It is common to see many of London’s eateries filled with hungry patrons fighting for a table during the evening rush. But during the day, the restaurants often sit idle. Seeing an opportunity here, Van Sharma, a graduate from Northeastern University hatched an idea. The idea was to turn underused venues into work spaces. In alliance with his fellow Northeastern graduate Zach Mammadov, they launched WorkSpott. It is a startup that transforms underused restaurants and bars across the city into work spaces for those who don’t need traditional offices to get things done. They persuaded two restaurants and bars to transform their unused space into drop-in work spaces and expect to add a third location in East London soon. Such a model would boost their clientele during non-peak hours.
Sharma and Mammadov launched WorkSpott at Drake and Morgan in King’s Cross, the flagship property of a collection of cocktail bars and restaurants across London. Now, during the day, its Green Room Bar doubles as a workspace for freelance and remote workers. The users of WorkSpott pay a subscription-based fee to work at either of the startup’s two locations, which guarantee users the convenience of a home office and discounts on food, drinks, and services. Opportunities and resources for networking and personal development are also provided. It is a shared economy business, including companies like Airbnb and Uber, which make money by using existing resources. Sharma and Mammadov hope to use social media and word of mouth to increase their audience and expand business to other neighborhoods within London and across Europe.
“What we are saying is instead of creating more office space, it’s much better to use already underutilized spaces to create a working environment,” says Mammadov.
Shahjadi Jemim Rahman