Tom Lewes
IN PROFILE
At home Tom is a single dad sharing the parenting of his two children with his former partner. He’ s also a camper van fan with a passion for music festivals.
Tom Lewes
The Guild
Tom Lewes is the 43-yearold founder and operations manager of The Guild, the co-working space in central Bath which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. The Guild, which has about 200 members at any one time, is a combination of work, networking and social spaces in one building, catering for the growing number of professionals who want an alternative to working from home.
Why is a co-working space like The Guild important?
I think it’ s important for the future. I truly believe the concept of‘ having a job’ is going away. More and more people have a portfolio career, they care about work / life balance and the space in between is becoming blurred. It will no longer be necessary to‘ go into the office’ every day. Spaces like this are almost like the concept of the pub for an older generation where you did business over a pint.
Where did the idea for a co-working space come from?
For me it actually goes way back if I really think about it. I was a teenager at school when I did work experience. I sat in a dreary office and I did not want to be there. I thought there was no way that’ s what I was going to do and this led to me becoming obsessed by the idea of work and work environments.
What did you do before The Guild? I was a sales rep for many years so much of my work was done from my car, my colleagues were spread out and we communicated by phone. I didn’ t work in an office. However this made me realise that many people were doing the same thing as me – with no space we could dip in and out of, no real-life community feel and frankly it could be lonely.
How real is‘ loneliness’ in business? It’ s so easy these days with multiple forms of communication to forget the human touch – yet many of us need that contact – we just may not need it every day of the week between 9am and 5pm. As a freelancer or sole trader, working from home can be lonely, you miss those moments by the photocopier, or social gatherings with work places and you appreciate that this kind of contact is about networking, sharing ideas – and possibly sharing business opportunities.
What’ s the ROI? I do get asked this from time to time. I used to work often from a coffee chain where I would spend £ 3 on a coffee and perhaps £ 20 for a day, just not to be at home all of the time. I had no privacy, no control over my environment
– noisy neighbours, for example. So I realised if I could create a space for people like me costing no more, that had to be worth exploring. Also it’ s about being part of a professional community and understanding the benefits of being part of a network. I believe there are two types of people in business – net-givers and net-takers. If you are a net-taker, always doing the sums and looking for the money – then this kind of space is probably not for you and you’ re not our customer.
How did the Guild come into being? I’ d built a group called Bath Spark which brought me to the attention of the local council( B & NES) and they had this tricky building which came up in conversation. They were interested in doing something with it – perhaps creating some sort of one-stop shop for business. I suggested creating a co-working space and they said’ what’ s that?” I explained my idea and they decided to take a risk – for which I’ m always grateful. They gave me a grant to refurbish it, however we do operate on commercial terms, paying the going rent and rates and other costs associated with it.
How is The Guild set up? It’ s a not-for-profit community interest company run by a board of trustees and my own company is the operating company paid to run it for which I’ m paid a monthly fee. We have about 200 members and these tend to be in the creative or tech sectors – though not exclusively. We tend to have one fast-growing company at any one time, a company which will, over time, need to move on as they’ ve got too big and also one‘ anchor’ tenant. Around them tend to be a group of freelancers and these grow steadily. This kind of model creates the culture of the space.
What’ s next? There are plans afoot for creating a new space in Bath – this time not a co-working space but something a little more social. I’ ll share more in due course but for now it’ s really a case of‘ watching for this next space’.
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32 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018