East Belfast’s first coworking space, The Foundry, has been officially launched with all ten private offices let ahead of the official opening.
The space offers 24 desks which are available to rent on an hourly, daily, part time or full time basis. The Foundry provides free wifi, kitchen facilities and a private meeting room for hire.
Mike Hannigan of Coworkinn, Dublin was guest speaker at the official opening, attended by entrepreneurs and business leaders from across Belfast.
Speaking of his success in building Coworkinn, Mike said: “The Foundry has such a great vibe and it reminds me of the start of my own journey at Coworkinn. We started six years ago and have had 230 people pass through our coworking space. 20% of our tenants are remote employees of larger companies and the remaining 80% are self-employed.
“My motivation for setting up Coworkinn was due to finding home working distracting and at times lonely. I remember thinking that it would be great if there was a place, similar to the local library, that people could go to work, instead of commuting to an office where they found it difficult to be productive.
Johnny McGinley, Dept for Communities; Christine Watson, Training Matchmaker; Rita McCaughey, Causeway Enterprises and Ed Curley, NI Housing Executive.
“A conservative estimate on the combined turnover of our clients at Coworkinn would be around €15 and €30 million over the past 7 years. On an annual basis members probably generate about €1.5 million.
“I’ve no doubt with the accessible, open and collaborative community of entrepreneurs at The Foundry that businesses will be created and grow to make a positive impact on the Northern Ireland economy.”
Jonathan McAlpin, Chief Executive of East Belfast Enterprise said: “We’ve worked hard to be the forerunner of providing unique coworking space in Belfast and I’m thrilled that the dream of opening our Foundry collaborative space has been realised.”
As well as the 24 hot desks and 10 furnished offices, The Foundry provides free wifi, kitchen facilities, a private meeting room and training room for hire.
Situated in East Belfast, on the edge of the city centre and accessible to public transport links close by, interested entrepreneurs can ‘try before you buy’ by availing of a free trial at The Foundry for a day. Contact Stevie at East Belfast Enterprise on tel 028 9094 2010 or [email protected] to arrange a visit.
Check out: www.thefoundrybelfast.com, www.facebook.com/foundrybelfast