Flexi-office space provider, Hubflow is to create 12 Belfast-based jobs over the next year, as its founders expect a 'next-generation hybrid working' boom is set to happen post-pandemic.
As lockdown restrictions ease, businesses in Northern Ireland and beyond are looking very closely at their office working practices, with many considering a much more flexible model to help reduce overheads and increase efficiency by enabling staff to cut their daily commute time.
Hubflow, the brainchild of IT consultant Declan Mellan and leading property developer and businessman Gary McCausland, opened its doors at the end of 2020.
Operating currently from two premises on Belfast’s Dublin Road and Adelaide Street, Hubflow offers collaborative co-working environments to companies, freelancers and entrepreneurs - who can book anything from a single desk for one day to a dedicated full-time office suite for up to eight staff.
Amenities include superfast Wi-Fi, full business support and access to key office facilities with complimentary tea, coffee and filtered water.
Fully equipped meeting rooms are also available, as well as virtual office solutions which include a registered business address, call handling and messaging, mail collection and forwarding services.
The Hubflow team said it has experienced a high demand for its services since launching, with Managing Director Declan Mellan claiming that ‘hybrid working’ is the future for the modern-day business.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in one of the greatest shifts in history in terms of how we go about work,” he said.
“The concept of working from home (WFH) is not a new one - it's been around for decades - and our idea for Hubflow was spawned long before anyone had ever heard of Covid.
"We simply wanted to create an inspiring and collaborative working environment that gave entrepreneurs, freelancers and SME's access to business grade facilities without the overheads generally associated with running a permanent office.
“What Covid has done though is catapult the WFH model five or ten years into the future, which has seen demand for our services grow way beyond our initial hopes and targets,” Declan added.
Hubflow was due to open its doors to business in May 2020 but the launch was put back as a result of Covid-19.
Since then, the company has implemented a socially distanced desk policy, the installation of hand sanitisers and air purification systems, temperature checks at the door, and regular deep cleaning with fogging to ensure the facility is fully sanitised.
Over 50 businesses in Northern Ireland are already making use of Hubflow's services and prices start from as little as £5.50 per day, based on Hubflow’s ‘Flexible Desk’ package.
Dedicated full-time desks start from £150 per month with private office suites for up to eight people starting from £195 per workstation – including Hubflow’s full business support package.
The team said one of its "most popular packages" is ‘Hubflow Lite’ which offers people working from home a desk for two days per week, with full benefits and business support, for £75 per month.
Hubflow members are also entitled to 20% discounts on all meeting room hire and at the on-site Koffee Hub.
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Hubflow CEO Gary McCausland said that plans are already under way for expansion into other territories across the UK and Ireland and that the company is hoping to confirm new hubs in London and Dublin in the not-too-distant future.
"We have big plans to roll out dozens of Hubflow facilities in key strategic locations across England, Scotland, Wales and the island of Ireland," added CEO, Gary McCausland.
"We hope to be in a position to announce our first London and Dublin hubs later this year.
“The future of how people work and how offices are used really has changed forever and we want Hubflow to be leading the way at the forefront of this new workplace revolution,” he concluded.
For more information on Hubflow, or to book a free ‘no obligation’ tour of its facilities, with complimentary barista coffee from Koffee Hub, interested parties can go to www.hubflow.co.uk, call 033 0088 7358 or send an email enquiry to info@hubflow.co.uk.
Source: Hubflow press release
