Accelerate Places, a collaborative co-working space for start-ups, SMEs and scale-up businesses, will officially open its doors tomorrow.
Based in Manchester, it will mark the occasion with an event aimed at the city’s flourishing scale-up scene.
Starting at 6pm, June 1, at the newly refurbished two-storey space on Princess Street, key business leaders from across the region will come together to discuss how scaling a business up can present challenges, sharing insights on how to overcome these to ensure business success.
A panel of entrepreneurs, mentors and business founders, namely Lou Cordwell, CEO, Magnetic North, Michael Hall, head of growth, DueCourse, and Mark Ridley, group chief technology officer, Blenheim Chalcot, will lead the debate.
Mark Sanders, CEO of Accelerate Places, will host.
Lisa Murgatroyd, community manager at Accelerate Places, said: “Start-ups get all the press but ask many entrepreneurs and business founders and they’ll tell you that it’s scaling up that can bring the most challenges.
“The nature of the changing business landscape means that focusing on growth also means focusing on the structure of your organisation, hiring the right people, sourcing the right funding, establishing culture values and continually shaping your business model.
“Our panel will discuss what separates a struggling start-up and a scaling business and offer tips for establishing effective growth in a fast-moving business and political landscape, shedding light on how to overcome hurdles during times of growth, sharing some of their own experiences, insights and advice.
“Manchester has a thriving start-up and scale-up business community and we’re hoping to attract those companies who are in their second or third year of operation, with anything upwards of four employees and ambitious growth plans.
“The government is also supporting these businesses with the appointment of a ‘scale ups champion’ to help drive a modern industrial strategy.”
Accelerate Places provides 180 desk spaces over two floors, with a members only private café, communal area, tech-enabled meeting rooms and breakout areas.
It also offers business mentoring support for SMEs to learn and grow, with experts from Blenheim Chalcot available to offer advice on accounting, tax, legal, finance, HR and will host networking and learning events to bring the co-working community together.
Due Course, myClever Agency, Nuuk Digital, Tech North, Meltwater and UpRising have already signed occupancy deals in the space.