“Our mission is to be a company that helps enrich our members’ work life and balance their real life,” said Will Ballantyne, Co-Founder of MyWorkSpot.

MyWorkSpot won the Workspace of the Year category at the 2024 Hustle Awards because of the way it goes above and beyond to help the startups and entrepreneurs that use its spaces.

The founding story

Johnston left his marketing role with CBRE in December 2016. After years of working in London and Hong Kong, paired with his interest in commercial property, he noticed a gap in the market for a flexible office and coworking hub in areas outside of London. After spending years commuting into London for his job, Johnston wanted to offer people an alternative by working closer to home in a place that wasn’t just a café or library.

Johnston convinced his brother-in-law, Ballantyne, to leave his tech job and the pair embarked on the MyWorkSpot journey and opened its doors in April 2017.

What makes MyWorkSpot different?

“One thing that sets us apart is the fact we are a family business. We are extremely approachable and make a point of having face to face conversations and getting to know each of our members so we can help them make valuable business connections within our community,” Ballantyne explained.

As a family-run business, community is at the heart of MyWorkSpot’s offering. Whilst its main offering is workspaces, the community it has built is invaluable. It aims to enrich members’ work lives by “creating inspiring, flexible, and attainable workspaces close to home and to grow a connected business community that supports each other to flourish and succeed,” commented Johnston.

He continued: “Our purpose is to provide:

• A professional but inspiring work environment you’ll want to work in, and bring your clients to
• Flexible membership options to suit the individual (and often changing) needs of your business
• Member community with regular social, networking, and knowledge events to help you meet like-minded others and grow your business.”

Why do founders and startups use the workspace?

“Being a startup can be daunting. You must cover every aspect of your business but also make sure you give the right impression to your clients. Often startups are forced to work from home which can be extremely isolating.

“At MyWorkspot we offer affordable and flexible membership packages in a modern high spec office to be able to support those businesses during the most important part of their journey. Our growing network of members has provided us with an amazing membership community who actively seek support amongst themselves to help grow their businesses,” explained Ballantyne.

Another great aspect of the workspace is that it offers trials, and even meeting rooms or offices per day, before you decide to commit, so guests can decide if coworking spaces are for them. Johnston mentioned: “Even if you don’t become a member, you can still hire a meeting room or an office by the day which will help give your business a professional look. Even if you wanted to trial us out, we offer a £30 per month hot desk trial to give you a flavour of how we can support your business.”

When asked what they believe sets MyWorkSpot apart in the coworking space market, they both echoed the same sentiment. “Our community is what sets us apart from others. We hold regular events for our members to get them connecting, some business led events and others fun, social events. No one is forced to come but we find food is always a good draw to get people's attention!”

Jonston said: “Great friendships have been made within our community and it’s a pleasure to see that happen within our buildings.”

What’s the best part of running a workspace?

For the pair, there are two factors that make running the workspaces rewarding. Ballantyne mentioned: “The first being the people we get to meet. Getting to know each growing business and individual is a privilege. We simply help them by providing them with the right environment to help their business flourish. It's also a great feeling when we see our members help each other's businesses out.”

Johnston added: “The second one would be working as a family. It's not for everyone but for us it really works. We are very open and honest with each other and are fortunate we have found a way of working together which works for us.”

This family-run business not only involves the brothers-in-law, but also Kellie who runs all the marketing is David’s wife and Will’s sister, and Will and Kellie’s mum often works part time as front-of-house of the workspaces. Johnston continued: “When you work with us, you become part of the family!”

What is next for MyWorkSpot?

The future is looking bright for MyWorkSpot, with potential expansion on the horizon. Ballantyne explained: “We have been offered some fantastic opportunities to expand into new UK towns and we’re working through those currently with hopefully some exciting new expansion news coming soon!

“Obviously each opportunity and location have to be right, and it's important for us to make sure we can successfully function operationally across a wider geographic area in a way that maintains our brand standards and service levels as we grow into new locations.”

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2024 issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe

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