Works Social, as well as many of its members, including Dispace, Grand Creative and Cleveley King Architects, were proud to be a part of the first Expo from The Big House, held on Tuesday 10th September from 11am-3pm at St Mary’s Church in the Lace Market, followed by an evening showcase from 5pm-8pm.
Over 90 creative and digital businesses exhibited, including sole traders, entrepreneurs, small businesses, fashion designers, copywriters, photographers, web developers and architects. The event gave creative and digital businesses involved in The Big House project a chance to meet, make connections, do business and help support local talent.
Since 2016, The Big House has supported over 15,00 Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire based creative digital entrepreneurs, start-ups, freelancers and SMEs and hopes to continue this service in the future, subject to funding. The Big House Expo allowed all those who attended the opportunity to see what local businesses offer, how they can help localise supply chains, reduce their carbon footprint and create jobs within Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
The Works Social team were there in full force with the Works Social ‘Wheel of Fortune’.
Co-founder Lise Garner-Morgan said:
“It was wonderful to see so many people drawn to having a bit of fun to try and win either the grand prize of a half day coworking pass, a Works Social tote bag, some retro sweets or arguably the star prize - a free hug!”
As well as learning more about Works Social’s approach to coworking life, what membership options are available and which works best for each individual, Expo delegates were invited to join a tour of the space throughout the day, as it is situated right across the road from St Mary’s Church in Commerce Square.
The hugely successful EXPO was followed by The Big House Showcase, where selected individuals who had benefited from its support, were invited to give a brief presentation on their professional journey.
Having both supported the development of the The Big House and benefited from its initiatives, the talks kicked off with a wonderful insight in to how it has impacted Works Social Member and favourite Cheerleader, Rachael van Oudheusden from Big Old House Marketing and PR (the similarity in name completely coincidental by the way).
Other inspirational speakers shared their stories of the individually tailored support they had received from the different Big House partners and how this has contributed to the success of their ventures, including; Ben Lumley from Ben Lumley Photography, Darren Robinson from iScout Ltd, Claire Zwozny-Bestwick from CRZyBest, and author and poet Panya Banjoko.
Overall the EXPO was a hugely inspirational event to celebrate the support provided by The Big House and its partners, as well as the success of each small business. Big thanks to all the partners, venue and organisers involved in pulling it all together and here's hoping that The Big House 2 gets the go ahead to support many more local creative and digital business in the future.
For more information, contact The Big House and click here to find out more about Works Social membership to see if Works Social, works for you.