be able to accommodate us further.  We first started out in the open plan hot-desking area, we then moved to the private office facility, and as our team grew even further from 4 to 6, we expanded into a larger private office facility with The Hub.

What type of people do you think benefit most from the facilities at The Hub Newry?

Everybody! Of course small businesses, but also individuals. Once you have access to Wi-Fi, your laptop, peace and quiet and tea or coffee when you need it, you really can work at anything.  I know people who have been on holidays visiting Northern Ireland, and individuals who were moving house and needed a quiet, professional environment to work in so it made perfect sense for them to avail of the services The Hub provides.  We’ve also had college students who need a quiet space to carry out work for couple of hours per week etc.  The Hub really is open to everyone.

What do you think of Newry as a location for business?

For me, it’s very important that I can get to meetings in Dublin, Belfast, Galway and other locations in Ireland.  Newry is only an hour and 15 minutes from Dublin and 50 minutes from Belfast, so it’s perfect for me as it allows me to attend meetings and also make it back in time to be in the office in the afternoon and vice versa.  We work closely with Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland and our meetings can be scattered throughout Ireland, so being based in Newry is perfect for us to get to where we need to be in a relatively short space of time.

What 3 words would you use to describe The Hub Newry?

Family – The Hub has treated us like family from the second we arrived.

Forward – to signify how they help to take all of the businesses forward as they grow and move onto the next level with The Hub.

Fabulous facilities – the facilities are great, and no matter what we’ve asked for, it has always been granted. But rarely do we even have to ask, as Suzanne and the team know us so well and everything is thought of before we even have to ask!

Thanks to Nuala for sharing her coworking experiences with us.

If you’d like to get in touch with Nuala or find out more about Brack Tours, her contact details are below.

Nuala Devlin, Managing Director

Tel: 028 3044 5060

Email: nuala@bracktours.com

Web:  www.bracktours.com