Small business managed workspace: A follow‐up study of former tenants ‐ where are they now?

Summary

Managed workspaces are a form of property intended to offer a protective incubator environment in which new and small businesses can develop to the point where they are strong enough to move out to generally larger commercial premises. There are now some 500 managed workspace centres in the UK but little research has been undertaken to assess their effectiveness. This paper presents the first case study which seeks to trace and interview the former tenants of a managed workspace centre and to find out how many of them have survived and prospered. Their survival rate is shown to be similar to that of the small business sector as a whole. Although most of those interviewed had positive views of their workspace experience, it clearly offered no special immunity from the subsequent risks of business failure.

Keywords:

• managed workspace
• small firms
• employment