A new co-working space aimed at helping local entrepreneurs escape the daily commute has opened on Umina Beach’s main strip.
Work Collective is a new architecturally designed space that was built during the COVID-19 lockdown, to help solve the very problems that lockdown would cause for workers.
Married duo Grace and Reid Bowe opened the Collective after moving to the Peninsula two years ago and becoming frustrated with the daily commute to their Sydney office jobs.
After speaking to other parents struggling with the commute and juggling childcare, the idea for the two-month-old business was conceived.
Grace Bowe said the real benefit of building the space during COVID-19 was they could solve the issues lockdown was causing, but in real time.
“It may sound crazy opening a business in a pandemic, but I think that sometimes you have to see where the world is shifting to,” Bowe said.
“We thought let’s jump on this and having worked in offices in the past, we knew what people liked in the space.
“And because we did the fit out during (the pandemic), we got to incorporate that – for example when we got internet installed, our metric was to be able to have everyone in the space be able to be on a Zoom call at the same time.”
With 40 ergonomic sit/stand workstations, three private offices, meeting rooms, soundproof phone and podcasting booths, and breakout areas, the 380sq m space offers clients a range of options to improve their productivity and connect with other local entrepreneurs.
Bowe said the space has seen a common trend for people using the space; corporate professionals who used to do the daily commute, and local business owners who may have been working from their kitchen table in the past.
“There is something in that idea of collaboration and connection – we have seen that through users sending referrals to each other,” Bowe said.
“(Clients) want to work for themselves, but not by themselves.
“I think there’s something special about having a local business – we have a young family and it was really important to us to be putting down the roots in the community that we are in.”
The space has 24/7 access for professionals wanting to start as early as they like, or finish late into the night.
For potential clients and users, Work Collective now offers a free trial day and tours with one-day, 10-day and monthly passes available to purchase.
Maisy Rae