O2 offers free workspace to start-ups in central London

A new O2 shop is to open on Wednesday in Tottenham Court Road that will host a workspace designed for start-ups and flexible workers.

The workspace can cater for up to 75 people, and contains open workstations that provide access to power and wireless printers for 10 people at a time.

A customer lounge offers soft seating, tablet devices for browsing and free hot and cold refreshments, and O2 Wi-Fi will be free and open for all customers.

The shop also offers different sized rooms to conduct meetings, including four traditional rooms that can hold up to four people with access to LCD screens for presentations.

A private conference room has interactive white board facilities for up to 10 people, while a seminar room holds 30 people in lecture format, and features interactive white board facilities for presentations and seminars.

The seminar room has to be booked in advance, but there are no hiring costs involved.

Richard Baylis, O2's head of retail, told V3 that the company decided to open the workplace after discovering that thousands of small businesses each month close down as a result of the recession.

"Customers are looking to get the best value for money out of expenditure, so they don't want to spend £15,000 on having a desk in London. This workspace is really about servicing our business customer base," he said.

However, O2 has a vested interest in running the workspace as it provides an opportunity to plug its devices and broadband offerings.

O2 said that the space includes an Guru Bar that will offer advice and appointments with businesses specialists.

The operator will also run weekly events to support and encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses, in partnership with organisations such as Start-Up Britain and Enterprise Nation.

For example, StartUp Saturday classes will discuss technology tips and techniques and help people to "become their own boss".