Coworking

An entrepreneurial friend of mine recently moved to South Africa; to start a new life in the sun and a new business. He set up his base in an entrepreneurial hub – essentially, a building with offices to rent. The rental of office space might not be anything new but the distinguishing factor is the gathering of like-minded entrepreneurs; working and supporting each other.

We are fast moving away from the era of fixed offices: the internet has created a generation of digital nomads, who need nothing more than a laptop and mobile phone to run a business, and with a move towards flexible or part time work, consultancy and freelance work, a new type of workspace which caters for exactly this is emerging. A flexible and affordable workspace which is inspirational and offers networking opportunities for like-minded people is the answer.

They always say a recession cleans out the old and brings in the new. Now is as good a time as any gentleman, to out your thoughts and dreams into action – coworking is a valid option. Here are Ape to Gentleman’s picks from across the globe in key cities.

Europe

London –Dryland Business Members Club: a light-filled central lounge area, specially commissioned art and five star hotel service, Dryland offers a range of meeting spaces (including a cinema room) and a choice between working in the sociable lounge areas, the bespoke ‘pods’ or offices. There are three levels of membership, starting from £139 per month.

London –The Hospital Club: for the creative industry, full of advertising and marketing types, their philosophy is ‘Create, Connect, Collaborate’ and the Club is well known as a venue for some of London’s most chic and exclusive events such as exhibitions, installations and parties. Membership starts from £300 for under 30s and £500 for a London Membership.

Manchester –Techub: an international network of physical and online technology spaces allowing technology start-ups to work together to increase their chances of success through sharing and a shared vision. There are also offices in Manchester and Riga (Latvia). Membership for the London location starts at £275 per month.

Germany

Berlin – Launchco: a Berlin based web development company that also offers co-working space.

USA & Canada

New York –WeWork: they also have offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

San Francisco –Parisoma: co-working space heavily focused on the early stage start-up community, which in SF is all tech, tech, tech.

San Francisco –Mission Social: in the Mission District of SF, this is a co-working space for social enterprises specifically.

Vancouver –The Hive: co-working for all sorts of businesses and freelancers in Vancouver.

Rest of the World

Global –The Hub: this global network has affiliates around the globe.