Scotland wakes up to coworking office space

The amount of coworking offices in Scotland has significantly increased, driven by demand from entrepreneurs and micro businesses in its major cities, according to a report by Desk Union, the community focused coworking organisation.

According to Desk Union’s research, the number of coworking offices in Scotland looks set to grow rapidly, after significant investment from its government offering financial incentives and support, has provided a fertile environment for start-up businesses in Scotland.

In addition to government funded startup hubs and entrepreneurial incubators, there has also been enablement from world-leading organisations and start-up accelerator schemes, looking to back Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Currently there are 50 coworking spaces in Scotland, mainly based in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with the movement now branching out to Scottish towns, such Rosyth and Falkirk - set to open the doors of a new business hub next month.

Desk Union notes Edinburgh City Council’s financial backing of coworking projects, as it focuses on developing high-growth technology businesses in the capital, such as the Silicon Walk, and the Creative Exchange, set to open its doors soon.

The introduction of Entrepreneurial Spark 18 months ago, has proved to be highly successful, and has seen the organisation add three business incubator services across Scotland.

Coworking spaces, business incubators, accelerators, mentoring services and additional funding have been widely received as a positive step, with start-up businesses and entrepreneurs taking up space across the country.

The typical high-growth nature of technology start-up businesses is an appealing concept for governments looking for new ways to stimulate its economy. It will be interesting to see how coworking, TMT businesses and their growth play a part in 2013, and beyond. Search Office Space will certainly be watching to see how it unfolds.