Workspace pioneer Central Working has thrown open the doors of its new club in Reading, helping tech businesses in the region reap the benefits of a new hub for innovation.
Located at the state-of-the-art R+ building next to the town’s railway station, Central Working Reading will give 250 tech entrepreneurs a place to scale their business and develop new connections, fuelling enterprise growth in the Thames Valley.
With the likes of JustEat and CityMapper among the company’s list of previous tenants, the site is Central Working’s eleventh location – and fourth outside London – and will support Reading’s growth as a key UK digital hub.
Home to a wealth of multi-national companies including Microsoft Oracle and Cisco systems, Reading’s digital economy has gone from strength to strength in recent years.
At least one start-up launched in the city every day in 2016, while tech businesses had a collective turnover of £12.5bn in the same year.
Central Working actively supports its members by connecting them to the contacts they need to grow, including prospective clients, potential collaborators and last minute suppliers.
The new site will connect Reading’s growing businesses with Central Working’s network of 35,000 companies across the country.
Catering to high-growth start-ups and SMEs, members will benefit from excellent transport links, including to Heathrow and the new incoming Crossrail line opening in 2019.
Alongside Central Working’s newly opened club in Slough, the Reading location means the shared workspace provider will be providing a supportive environment and crucial business links for more than 500 Thames Valley start-ups.
“We identified the Thames Valley as one of the UK’s most exciting new tech clusters and our new clubs in Reading and Slough will provide a supportive platform for the next generation of digital businesses throughout the region,” said Central Working CEO Grant Powell.
“Reading’s transport links to London and overseas investment markets via Heathrow make the area a prime location for any high-growth tech business and we expect to cater for a mixture of local companies as well as businesses relocating from the capital.”