A North East furniture manufacturer has thrown open the doors of its new high-tech conference and training suite to local businesses and entrepreneurs. The facilities, at Godfrey Syrett’s Tyneside head office, are being offered free to the local community.
Neil Tweddle, managing director of Godfrey Syrett, with staff and (far right) Godfrey Syrett board members Lord & Lady Wakeham, who officially opened the new conference facility.
The 68-year-old firm — which manufactures and distributes contract furniture to the education, public and commercial sectors — recently invested £100,000 to upgrade offices at its Killingworth, North Tyneside, base. The first floor has now been kitted out with flexible conference rooms with designer furniture and high specification multimedia and wi-fi equipment
Re-named Hub47, referencing the year the company was established in 1947, local firms and start-ups will be able to make use of a 28-seater conference and training suite, fully configureable to suit a variety of uses and layouts. The suite also has whiteboards and a full audio visual system with a 70-inch interactive touchscreen television.
In addition, the floor has a number of breakout spaces for flexible working and hot desking, a media working centre, kitchen and catering facilities, and a smaller 10-seater boardroom.
The new facility is part of the firm’s ongoing investment in the business which is targeting a £40m turnover by 2020. Godfrey Syrett’s managing director, Neil Tweddle, explained his company was pressing ahead with plans to expand into the North East commercial sector and saw the free business hub as an excellent way to establish good relationships with corporate occupiers.
“We have created a space which is very flexible and can accommodate all types of working,” the executive said. “Businesses will be able to book the space by the hour or by the day and use it for meetings, training sessions, team building — or even just to try out a different working environment.
“We are offering the Hub47 facility to North East businesses completely free of charge in a bid to establish connections within the commercial sector.
“Flexible working is on the rise,” added Tweddle, “with businesses increasingly adopting new workspace trends including open-plan office space, co-working spaces, hot desking, breakout spaces and third spaces. Hub47 provides an opportunity for firms to try out flexible working arrangements, giving them the freedom to work as they want to.”
Godfrey Syrett — which describes itself as a “true British manufacturer” — designs, manufactures and distributes a wide range of bespoke desking, seating, storage, tables and screens and offers a variety of allied services including space planning, re-upholstery, design consultation, and installation.
The firm, employing around 220 staff, has a head office and manufacturing base in Killingworth, as well as a distribution and logistics hub and second recently acquired manufacturing site, both in County Durham. Its latest site, at Belmont Industrial Estate near Durham City, is currently undergoing a six-figure refurbishment.
To book the facility contact Godfrey Syrett’s head office on 0191 268 1010.
