Three Labour MPs Told Their Own Government to Stop Taxing Coworking Spaces
This week three Labour MPs wrote in LabourList that the government should stop taxing the spaces where small businesses are building Britain's future.
Josh Dean, Lauren Edwards and Perran Moon published the piece in their own party's publication.
They name sole traders, freelancers and small business owners working hard to grow with little margin for error, and they describe flexible workspaces as the places where those people can build something of their own, close to home and rooted in their communities.
Jane Sartin from the Flexible Space Association shared it on LinkedIn. Three weeks ago this newsletter suggested getting your MP through the door of your space. These three MPs are already writing the argument themselves.
Lucy McInally published a piece on The Inclusive Coworker about Airbnb adding coworking to its platform, with Oneder and Work.Life in a UK pilot.
The comments on her LinkedIn post are worth reading. David Kaiser from Oneder, one of the pilot participants, made the point that for transient workers community can be even more important, that someone travelling for work can work somewhere welcoming and feel more comfortable, and that being in a space for one day does not mean you cannot add to that community while you are there.
Claire Carpenter wondered whether Airbnb will spread the misleading use of the word coworking. Miro Miroslavov pointed out WeWork was available on Airbnb since 2018 and it did not move the needle.
Nobody in that thread thinks Airbnb entering coworking will kill independent spaces. The question is whether "coworking" on a booking platform comes to mean a desk and Wi-Fi, or something closer to what the people reading this actually do.
Helga Moreno and I recorded a podcast about her UK coworking market report for Spacebring. The report is built around four conclusions: eradicating booking friction, pricing transparency, the distinction between amenities and furniture that works, and how to niche down and get specific about who your space is for. Several of you reading this are featured in the data.
Blue Garage in Lewisham hosted algae yarn workshops, the same place where we ran the Unreasonable Connection event in February. It is the kind of thing that does not make headlines but is exactly what place-based innovation looks like up close: a space connecting local universities, manufacturers and people who would not otherwise be in the same room.
Coworking Canada is coming up. Ashley came over to London earlier this year and ran a session for the London Coworking Assembly, and now I am heading out there to do the same. I will finally get to meet so many people from North America that I have known about for years. Some I have met at other coworking events and some I have only ever known online.
Neuroplaces is running at Shoreditch Design Week in September. The UK's first B2B exhibition dedicated entirely to neuroinclusive and accessible design solutions for public and commercial spaces. Transport for London, Dulux, HOK and Grimshaw are backing it.
If you are thinking about how your space works for neurodivergent members and visitors, this is where to do that thinking, make sure you catch up with David from Nook and Kofi from Urban MBA there!
We are loving being 'ad free'
Back in May we decided to take London Coworking Assembly
and Coworking Values Podcast media 100% reader-funded.
It keeps the podcast ad free, funds the research, bankrolls the Unreasonable Connection live events, pays Urban MBA students to work on our projects, and sends 10% to European Coworking Assembly projects.
Read: - Ten years of coworking journalism. One pint a month.
Thanks to the most recent people to commit to supporting:
The London Coworking Assembly and the Coworking Values Podcast are projects of the European Coworking Assembly.
We share 10% of the funds to the ECA to support their work with projects like ResMove, which helps refugees land safely through coworking, and rural coworking initiatives that keep brain drain from emptying villages.
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