Welsh coworking company marks half a decade of growth with continued expansion

Coworking and small business support experts Town Square Spaces Ltd (TownSq) has continued its year-on-year growth with a series of new spaces, business support contracts and innovative projects as it sets itself for further expansion.

In the past twelve months, the business has almost doubled its seven-figure turnover, doubled its headcount by employing an additional 20 members of staff, won a number of contracts in Neath, Devon, Herefordshire and Kent and opened its first spaces in Cardiff and London.

The B-Corp business also launched its Cowork Local Project across Swansea, Denbighshire and the Vale Of Glamorgan. The UK Community Renewal Funded Project supports local venues by opening their unused spaces for coworking, and supports local people and businesses with a workspace closer to home that keeps people working and spending locally.

So far, the project has seen 65 spaces across its three regions with more venues signing up every week. Users of these spaces also gain TownSq membership, which, along with its seven UK Hubs, now stands at more than 700 members.

The business also has contracts to run support programmes across its regions including Accelerators, Startup Clubs and Business Expos and through these they have supported over 2,500 enterprises.

With a changing landscape, the leadership team feel TownSq’s offering will become even more necessary as the post-Covid and Brexit challenges combine with an expected recession and cost of living crisis.

Founder and COO Mandy Weston reflected on a strong year and the challenges and opportunities to come: “We’ve had another year of growth, which has been a reflection of the desire for flexible working options, the need for small business support and the hard work of our team.

“We’ve opened our capital spaces in Cardiff and London, and are set to open another five this year, with three more in London, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Hereford. We’ll also be continuing to grow our Cowork Local Project, and working with Cardiff University and several other major partners in the new £50M Media Cymru project.

“The cost of living crisis and a looming recession will undoubtedly cause a lot of disruption, but we find that it’s during these tough times that some of the most innovative solutions are created.

“My co-founder Gareth and I have been growing coworking spaces and supporting small businesses for over a decade, and we feel the services we offer are going to be more crucial now than ever.

“We’ve a proven track record, which is why so many regions are choosing us to lead their projects and modern working ventures. We’re always looking for more partners, members and leaders to join us on this journey and embrace being a business for good.

“Either through choice or necessity, more people will be seeking ways to take charge of their incomes through starting their own ventures and coworking is a perfect environment to foster startups. The stage is set for a new generation of founders and innovators – and we are ready to support them.”