'No one had occupied the space for over 30 years': Hawke's Bay's co-working office revolution

Scott O'Donnell started City Space Hastings two years ago after working in a similar space in Canada. Photo / Paul Taylor

The cold-sweated dread of trying to get work done from home is enough to put anyone off starting a new business in Hawke's Bay. Blair Voorend looks into a solution.

Hawke's Bay has seven co-working spaces spread between Napier, Hastings and Havelock North, with more still on the way.

But is the system all it's really cracked out to be? Does it help with productivity and work ethic or does the system cause more problems than necessary?

Proponents of it say it's ideal for people who work by themselves, but fear the idea of trying to get work done at home, and for those who can't afford an appropriate office space.

Small kick-start businesses can use the spaces to build potential empires.

Stephen Diedericks has worked from a co-working space in Hastings with his accounting firm Tax Owl Limited for the last seven months.

He shifted his business and his family to Hawke's Bay.

He said that even though he has made the move to the Bay most of his clients are still based in Auckland, where he started, and finds that the move worked out well.

"Just by working in Hastings I gain an extra 10 hours a week from not having to sit in traffic to get to one side of Auckland to the other just to get to work.

"I can easily just fly to Auckland for the odd meeting and sometimes that is quicker."

For Diedericks it isn't the first time he has used a co-working space, having spent a little time working in one in Auckland and says the difference isn't really that much.

"The things that make them work is how simple they are for people to use because all we have to do is pay a certain amount to rent it and we get everything included and 24-hour access to work and don't have to wrong about simple things."

When asked if there were any downsides to having a work set up like this he said with some of the bigger sites they work on a system of "hot desking", where no one person has a set working space.

"When I was working in the larger space in Auckland it was much busier, which wasn't a big deal but they had hot desking which meant you were really playing hot potato trying to find a space to work."

Diedericks works at a co-working space called City Space Hastings which was opened two years ago by Scott O'Donnell.

He decided to bring the idea to Hastings after having fallen in love with the concept in Canada.

"I worked in one in Canada and loved how it all worked and how open it was yet still felt like a proper place to work and actually get work done," O'Donnell said.

O'Donnell then returned home to Hawke's Bay with his Canadian wife and decided to bring the idea to Hastings and open his space in the heart of the CBD, 113 Heretaunga St East.

Mike Walker, Wallace Development manager and Kirsty Pritchard, TechCollective co-ordinator inside the Havelock North space. Photo / Paul Taylor

"We saw this space in the CBD and when we first looked at the place it was a dark hole really, no one had occupied the space for over 30 years," he said.

"It had no colour and the windows were covered, it has taken a lot of work to get it to where it is now."

He said that having co-working spaces such as his helps people who are wanting to branch out and start a business, but don't have to take the risk of having to make any big investments to take that step.

"It takes the risk factor out of the equation for people, those that want to start a business or find a professional place to base themselves from instead of their home.

"It means they can pay on a month to month basis and have all the things such as internet, meeting rooms, work space and other things that would be much more expensive when having to rent an office space."

The space currently facilitates for 15 individuals and has amenities from meeting rooms, open working space, lounge, games room and kitchen.

Amanda Tollemache also uses the space as a part timer working as operations manager for Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand saying that it makes it easier to focus on work rather than trying to get through it from home.

"It helps provide a separate work space by sort of separating the two and you can easily come here and get focused on work rather than having to do it from home and get distracted half the time."

Although the co-working space is made up of separate businesses and individuals O'Donnell still tries to create a normal office atmosphere.

"We make sure we do things like a normal office would like Friday after work drinks and other different functions over the year as a group because for most of these guys that work here they would end up working most of the time by themselves.

"But also it allows them all to network with each other. Most of these businesses work in a similar field and over time we have had some that have collaborated and worked together."

While the region gets behind the co-working growth one company is helping to further expand the development not just in Hawke's Bay but on a national level.

TechCollective's first space on Bridge St in Ahuriri. Photo / File

TechCollective is a local development owned by Wallace Development Company.

The company first kicked off in Napier with its space on Bridge St and now accommodates some of the biggest companies based in the region with both NOW and Xero.

Since then they have opened a space in Havelock North, 23 Napier Rd, and have plans in place with new facilities in Hastings, 234 Heretaunga St W, and Napier's, 115 Emerson St, CBD's.

"We see the space and need for facilities like these in the region and a way to help local businesses to get started while also trying to attract new companies to the region," said Wallace Development manager Mike Walker.

"There have already been some businesses that start of as a one man team and have to take on more staff and move to their own space as they grow."

But the growth of TechCollective isn't just limited to Hawke's Bay as they have a site already opened in Auckland with two more coming in Hamilton and Tauranga.

"The need for them is seen all over the country and all members of the TechCollective have access to all sites so if someone from Napier had a meeting in Auckland they would be able to use the space and have it available to them," Walker said.

"It's just another way for the different businesses and regions to network and work together."