3Space offers empty buildings rent-free to charities

Above a red-brick government office in Wimbledon, a new model of business is taking shape. In the unadorned open-plan space, plain white tables are occupied by an assortment of workers on laptops or tablets. There is light, heat, WiFi, tea and coffee, but little else.

The reason for its austere appearance? It is free. The southwest London space - and others like it - are run by 3Space, a company set up in 2010 by Andrew Cribb and Henry Mason to match unoccupied premises with deserving but impecunious social enterprises.

3Space moves into commercial properties that are temporarily empty and brings them back to life by offering the space rent-free to charities and other non-profit organisations. The agreements it strikes with landlords and leaseholders - who may be awaiting planning permission, a funding deal or the right moment to redevelop - typically last six to 18 months. "We wedge ourselves into those cracks," says Mason, a former KPMG accountant.

Since 3Space started, some 165 companies have passed through its premises. The number of offices on its books varies: it is running five buildings in the UK at the moment - in London, Cardiff, Blackpool and Wigan - but has had as many as 30 active at one time.

Why would property owners go to the trouble of inviting unknown businesses into their buildings? Aside from altruism, there are solid commercial reasons for giving away their space for a time: if it is occupied by charities or social enterprises, the business rates bill is halved and there are reductions in insurance and security costs. But tenants must be ready to move out quickly - sometimes with as little notice as a week.

For consumer-related business there are also potential marketing advantages. "We make it worth their while through business rate savings, but when working with commercial partners there is also a brand value," says Mason, who says 3Space is looking to take over some empty branches of a UK bank, which would use the deal in its marketing.

Where the Wimbledon office is distinct from 3Space's other venues is that it offers space to both charities and for-profit companies, as part of a government programme to use idle sites for start-ups. The local Merton Chamber of Commerce has also been heavily involved in the Wimbledon initiative in its efforts to boost employment.

A Cabinet Office spokesman says the Space for Growth scheme - for which Wimbledon was a pilot - encourages entrepreneurs "to move on from their kitchens, living rooms and cafes, and benefit from a professional address, the company of other workers and the potential of networking".

For some charities, flexibility is the main attraction. The Moroccan Children's Trust is a charity based in Tooting, south London, in an office it shares - and pays for - with a sister charity. It uses Wimbledon as a place to hold weekly meetings off-site, in an uncrowded and WiFi-enabled site that allows staff to Skype with their colleagues in Morocco.

"For us the main thing about this space is not having the distractions of the other activities," says Sarah Sibley, a project co-ordinator with the charity.

Another occupant is Sale Servant, a digital marketing company that helps small and medium-sized fashion brands drum up sales by increasing traffic to their websites. Lenka Gourdie, chief executive, says she and her business partner and husband Allan, who started the business six months ago, initially tried hubs such as Google's Campus London or simply worked on a table in Starbucks, the coffee chain. But the latter is not always the best place to hold a business meeting with potential clients or to network with other entrepreneurs.

"For us it is the convenience of the place and having premises to bring other people," she says.

The floor upstairs is kept empty for workshops and meetings, which has allowed John Bickell to launch Trepisphere, his social enterprise that coaches groups of jobseekers and others in starting a business. "Without 3Space, it is possible I wouldn't have started at all. But with it, it is an absolute no-brainer."

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To the dismay of its tenants, the Wimbledon space was set to close at the end of November. There is a long waiting list for 3Space's other London venue in Oxford Street. But even if they have had only six months in Wimbledon, the tenants have saved funds and made some productive contacts. Sale Servant is talking to another occupant, online exercise advice brand SNS Nutrition, about sharing a paid-for office space, for instance.

Mason says 3Space's goal is to form a long-term partnership with a big property group - but such a partner would have to view the relationship as more than a short-term financial fix.

He says the business model could go from helping landlords struggling in a recession to revitalising whole neighbourhoods.

"As we have evolved we have started to see ourselves more as part of a wider movement for greater efficiency, along with companies such as Hailo [the black cab app] and Airbnb [an online marketplace for flat or room rentals]," Mason says.

"We see this as a new model for the property industry."

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