Coworking and Mental Health, plus Nottingham Co-Working Spaces
Chris Gilbert
There’s a great article here on the benefits of co-working, and how it can transform what can be a lonely and difficult struggle for some people working at home, into an energising and supporting environment. I’ve found it’s becoming more and more important to me too, now in my 10th year of working at home for the majority of the time.
The co-working spaces I’ve used in Nottingham are:
Antenna This is my regular haunt, which I typically use once or twice a week. The £30 a year membership fee is really a bargain, though you don’t get the free tea/coffee that some more office like environments provide. Cafes suit me for working in, but the noise and bad wifi doesn’t. Antenna solves both of those problems. It’s really a cafe bar with fast wifi (100Mb) and a nice working atmosphere. I feel at home here, and like to go to the Tech Nottingham events that are on the first Monday of the month too. The food at Antenna is excellent. I often treat myself to a breakfast sandwich, which are delicious. They also have virtual tenancy options for the use of an additional member’s lounge, with desks available from £49+VAT per month. There are well equipped meeting rooms available for hire. Cobden Place I had a co-working rental here for a few months, but I didn’t use it as much as I thought I would. It’s got a nice community, and is a real co-working office, but it’s a bit more bare bones than Antenna, and I had a few network issues a couple of times when I was in that put me off. The location is excellent, in the Hockley are, in a little alleyway opposite Wired Cafe. They also provide studios, a meeting room, and resident desks for various costs. The basic (once per week) package starts at £35. Minor Oak This is a new place in the refurbished Sneinton Market units which opened in September. At first glance it looks promising - they have a quiet area, and phone booths for quiet meetings, which might be ideal for me. It’s also a short hop from Antenna. Since it does daily/half-day pricing, there’s a low barrier of entry to trying it out too.