Te Manu Atatū opens new shared business space in Whanganui

Ngaire Luke, Katarina Wade, Tuhi Smith, Te Miringa Mihaka and Hayden Potaka in the new Te Manu Atatū shared working space, Te Tuinga. Photo / Bevan Conley

Small businesses in Whanganui are now able to come together and collaborate in Te Manu Atatū, The Māori Business Network's new collective working space.

The space, named Te Tuinga, has 16 individual desk spaces available, a meeting room for small to medium groups and a shared space for hosting events and functions which is available outside of business hours. All the facilities are available to hire.

Te Manu Atatū board chairman Hayden Potaka said the idea of creating the space came from wanting to make a place where Māori businesses could come together and collaborate on projects after the Covid-19 lockdown had many working from home.

He said Te Manu Atatū put out a survey amongst their network and some of the comments they received said people wanted to move away from working from home all the time.

"Some of our Māori businesses were looking for spaces to go after the Covid lockdown that was affordable and that could provide a space where they could have a shared desk but also that they could collaborate on a lot of things," he said.

Te Manu Atatū was looking to collaborate with more local businesses in the future and the creation of the space would be a big part of that, Potaka said.

"If we, as smaller businesses, are able to collaborate a lot more, we're able to get better gains for the business in general."

Potaka said the opportunity to make the space a reality came when the previous tenants, Confluence, moved out and the Backhouse Trust worked with Te Manu Atatū to help them move in.

The space has been open since August 12 and Potaka expected it to be most of interest to small businesses and individuals looking for a different place to work.

"It's the opportunity for those businesses to come here, share in the laughter and try and keep it light and happy."

He said so far the meeting rooms had attracted the most interest, but the network had expected interest in the space to start out slowly.

"People have been talking to us saying they need a space like this but time will tell whether it's going to work out," he said.

Māori business growth co-ordinator Katarina Wade said there was no space like it in Whanganui for hosting businesses and she hoped people would appreciate the versatility of the building, both as a workspace and a conference room.

"It's really suitable for those that do work from home and don't have somewhere to meet other than a café with their client ... it offers that professional space to meet in and then the flexibility of hiring a desk without the commitment of a lease and all the other expenses that come with it.

"I think once the momentum picks up and more people become aware it will become really busy."

Te Tuinga is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday at 12-14 Drews Ave. Bookings can be made via the Te Manu Atatū website.