The surge in subsidised and free start-up desk space has forced one of Manchester’s pioneering tech community companies to pull out of the city after just two years.
In what it describes as a “mutual decision” TechHub — which offers workspace for technology and software entrepreneurs — has closed its Manchester venue. The original management team has now launched a new venture in its place called SpaceportX.
Opened in the Northwest city as a TechHub franchise by Doug Ward, Shaun Gibson, Martin Bryant and Ben Hookway the UK’s only remaining centres will now be in Swansea and London. There are other TechHub work spaces in Germany, Romania, Latvia and India.
Blaming the “commercial pressures to sell desk space” in Manchester, Ward explained: “There is sufficient demand in the city for space aimed at tech start-ups, but the competition for tenants is strong.
“It’s important to factor in the current market climate which includes subsidised public desk spaces from publicly funded projects that in some cases are offering free or heavily subsidised desk space along with some property developers creating free space to drive people to their ventures,” he added.
Commenting on the closure, national TechHub co-founder Elizabeth Varley said: “The TechHub space in Manchester is currently closed, but we’re looking at the best ways we can continue to support the community there.”
Doug Ward explained that he and Shaun Gibson and Martin Bryant had been considering their SpaceportX project for almost a year. At least 60 of the former TechHub tenants have agreed to “transfer” to the new venture which is being managed by chief executive is Shaf Choudry.
“SpaceportX’s founding team is really focused on making Manchester one of Europe’s top five start-up destinations,” said Ward. “For us a co-working space is just one part of what’s needed in the eco-system. The decision was made that Manchester was not really geared up for selling desk space and our focus is developing a community.
“Co-working is one of the many different components needed to achieve a top five placing,” he added. “We are less concerned with renting desk space and more focused on developing the community.
“It is a significant problem that we rarely see some of the best thinkers and doers in the worldwide tech community coming to Manchester in a way that is meaningful for the whole tech community … But this requires us to focus as a team on developing the Manchester tech community as opposed to focusing on selling desk space.”
