Space to grow
Spike Design
The brief
Back in 2007 I was asked by the then Director of Spike Island, Lucy Byatt, to work with her on an exciting new project – to establish an incubator space for start-up design businesses. Lucy had the 7,000 sq ft space and funding from the RDA and my brief was to make it happen!
What happened
I developed the offer, the brand, the benefits, the pricing, recruited the brilliant Emma Blackburn to the position of Manager, promoted the new space, set up in house training and mentoring support, met with designers, secured tenants and over the course of nine months we transformed an empty space into a thriving new exciting place for designers.
Results
We secured tenants, provided space for all kinds of design and media start-ups and many wonderful things have happened over the years as result of that space being made available. Spike Design has gone through a number of changes over the following years. Since opening it has provided affordable space, a sense of community and support for hundreds of creative businesses – many of whom have moved on as their businesses have become successful.