IndyCube 25
= "a Wales based supplier and developer of shared workspace, established in 2010 as a Community Interest Company".
URL = http://indycube.cymru/location
Description
By Pat Conaty, Alex Bird and Cilla Ross:
"It has recently converted into a not‐for‐profit co‐operative. They have established 28 locations across Wales and have now opened their first in England.
IndyCube is working closely with Community trade union to launch a joint venture which will lead to further growth and a strong partnership offer of membership of both the union and the co‐operative.
“We see this as the way to grow with Community’s resources, capacity and knowledge, and provides an opportunity for third party representation of our self‐ employed members.” Mark Hooper, co‐founder of IndyCube.
As most of IndyCube’s membership is at present from the creative industries, its shared workspace is office based. Community’s membership is largely craft based, so they require entirely different types of workspace – co‐making space. This new partnership will not only see the development of workspace within Community’s own properties, but also the creation of shared co‐making spaces, with access to shared tools and workshop space for trades people to use. Community is planning to invest considerable funds in this new approach, which will also include the deployment of a large number of union advocates to recruit new self‐employed members.
“The recent report from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) shows that the self‐employed and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are generally the last to be paid. We shall be working on a digital platform to offer a range of services, include the factoring of debts to ensure our members are paid on time.
As part of this process of development, they plan to use the best ideas from elsewhere. Although the legal system and status of trade unions is different in Belgium, they intend to look at the Cooperatives d’Activités et d’Emploi ( Business and Employment Cooperatives ‐ BEC) model, which has developed in France and francophone Belgium over the last 20+ years."