Co-working veteran to launch city centre site at Central Working Spring Gardens

Shared workspace provider Central Working is expanding into a new Manchester site, four years after launching at The Manchester Escalator.

Catering to the increasing demand for shared workspace from Manchester’s entrepreneurs, start-ups and large companies, the state-of-the-art hub will be home to businesses specialising in innovation and craftsmanship and will open on Monday, December 17.

Launched in partnership with Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, the new club will be the major occupier at 55 Spring Gardens, located just 10 minutes from Manchester Piccadilly.

Spread across four floors with space for 400 entrepreneurs and businesses, the new club is three times as large as Central Working’s original Deansgate location, launched in partnership with Barclays in 2014, which will now close and make way for the new, larger club.

Alongside rising local demand, the expansion was also sparked by an increase in the number of London-based businesses hiring Manchester coding and programming talent to work from ‘satellite’ offices.

Central Working members will have access to Central Working’s UK-wide network, which today includes 11 clubs across London, Manchester, Cambridge and the South East.

With a focus on forging valuable business connections, Central Working will support scaling companies by helping them forge new connections across its 3,500-strong network of businesses across the country.

The new club will include hot desking space and private offices, as well as a free-to-use events auditorium, meeting rooms, and extensive cyclist and changing facilities.

Grant Powell, Central Working chief executive, said: “Since we first launched in Manchester four years ago the city’s shared workspace industry has flourished and businesses today are spoilt for choice.

“The demand is still very high, not just from local companies but from further afield, too.

“With competition for tech talent raging, we’re seeing an increasing number of businesses in the South hiring Manchester programmers.

“The era of the centralised HQ is over, and businesses are, instead, launching a series of remote hubs in order to access new pools of talent.”

Christian Anderton, asset manager, real estate, Aviva Investors, said: “As one of the largest commercial real estate owners in Manchester we are delighted to be working in partnership with Central Working launching the new city centre club.

“Aviva Investors has a long-term commitment to developing and investing in schemes that enhance the city, including Eleven York Street, 201 Deansgate, 11 Portland Street, Atlas Business Park and Enterprise City at St John’s.

“55 Spring Gardens expands on this commitment and offers the city’s thriving business sector, and in particular Manchester’s technology talent, a state-of-the-art hub in which to innovate and grow.

“By providing an environment where people can live, work play and learn, the city offers scope for robust long-term rental growth.”