Impact Hub Inverness opens second base in city centre amid growing demand for affordable office space
An Inverness business support organisation has opened a second base in the city centre in a bid to tackle growing demand for affordable office space.
Impact Hub Inverness, based in Castle Street, has opened its second premises in Academy Street.
It comprises four office units with shared common space with the aim of enabling networking and building a sense of an entrepreneurial community.
The first tenant in the new space is The Apprentice Store, a social enterprise, which provides IT services for small and medium sized businesses across the UK.
• New Highland hub opens for business in Inverness
• Last-ditch bid to revamp Inverness eyesore
Impact Hub Inverness, which supports the development and growth of social enterprises across the Highlands and Islands, was the first of its type in Scotland when it opened in 2017.
Clarrie Murdoch, business adviser and director, stressed co-working will continue in the existing Castle Street premises which provide hot desking, co-working and meeting rooms.
She said Impact Hub Inverness has a diverse community of freelancers, social enterprises and small to medium enterprises and is a place where innovation and collaboration come together.
“The decision to expand to a second premises came from demand driven by members and other local businesses who have struggled to find suitable, affordable office space in the centre of Inverness,” she said.
The first and flagship tenant of the new space. The Apprentice Store, has been a long-term member and user of the Castle Street premises and has been supported by the hub more recently through its consultancy services and help with strategic planning.
The Apprentice Store was able to access this support for free through the Scottish Government’s business support programme for social enterprises, Just Enterprise.
Founded in 2016, The Apprentice Store supports employment of young people and inclusivity on an apprenticeship basis, led by a number of mentors.
So far, it has trained and employed about 23 young people.
It recently received a working capital loan of £25,000 to help achieve its growth aspirations from Highland Opportunity (Investments) Limited (HOIL) - Highland Council’s business loan company.
HOIL has financially supported more than 1200 local start-up businesses, community organisations and growth projects since it was established in 1986.
David Massey, managing director of the Apprentice Store, said: “This funding will help our social purpose of creating sustainable employment to young people who have challenges of entering the workforce.”
Councillor Paul Oldham, chairman of HOIL, said: “The Apprentice Store's way of working, that encourages young people to work in IT while staying in the Highlands rather than feeling they have to move away, has got to be good news for the Highland economy.”
