Kells team Spot gap in the remote workspace market

New website is to help and support businesses by giving them an opportunity to list their available workspace for free

Looking for a workspace for a day or two at a time? A new website set up by a Meath couple may well be able to help people find what they need as the nature of work and how it is conducted continues to evolve and change as the Covid-19 pandemic rumbles on.

Caroline and Conor Price, who are based in Kells have started up a website - WorkSpot.ie - which they say is the first of it's kind in this country. "It's the Airbnb of desk space," is how Caroline describes it.

The aim of the website is to help and support businesses in local communities across Ireland by giving them an opportunity to list their available workspace for free on the WorkSpot.ie website. Once the space becomes available remote workers in the area who may wish to get a break from working at home can book a workspace on a flexible pay-as-you-go basis.

Already the indications are that there is a big demand for these short-term workplaces - and they can be utilised as soon as Covid restriction allow.

"It's basically an on-line booking platform, primarily aimed at rural town and villages as opposed to say Dublin city where there is a lot of shared offices and co-working," Caroline Price explained to the Meath Chronicle.

"There could be workspace available in a local office, say an architects office or an engineers office or in part of a restaurant say that wouldn't be used during the day. It's an idea that works quite well in America, and also the UK, but it's not here at the moment."

While many people are content to work full-time from home others may like the option of working away from the home every now and again yet not to have to move too far outside their own community.

Among the locations that have expressed a strong interest in the new idea are two well-known hotels in the Meath area. "WorkSpot.ie have recently partnered with the Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, the Headfort Arms in Kells and The View, Malahide, Co Dublin who all have dedicated WorkSpot desks available from €10 per day," she adds.

The idea is that workspace available in a wide variety of locations such as restaurants, cafes, offices and hotels can be used by the owners to generate an income by outlining the space they have available for free on WorkSpot.ie, and considerable sums can be generated. "A desk that is utilised full-time for a year can make an average of $4,200 a year," explains Caroline who is originally from Skryne while her husband is from the Wilkinstown - Castletown area.

While Caroline has experience in sales and marketing, Conor is a civic engineer and they decided to pool their talents to kick start the new website.

Caroline points out that there is an obligation on those making the workspace available to have the necessary services and infrastructure in place. Ideally the workspace will be in a quiet location and have basics such Wi-Fi connection, sockets, toilet facilities and a comfortable chair. "Some places can charge whatever they want but they have to be competitive too if they want to have their workspace booked."

She adds she and her husband, were taken by the possibilities offered by creating and making available the website such as WorkSpot.ie.