Hastings City Business Association relocates to Hastings Hive

Lucinda Perry, left, Anita Alder and Emma Sey at the association's new offices at Hastings Hive. Photo / Supplied

The Hastings City Business Association has relocated to the co-working and serviced office space, Hastings Hive.

Business Association general manager Anita Alder said the move will optimise the services that they provide to over 500 businesses in the CBD.

"For us, Hastings Hive provides the association a multi-purpose facility where we run our day to day operations in a superbly fitted out complex as well as host meetings and use the facilities for the wide range of support services we run, such as seminars and workshops.

"It's a real win-win and we are already seeing a vast improvement in how we operate," Alder said.

The association moved in just before the nationwide lockdown was enforced at midnight on March 25 with all its employees joining some of the country and working from home.

The team is set to return to its new office when the lockdown is complete.

Hastings Hive was opened in November 2019 by Rob and Jenny Gill in part of the former Hastings Farmers retail store on the corner of Queen Street and Market Street. The shared office space, branded an i-space, occupies 1138m2 with a range of co-working desks and serviced offices suitable for one to 20 people.

"We have invested significantly in a modern professional fit-out that we expect will cater for up to 50 businesses.

"There's been a strong global movement for businesses wanting to share high spec'd offices with cost advantages over traditional leased offices in the order of 30-40 per cent per annum, without being locked in by long fixed term leases.

"The current global pandemic shows the importance of retaining flexibility for any size of organisation," Gill said.

So far, Hastings Hive has welcomed six small businesses, specialising in a variety of fields such as IT, security, health, fire engineering and tax accounting. The businesses are based in the co-working area, which has 45 dedicated workstations called i-desks.

"They're all enjoying the increasingly vibrant environment that is created in shared spaces and the wider business and social networks, and having the city's Business Association is a great addition to the Hive community.

"We are absolutely thrilled and look forward to supporting their in-bound programmes. And although many of our customers have moved in from other parts of Hawke's Bay, quite a few have relocated to the region quite recently.

"We do see a huge opportunity in attracting new businesses to the Hawke's Bay. Hastings is a service centre city and is regarded as the engine room of the region's economy. Hawke's Bay is a highly desirable place to live, work and play and we've had encouraging interest already from businesses in larger metropolitan cities."