Caerphilly, Wales based companies TownSq and Crafty Legs will take over operations of Ffos Caerffili, a container-style market that cost over £5M to build as part of the Caerphilly 2035 redevelopment project in Wales. The new operators, led by TownSq CEO Gareth Jones and Crafty Legs owner Sarah Harris-Clint, have over a decade of experience running shared workspaces and markets.

Caerphilly County Borough Council activated a break clause with previous operator Brigadoon Ffos Ltd after just one year, switching from a £141K annual management fee model to a rental arrangement where operators keep tenant revenue directly. The council has allocated an additional £45K for winter weather protection and £40K for staffing support to improve the venue’s year-round viability.

Emilie Lashmar shared a thorough recap of GCUC UK’s last Manchester event, which she co-hosted with Georgia-Kaye Berry (from Colony).

The recap runs over the data shared by Jordan Saleh (CBRE), Ryan Jans (WeWork), and Tanya Grady (Allied London); what makes a workspace stand out by Nicola Jones (GPE), Lucy Pickavance (Phoenix Resourcing), Ana Bernardo (Work.Life), and Ben Newton (Patch); some indie-vs-big-pocket insights from Lisa Cations (JCR Advisors), Shannon Burke (managed.), Tom Almas (Wizu), Rebekah Lloyd-Beere (Landsec), and Gareth I. Jones (TownSq). Alongside workshops led by Samuel Warren (technologywithin), Manuel Conti (PONT), Claire Carpenter and George Tilbury; Lisa Quait ran the Women in Flex Luncheon. The event was then rounded out with sessions from Nicholas Drew (urbanbubble) and Sammy Dukes (Yardi) on operational intelligence and Pauline Roussel (Coworkies) and Jonathan O’Byrne on community.

Why did we highlight all the speakers above? To elevate the (many new) voices who took the stage in Manchester.

Bernie Mitchell chats with Gareth Jones from TownSq about the opportunity of building careers within the coworking industry. The discussion highlights how coworking spaces aren’t just flexible work environments but also platforms for professional development. Insights are shared on how various roles within coworking—from community managers to operations—offer unique career paths, emphasizing the industry’s potential for long-term growth and professional fulfillment.

This episode of the Taking Care of Business podcast is not only recorded live from TownSq‘s newest location, but Gareth Jones the founder of the coworking network joins hosts Ellie and Nigel to discuss the value of sharing business challenges and wins with like-minded professionals across different industries.

Gareth Jones and the TownSq team have launched their latest What If whitepaper, focussing on an often under-appreciated group that play a massive role in the UK economy: freelancers and the self-employed.

Within the report they share some fascinating data, like how 1.86M freelancers in the UK, 15% of freelancers are working mums, the average age is 49 years, and collectively freelancers contribute approximately £140B to the UK economy EVERY YEAR.