Co-working in the spirit of cooperation

Venture Centre and Basestation co-founder Pascale Hyboud Peron in the open plan workspace at Basestation.

Heads are down, fingers are tapping on the keyboard, small groups are conversing and the invigorating aroma of coffee wafts in from the front door.

Welcome to Tauranga's co-working space, Basestation.

Established in November 2014 by Venture Centre, Basestation was set up by Pascale Hyboud Peron, Jo Allum, Steven Vincent and Michael Doerner to promote the growth of entrepreneurship in the city. Key to the realisation of this vision was a place for it to grow from.

The co-working space started with the Venture Centre team, two anchor companies and a handful of individual users, and has grown to include 34 companies and more than 90 residents.

The facilities are spread over three floors and include a mix of open-plan and office settings, flexible meeting spaces, kitchens complete with tea and coffee-making facilities and a well-stocked fruit bowl.

There's also an outdoor courtyard (currently under renovation) and a cafe, Folk Expresso Bar.

The basement carpark was recently replaced with a new events space, which is already being well-used by the community.

Working at Basestation gives residents access to ultra-fast broadband and IT support, as well as plenty of people to bounce ideas off. It also caters for out-of-town visitors, or locals who want to get out of their own office for a change of scenery.

Basestation residents include several small technology companies, freelancers and remote workers who work for companies outside of Tauranga, and start-up companies that may only require one or two desks.

'We feel validated in that there is a need for this type of place, where you can just plug in and get on,” says Pascale.

'You pay a flat licence to occupy for the duration you need and everything is provided for you to get on with your business or project, including the apples and the decaf when you've had enough coffee!”

Basestation also provides showers and lockers for its residents - many of whom walk or cycle to work.

'This enables people who are conscious of the value of working in the CBD to limit the impact of their choices. No one is asking us ‘where can I park my car?'” says Pascale.

But co-working is about more than just sharing a space.

'Co-working is also about people connecting with each other. Many of our residents have worked together on shared projects,” says Pascale.

'For example, Venture Centre offers several youth entrepreneurship programmes and a lot of our co-workers were keen to be mentors. This is a good example of the kind of interaction we have.”

May 22 is National Co-working Day, where co-working spaces such as Basestation will open their doors to the public to offer a glimpse of how things work and an experience of co-working first-hand.

The day of celebration is part of Techweek 2018, a nationwide festival of innovation, with several of the Tauranga events to be held at Basestation.

'Co-working is a very tangible, visible way to support entrepreneurship and within our building we often hold events like this that bring together various groups in the community,” says Pascale.

There are many different flavours to co-working, says Pascale, with some focusing on specific types of business activity. Basestation was established in the technology space, but has people from a variety of industries using it.

'The exciting thing is that Basestation suits all kinds of people. Some of our long-term residents don't work in technology companies but they are all using technology to move on their businesses or within their roles.”

Basestation will be open for free co-working on Tuesday, May 22 from 9am-5pm at 148 Durham Street, Tauranga, but Pascale says those who are interested in giving it a go are welcome any time.

'Just bring your laptop and get going. Every day is co-working day at Basestation.”

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1 comment

Work.

Posted on 19-05-2018 14:12 | By socantor01

Best of luck folks. Here's hoping that you pay your employees what they are worth, which of course must be above the so-called living wage. Not much evidence of that going on in Tauranga.


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