A spare treatment room, an empty shop or a workshop that sits unused for half the week could be exactly what another local business needs to get started. By Nick Staunton
That’s the idea behind DirectSpace, a new Sussex-based online marketplace that connects property owners directly with people looking for business premises.
More Than Traditional Offices
The platform lists a wide range of spaces: shops, offices and industrial units, as well as studios, treatment rooms, rural buildings and rooms inside businesses that are already operating. A room above a shop, a studio available a few days a week or a spare office could all give a new venture its first foothold.
Spaces can be listed to let or for sale.
Free to List
To encourage owners to sign up, DirectSpace is offering 12 months of free listing, with no commission and no automatic paid subscription afterwards. Enquiries go straight to the owner or the person managing the listing, with no agent in between.
For a therapist setting up a practice, a maker looking for a workshop or a small company searching for its first office, finding the right premises can be one of the biggest hurdles. For the owner, a successful match turns empty space into a source of income.
Brighton Local
Brighton and Hove has one of the most entrepreneurial small business scenes in the country, from independent food producers, as the council’s new campaign to promote Sussex food and drink shows, to the bakeries enjoying a boost from Albion’s success. But affordable premises are often hard to find. Platforms that open up underused space could help more local start-ups get off the ground, and help the city keep its creative edge as it plans the future of its visitor economy.
DirectSpace is focusing its early outreach on Sussex but welcomes listings from across the UK. It is particularly keen to hear from owners of empty commercial premises and from businesses with spare rooms, studios or workshops.
Owners can list their space, and businesses can browse what’s available, at www.directspace.co.uk.
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