Following the great success of last year, we were keen to get involved with the Inspired Spaces North initiative, which is now in its second year. Aimed at the creative and digital sectors, the feature encourages businesses and individuals who work in truly inspiring spaces, to showcase them by sending their photos and videos of the schemes into media outlet Prolific North, in the hope of becoming one of the most inspiring workspaces in the North.
GVA has offices in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle and our offices teams are starting to see changes in working practices which are having an impact on how people operate and interact with each other in their workspaces. As such, we were delighted to align ourselves as a partner with the feature which is tapping into one of the fastest growing sectors, especially in the North and in my home city of Liverpool, with the success of creative hubs like the Baltic Triangle and the emergence of new schemes such as Ten Streets, KQ Liverpool and the former Garden Festival site.
More traditional office schemes like Exchange Station, St Paul’s Square, and Princes Dock still have important roles to play in Liverpool’s office scape but are very much juxtaposed with the likes of Tempest and Cotton Buildings, which are proving popular with the digital and creative sector. But it’s not just small office suites that are attracting creative and digital businesses these days. In last year’s Inspired Spaces North, 48% of the shortlisted companies had more than 50 employees, so is this sector the one to watch? Will they consider taking larger Grade A suites in the future?
Large-scale place making schemes are also changing how we structure our work days. We appear to be spending more time at work but, as Inspired Spaces North highlights, workplaces are becoming more attractive and fun to be in, almost an extension of where we like to spend our leisure time.
Inspired Spaces North saw a huge variety of offices in last year’s feature, ranging from the high end, very latest in tech MediaCity, to converted horse boxes in fields. We are proud to be a partner for this year’s feature and look forward to seeing and judging the entries in July... Watch this space.
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