A North Devon business hub has reached capacity four months after its £2.1m extension opened.
Node Cowork, located at Roundswell Enterprise Park in Barnstaple, first opened its doors in October 2021 and offers hireable offices, coworking and business support to champion entrepreneurship in Barnstaple and support the local economy. Since opening, the hub has surpassed 50 members in its coworking space and seen its other offices reach capacity.
The extension to the building comprises large flexible office spaces for hire with a meeting room, kitchen and its own facilities, totalling 5,780 sq ft in size. The £2.1m extension to the building was funded through investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership and Devon County Council.
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Digital mail platform, Stannp.com has taken on a significant amount of space in Node Cowork. The business has seen its headcount grow by a quarter in the last two years to 53 members of staff with its customer base more than doubling.
Stannp.com operates across the 海角视频, US and Canada and now bases itself out of Node in Barnstaple. Sam Heaton, growth director at Stannp.com said: “As a tech-first company, we were looking for somewhere modern that had a real energy and a feel of innovation about it. Node exceeded our expectations - it’s so refreshing to be around other like-minded companies, not just socially but in the collaborative opportunities that come with the sharing of local knowledge and ideas.
“Despite working across the 海角视频 and the US, we’ve never wanted to leave North Devon - the access to talent here often gets overlooked, and I feel that the more spaces we have like the Enterprise Hub, the more opportunity we will have to get this talent together and do some incredible things.”
Node Cowork is operated by coworking and business support specialist Town Square Spaces Ltd (TownSq) on behalf of Devon County Council.
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Node’s general manager Julian Dymond said: “Our coworking space is growing and has a real buzz about it, our meeting rooms are becoming increasingly popular and our offices are oversubscribed. Though I would always encourage people looking for space to give us a call, as with over 40 offices and 30 coworking desks - we can always find a way to help.
“This really does show how when you create a modern space run for and by businesses, you can create something special. This project has helped showcase Barnstaple and North Devon as a thriving hub for business, and all the members, community and stakeholders should feel very proud to be involved - I know I am.”
Councillor Rufus Gilbert, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery and Skills, added: "It's a wonderful achievement for Node to be at capacity, just a matter of months after the opening of its extension. It speaks volumes for what Node is providing local businesses and justifies our investment in this enterprise centre. It's more than matching our ambitions to support the growth of local businesses and the North Devon economy."