How Contingent Works Educated Their Local Council on Coworking – From Invisible to Indispensable ... скачать в хорошем качестве

How Contingent Works Educated Their Local Council on Coworking – From Invisible to Indispensable ...

"It wasn't because they weren't listening – it was because they weren't educated. Once that penny drops, they're super helpful."Ewan Buck Tired of running yourself into the ground? Then stop running alone. On February 24th, the London Coworking Assembly presents Unreasonable Connection Goes Live!—a one-day working session for the people running London’s most vital neighbourhood spaces and the public sector allies working to help them thrive. It’s a day to share the load, find real solutions, and build a new playbook, together. Ewan Buck has been working on Contingent Works since 2018. The space opened on Bromley High Street in late 2020, weeks before England’s second lockdown. For the first four years, the council didn’t get it. Not because they were hostile. Because they’d never seen what a coworking space actually does. They work in dull corporate offices. They don’t know what it looks like when freelancers and micro-businesses find each other, share leads, and build something together. So Ewan did what Gerald from a Brixton coworking assembly told him worked: he educated them. Slowly. Persistently. For four years. He dragged councillors into the space. He introduced them to members. He let them see faces light up over laptop screens on a Friday afternoon when central London offices sat empty. Then the personnel changed. Someone new arrived in the department and asked the obvious question: “Oh, you’ve got a coworking space on the high street? That’s really handy.” Once the penny dropped, they were super helpful. Now Contingent Works runs an accelerator programme with Goldsmiths University. Ten scaling companies get monthly mentoring. Regular networking events bring local businesses together. The MP is scheduled to visit in February. But here’s the part that stopped Bernie mid-conversation: A member, Jack, wrote to the MP. Without telling Ewan. Without being asked. “I don’t know why you’re not here. I don’t know why you don’t support this place. It’s absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t work without this place.” The parliamentary office responded. That’s what four years of patient, connected, ecosystem-minded work actually produces. Not just a profitable space. A space that people fight for. Timeline Highlights [01:34] “I like to be known as a connector, someone who connects people together.” [02:20] Bromley’s identity: London borough since ‘68, but “the post office couldn’t be bothered to change all the codes.” [04:23] Why “Contingent Works”: “We wanted to align ourselves with disruptors that embrace the new.” [05:49] The toilet wall photo and Simon Barker’s response: “I’ve made it from the gutter to the toilet.” [07:04] How Ewan met his co-founder, Stephen, at the school gates of David Bowie’s old primary school. “We sat in all the chairs, hoping it might be in the same chair.” [09:56] Discovering Soho Radio: “Someone must have thought this is a great idea. I’m just going to do it.” [11:34] On London changing: “Cities always change... Maybe people take fewer risks. I don’t know.” [14:45] Gerald’s lesson from Brixton: “It wasn’t because they weren’t listening – it was because they weren’t educated.” [14:55] “Once that penny drops, they’re super helpful.” [16:11] What the council partnership produced: “An accelerator hub with Goldsmith University... a really tight cohort of 10 companies that are all scaling.” [17:33] “That took four years. More importantly, it took a change of leadership in the council.” [18:15] “You need a backer. You need an advocate in the council to help you.” [18:54] The method: “You have to drag them, kicking and screaming, into your space.” [19:30] GLA team visiting on a Friday: “Oh, this is where all the people from London work.” [22:24] Jack writes to the MP: “I don’t know why you’re not here... He did that off his own back.” [25:30] High street reality: “2019 was the worst retail year ever... they’re going ‘Oh, we’re nearly at 2019 levels’ – forgetting that it was terrible” [26:54] The infrastructure case: “Every single bus going through Bromley stops opposite our building.” [29:45] What success means: “It only really works if everything around you is successful as well.” [30:45] “You can’t just live in isolation.” Identity as Connector When Bernie asks what Ewan wants to be known for, he doesn’t say “successful business owner” or “coworking operator.” He says: “A connector. Someone who connects people together.” This isn’t branding. It’s how he moves through the world. He works with the council “quite a lot” because it lets him meet other groups of people. He introduces people “in a positive way.” His value isn’t the desks – it’s the relationships. Deep Local Roots Ewan didn’t parachute into Bromley as a developer. He lives there. His kids go to school there. He met his co-founder Stephen at the school gates, where they discovered David Bowie had also been a pupil. “We sat in all the chairs, hopin...