Building up: Creativity, collaboration and community at Vulcan Works
Darren Smith, Business Growth Manager at Vulcan Works, guides us through the spaces, events and initiatives on offer in the co-working space at the heart of Northampton.
Vulcan Works is a place for growth and a place to help build a community.
We recently started a 6-month incubator programme called Vulcan Creatives and our first cohort is made up of 10 creative start-up businesses.
We'll be working with them as a community over that period and bringing in experts in various areas delivering events and clinics for them.
The programme will cover support across every part of their business journey. We've also managed to secure UKSPF funding via West Northamptonshire Council which will provide these start-ups with a lift-off grant to spend on whatever they need to help get their business to the next level.
The creative businesses on the programme include three tech start-ups focusing on AI for small businesses, AR and VR content and a decentralised messaging app.
We've found that just getting everyone around a table for an hour has been really useful. For example, some of the group needed help with marketing and photography for their business, and two of the start-ups on the programme cover those areas, so it’s great to see them already collaborating.
Since I started at Vulcan Works, I've managed to make some really good connections, many of whom have offered to provide their expertise and training sessions on different topics. That includes HR, bookkeeping, legal firms and organisations offering grants such as Innovate UK. This cohort have big plans for their businesses and just need some support to make the most of those ideas.
We don't want this to be a building where you come to work at nine o'clock, speak to no one and leave at five.
That's not what we're trying to do. Our vision is for everyone in Vulcan Works to be working collaboratively as part of a community. To help make that happen, we've got lots of regular events for entrepreneurs, marketing professionals and more.
The Marketing Meet-Up is one of my favourites, because it's not a stale networking meeting - there's a different vibe to it and it's not salesy. It's laidback and it's really fun to attend.
Another of our events providers is Barclays Eagle Labs, whose Eco-System Manager, Owen Moran, is based out of here as well. They’re here for businesses that are looking to grow and they can offer help with funding, resources and support.
There are loads of events already happening and many more in the pipeline too.
The nice thing about an old building like this is that all of the offices are different.
There's one overlooking Guildhall Road which has floor-to-ceiling windows running the length of the room. There are some other really nice rooms facing south with views across the tops of all the buildings in Northampton’s Cultural Quarter and another on the corner of Vulcan Works with a little courtyard garden.
A lot of managed office spaces don't have that character - they just have a series of identical boxes with a window and you may as well be working from home. It's not just the offices though. We've also got these really nice open hot-desking spaces for ad-hoc working - and the last Friday of every month is free.
We've got a bit of space to be flexible and meet the different needs of the town. So when Royal and Derngate had their recent issues in the theatre, we were able to give some space to their performers for auditions and rehearsals. That's part of our commitment to Northampton and the surrounding area.
Looking outside of the space in the building we have, we're exploring how we fit into the wider cultural quarter we’re a part of here.
A great example of that is the Female Founders Summit - organised by one of our customers, Lucienne Shakir. Lucienne has delivered this elsewhere for a number of years, but was keen to have it in Northampton. We are really excited that she will be using Vulcan Works for this wonderful event alongside other local venues.
Lucienne has got some really top speakers for the event and when people have big ambitions like that, it's great to be able to help turn them into reality, right here in Northampton.
Want to know more?
Book your free ticket for our next event at Vulcan Works: Emotion Analytics and Custom AI on Friday 22 March.
Find out more about Vulcan Works.
Read our story on Total Control Pro’s move into the Vulcan Works.