Tenants enjoyed a charity bacon sandwich and cake sale in the atrium this morning.

Thank you to all who contributed, we raised £122 which will be donated to the Hartlepool branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

More people than ever are successfully running their businesses from home. This could be a temporary arrangement whilst the business gets going or it could be because the business doesn’t physically need an office space to operate. In either case it’s worth considering whether a virtual office address could be a worthwhile addition…

1. Your business will sound more credible

If your home address is printed on your business cards, on your website and any promotional literature it can make your business seem like a ‘1 man band’ operating from your dining room (which it may well be!) but a business address such as ‘The Old Brewery’  can disguise this and give the impression of a more established business.            

2. Prestigious location

It’s only natural that when we’d like to find out more about a company we google it. With a virtual office at The Old Brewery, your potential customers would find that you’re based in the village of Castle Eden – a prestigious North East address.

3. Services as and when you need them

You can add on services such as an email for post notification or telephone call answering service whenever the need arises – maybe when you’re particularly busy or are away on business or holiday or rather than having to take on another member of staff to look after enquiries or admin.

4. Impressive facilities

If you need to arrange to meet a client, you can hire one of the on-site meeting rooms at The Old Brewery (at your business address, so it won’t confuse your clients – and will really impress them!). Choose from boardroom style layout with leather chairs, a classroom set up or the informal Garden Room.

Virtual tenants have complimentary use of the Atrium, where you can make use of the wifi and order a lunch from the onsite Bistro if you need to get out of the house for a while (or your internet goes down!)

5. ‘Try before you buy’

A virtual office could be a trial step to taking a permanent office. With a virtual office all you need to do is call in and collect any post (or you can have it forwarded to another address). You can upgrade your business address to the use of the ‘BrewHub’ if you need to use a desk or a computer once a month, once a week or a couple of days a week before you commit to an office full time. You’re not tied into a contract so you’re free to cancel if things don’t work out or your circumstances change.

6. Appear closer to your potential customers

Taking a virtual office could be a good way of having a ‘second branch’ if you have or would like to have customers in the County Durham area. Consumers like to do business with a local business so may actually choose your company due to your address. Plus the facilities at The Old Brewery give you a good base to work from for when you’re in the area.

Virtual office address packages start from £15 per month,take a look at the packages available or contact us for more information.

Wear Inns which is based at The Old Brewery is celebrating after being named as one of the fastest growing  companies in the country.

It owns a growing estate of 26 pubs including 7 in Yorkshire and has just reported an annual turnover of £13.4m – a figure which puts it at 68th in the UK’s fastest growing private companies.

The list, compiled in conjunction with DueDil, the source of private-company information in the UK and Ireland, ranks active, UK-registered companies according to their four-year average compound annual growth rate, with a minimum annual turnover of between £10m-£200m.

Many congrats to MD John Weir and his staff at Castle Eden.

We are delighted to welcome the latest BrewHub member, Ryan Carter, to The Old Brewery! We asked Ryan to tell us a little about his business and what making the move into the BrewHub means to him...

"Around the time I found out I was going to be a father I decided the time was right to leave my job as a designer at a large, UK based entertainment group - I’m not sure why it seemed like a good idea to do so at the time, it just felt right. I figured I’d use the added pressure to my advantage, ensuring I made the switch from a safe salary to stepping out on my own and finding my own clients. Over the last 6 months it’s been a really humbling journey. Instead of looking for clients I’ve actually had every client come straight to me! One client leads to another and it just shows that word of mouth is such a powerful marketing tool - combine that with the ethic to deliver great work and you’ve got a winning formula.

Over the past half a year I’ve really pushed my skill set more than I ever did in the 5 years since graduating. I suppose when you’re investing in your self it seems a little more worthwhile to add these extra strings to your bow. I’ve sharpened existing skills in design for print and front-end web design and have also added a really solid foundation of other programming languages such as PHP and JavaScript. Combining these with the things I already know makes me an ideal freelance designer to hire. It’s like having a small agency at your fingertips.

After the baby was born, I’d managed 4 months of broken focus working on projects snippets at a time. I loved being able to just spend time with my daughter whenever I wanted at such an important stage of her life. I’m still hoping to maintain this relationship but I require a dedicated space to be able to go and focus on continuing to deliver for my clients. I decided to move out of the home office and into a ‘real’ working environment. One with people who don’t speak gibberish…well, not all the time anyway. 

I chose to take up residence at The Old Brewery because it’s got character, it’s not just another office block full of corridors and windowless offices. It’s an inspiring building with a lot of character. The shared office space which is part of the BrewHub offers a no-hassle solution to owning an office without actually owning it. If in 3 months I decide it’s not for me, I can just leave my hot-desk behind and go back home, though I feel that this is actually going to act as the first rung on the ladder in growing my business and expanding to a full office at the Brewery. It’s location is perfect for both north and south commutes to clients and also offers some really plush meeting rooms and conference spaces. 

I’m looking forward to starting in the shared space and seeing what the future brings."

Ryan Carter - Freelance Designer

www.ryantcarter.co.uk 

We are currently recruiting for a part-time receptionist for the Old Brewery Business Centre. 

Successful candidates will be friendly, professional, reliable and flexible.

Main duties include:

• Greeting visitors, guests and tenants

• Operating the telephone switchboard

• Co-ordinating meeting room bookings

• Open up / Lock up as and when required

• Serving refreshments as required

• Daily postage handling

• Cash handling 

Normal working hours will be 19 hours per week with following shift pattern:

Monday 8:30am - 5pm

Tuesday 8:30am-5pm

Wednesday 8:30am - 12:30pm

Normal business centre opening hours are 8:30am-5pm Monday to Friday but you may be expected to work occasional evening overtime, sickness and holiday cover as required.

Meets National Minimum Wage.

Closing date for applications is Friday 17th April

Please apply by sending your CV  to hannahfirth@da-group.co.uk

As Valentine's Day approaches we'd like to introduce you to one of our current tenants, the UK Lingerie Award Finalist, Tallulah Love!

British designer, Michelle Taylor graduated from the University of Northumbria with a degree in Fashion Marketing and was technically trained at M& S supplier, Claremont. Moving on to design for Westbridge and high street favourites Topshop/Miss Selfridge she then spent five years at Playboy eventually becoming design director. In 2009 she left to set up Tallulah Love.

Tallulah Love uses only fabrics that feel beautiful against the skin, chooses colours to flatter and adds subtle finishing touches, such as original hand-drawn embroidered designs, to give each piece its own unique identity. Michelle is also passionate about the fit; a woman wearing Tallulah Love looks every bit as good with her clothes on.

“Sometimes we want to express our feminine, playful side; at others, we want to be very much in charge; but however we feel, beautiful underwear is a reminder not to take life too seriously,” says Michelle.

The marketing team have enhanced the essence of Tallulah Love’s romantic and quirky styling and delivered a highly sophisticated brand overhaul. Tallulah Love has done very well in the global press, having had endorsements from Tatler Ireland, NYC based CR fashion book (with a Tom Ford shoot), Hello Magazine, GQ and Grazia to name just a few.

You can find out more or purchase the range from

 www.tallulahlove.com.