Christmas lunch

One of the advantages of working for yourself is that you are not committed to the office party. This is not a Scrooge-like response to festive fun, more an acknowledgement that our workmates are not always the people we want to spend an evening with as well as all day.

But, the annual Spaceworks Christmas lunch is not an event to dread. Today we went to Bistrot Pierre and had a nice lunch, a few bottles of wine and a very enjoyable time. The fact that none of us had to be there was great and the mix of our different businessses and interests made conversations varied and stumulating. Subjects ranged from: Natural history museums in Utah, This is England '88, cycling in Denmark, why architects take so long to get qualified and pants that abosrb the smell of farts ... so, mostly clean fun.

We wish you all a great Christmas and a happy/successful 2012!

The Space works Team

Spadework - no Spaceworks!

We were telling someone about Spaceworks the other day and they said it all sounded great, but what do they all do? Spell check often comes up with spadework when it is mis-typed, which sounds satisfyingly like real work.

Sometimes a lot of modern businesses can seem like they are doing things that are less tangible than the good old days, but when you get to understand what they really do it all makes more sense. The nice thing about sharing is that you do get to find out about areas you had no idea about. Even better you get sent free pen samples saying Spaceworks! Now that is exciting.

If you want to come and borrow the pen or find out what we all do then contact us.

Come and try out Spaceworks Sheffield

With the new ice age we have entered and the festive season it is easy to end up feeling a bit stir crazy if you work from home ... even if duvet has been the must have office accessory recently!

Come and join us at Spaceworks and get all the advantages of having an office to go to without the hassles. You can still work from home too, but when you need to get out, but still work, you've got somewhere friendly and fun to come to.

For the new year we are offering tester days, when you can come and work for the day and see how it feels. If you like it we can sort out a bespoke package just for you.

Call / email or send a carrier pigeon to find out more. We look forward to hearing from you.

Brief brief on briefs

As 2010 draws to an end small businesses tend to think about a few things. One is the impending tax return deadline (head back under duvet those working at home today!), another is the prospects for the business in the new year.

The recession and public sector cuts are big issues for Sheffield based businesses. We are not sure that the full impact of the cuts are obvious to everyone yet ... there is some complicated talk in the media about front-loading of the reductions in public agency spending. While all is not clear, there is obviously a need for a new government to get the pain over with as quickly as possible and this could mean a disproportionate cut for 2011-12.

Some of us get work by responding to tenders released by public sector bodies and the competition has increased through 2010 and the quality needed to win must have gone up too. Interestingly the quality of the briefs does not seem to have gone up much though? At Spaceworks we want to nurture an environment that is not jsut desk space, but a place that helps you build your business. In the new year we will be holding some events one of them could be a 'brief brief on briefs'?

Does that appeal?

Have you got some top tips?

An event would give info out, but getting together would be where the value would be in such an event. The lessons apply across sectors too, private, public and charitable. You might even find a new bidding partner ...

Anyway, there is the Spaceworks Dim Sum Christmas Dinner to do first ... anything to put off thinking about tax returns!

Cabin fever ... mulled wine

Most Spaceworks people have a work at home option too. It may be a bedroom, the dining table or a 'shed' in the garden. This is one of our sheds, which is pretending it is a Alpine chalet at the moment.

The pros are that is snuggly warm, 18 seconds from the back door. The con is that after a week of snowy limited travel you can go a bit crazy. I have more of an understanding of cabin fever now than I ever did before!

At Spaceworks we do part time deals because we know that mixing working from home with having a shared space works for us. Its great to catch up in person to hear about fellow sharees snow adventures over the weekend; sledging, igloos, bike rides and even skiing.

Sneaking a quick pint, or mulled wine perhaps is another added bonus too to having sharing mates.

Egg and chips ...

Having Cafe Euro right next door to Sapceworks is a bit dangerous. Full intentions of a baked potato with salad crumbled at the counter as one of their signature egg and chips came past as we queued.

You can get to Spaceworks through Cafe Euro or through the adjoining grey gate (once you've got the code) ... a bacon sarnie can be appealing too, especially with their pre-10am deal.

Get in the zone at Spaceworks

There are a few different places you can sit down to work at Spaceworks. There is the big big table in the centre of the room where you pick a spot and then crack on ... perhaps offering to make coffee/tea before you settle down.

You could sit on one of the armchairs by the window, perhaps for more reflective work.

You could go on a sofa to read that document you've been meaning to read for a while and check the small print.

Or you could go into the zone. Behind our curvy steel divider is a quieter area you can go if you must get that thing written and you must not be distracted. Its cosy and if you are in there then people know you are in the zone, or trying to be.

There is the phone box too if you have a few phone calls too ...

If you want to find out more and come and try a new kind of shared workspace email us: info@spaceworkssheffield.co.uk or call Sophy on 07967144230

thanks for coming

Thanks to everyone who came to the party last night. We really enjoyed it and plan to repeat it in the coming months.

Tidying up was not too bad, we all mucked in and did it and resisted the temptation to refresh with leftover cask ale and crisps.

Although work talk was only a small part of the evening, there does appear to be some support for the idea of providing a next step for bedroom entrepeneurs who want to enjoy some of the benefits of sharing a workspace without the high costs of a whole office lease ... although sharing your workspace if you work in a bedroom does sound like it might offer some opportunities too.

Off to eat some small pieces of cake from the coffee morning ... cup of tea anyone?