The Breakout Room
Sometimes you just don't want to be sitting around a large table for your meeting - you'd prefer to sit back and relax while you talk. This comfy meeting room for up to 4 people is the ideal option if you need somewhere to meet in Newcastle City Centre, and if your priority is affordability then at Clavering House Business Centre you've found the perfect match as you can hire this meeting room for only £10/hr + vat!
Located on the second floor of Clavering House Business Centre, a prestigious listed building in Newcastle City Centre, on the edge of the up and coming Stephenson Quarter, the meeting room can seat up to 4 people, with comfortable bucket chairs, a low table and white board. You'll also have access to our super-fast WiFi if you need it.
The perfect place to meet in Newcastle for only £10 (ex. vat) an hour!
As we're only a few minutes walk from the Newcastle railway station, public transport links and multiple car parks this city centre meeting room is in the perfect location to make it a convenient stop-off for a quick meeting, or somewhere you might want to base yourself for a whole day. Catering can be provided, and we're close to city centre restaurants, bars and hotels so the options are endless.
To hire this meeting room for only £10/hr + vat, or to find out more about Clavering House Business Centre Newcastle meeting rooms, CLICK HERE.
Super-fast fibre broadband is here!
Here at Clavering House Business Centre we pride ourselves on our heritage; we're in a beautiful, Listed Georgian building in Newcastle City Centre that has many of its original features, and our customers tell us that we offer a good old fashioned 'nothing's too much trouble' style of customer service. But when it comes to communications, we offer nothing less than cutting edge - our recent investment in super-fast fibre broadband for our business customers renting our office space in Newcastle city centre is testament to that!
Super-fast fibre broadband has arrived!
Every second counts when you're in business, and since we switched on our new fibre technology our customers have noticed a significant difference to upload speeds, leaving them with more time for 'doing' because they're spending less time waiting! We now have the fastest broadband available in Newcastle at 100mbps, and better reliability for our business customers.
Clavering House Business Centre is located in the up and coming Stephenson Quarter in Newcastle city centre, and is one of the first locations in the city to take advantage of super-fast fibre broadband.
Managing Director, Helen Reed, said
"We've been asking for some time for this new technology, because we know our customers expect and deserve the best of what's available in technology-based communications.
It's an investment we're sure will pay dividends, because if our customers do well we do well. We've already had lots of positive comments about the improvements, and we're confident that having super-fast fibre broadband, along with our excellent location next door to all of the major transport links in the city, will help us to attract even more digital, professional and service businesses to hire our offices, hot-desks and meeting rooms."
Get in touch
To find out more about Clavering House Business Centre services to the small business sector please get in touch
Feature image courtesy of Gidion Lubbe at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
***SOLD*** Ground floor office to let in Newcastle City Centre with parking
***SOLD***
Here at Clavering House Business Centre we have a ground floor office to let in Newcastle City Centre, with optional parking spaces. This is a rare opportunity for your business to move into our prestigious Georgian Listed building which is located in the up and coming Stephenson Quarter.
We have a suite of 2 ground floor offices which you can rent individually or as a combined suite of 2 to 3 offices to suit your needs:
Office 1 measures 360 sq ft and is ideal for 2 to 4 people, and can be either divided into 2 separate rooms or made open plan - we'll accommodate whatever layout works best for you;
Office 2 measures 570 ft and will accommodate up to 12 people.
Newcastle City Centre secure parking spaces
Optional parking spaces are also available, immediately behind the building in a secure, gated car park - a rare feature in Newcastle city centre! If public transport is your preference, Clavering House Business Centre is located literally 3 minutes walk from the railway station, and there is ample metered and multi-story car parking on the doorstep.
Everything your business could ever need
Another great bonus of setting up office here, as well as the super-fast broadband, is that we have a whole host of meeting rooms for 2 to 50 people for hire as and when you need them. We also offer everything you can expect from a professional Newcastle city centre serviced office, including a reception service for your visitors, connections with other small businesses, and customer service that we hope will exceed your expectations! We have a really varied range of businesses located at Clavering House, from professionals in finance and insurance through to photography and counselling. Whatever your business, you'll soon be made to feel right at home!
Get in touch soon!
With only 2 months notice and a 12 month licence available (we may be able to extend this to suit your needs), this office to let in Newcastle city centre won't be available for long!
Get in touch to find out more or arrange to call in to have a look around.
Behind the scenes with Mel Philipson and JEM NE CIC
We love the variety of businesses that we work with here at Clavering House Business Centre, and we never cease to be amazed about how many small businesses register for our Newcastle virtual office service that have come up with yet another service we've not come across before!
Mel Philipson is one of the partners of not-for-profit organisation JEM N.E CIC - a community interest company - and we enjoyed having the chance to catch up with Mel recently to get a 'behind the scenes' view of exactly what she does, why she decided to register her business as a CIC, and her thoughts on marketing and business development in her particular sector.
Here's what Mel had to say ...
How would you describe the business to your customers?
We are a small team of educationists who believe that every pupil has an entitlement to use IT to help them achieve their learning potential. We all believe that IT can make a positive contribution to teaching and learning. JEM N.E is a “Community Interest Company”. This means that we focus our work and expertise to support the regional and local education communities. We are a “Not for Profit” organisation delivering affordable and high quality and targeted support for schools.
We are “Local”. We work in the North East and will come to your school.
Our delivery is “Face to Face”. We know that teachers value interactions with our team members.
We deliver “Practical Advice and Support”. We will use your school system to deliver training, so that you know that, when we leave at the end of the session, the software and hardware can support your work.
What do your customers say about you and your service?
Here's an example of some recent customer feedback, which pretty much says what we're all about!
"When faced with a new school build, a changing curriculum and a retiring IT leader we were, for a short time, aghast. That was until we enlisted the support of JEM. They have literally guided us as a staff, a school and a community to create our vision for IT in our new school, considering what is important to us. They have then enabled us to make this vision a reality; leading staff CPD, supporting us in recruiting new technical support providers and developing our curriculum for computing. The knowledge, expertise and professionalism we have experienced through our work with JEM has been second to none and I would highly recommend their services!"
Why did you decide to register your business as a CIC, and what difference do you think that has made?
We believe that as a Community Interest Company, or CIC, we can add something to the North East communities. I think that schools realise that we are focused on their needs rather than driving the company to create profit for shareholders, because one of the key criteria for setting up a CIC is that you agree to an asset lock - so all of the profits of the company go to the community you serve - in our case North East schools.
What 3 pieces of advice do you have for educators who want to take advantage of IT?
1. Think about what you want to achieve using technology - we've seen some schools purchase expensive equipment before having decided what they want to achieve for learning.
2. Make sure that you invest in staff - sometimes schools focus on purchasing hardware but don't invest in training staff in how to use it. Schools need to consider the total cost of ownership.
3 Talk to JEM about your IT needs! We're helping many schools across the region to improve learning through IT.
What are the main challenges associated with embedding eLearning, and how do you help your customers to overcome these?
The main challenges include:
- Not providing sufficient time to become familiar with technologies and what they can offer
- Understanding that it takes time to see results and improvements
- Ensuring that staff are sufficiently confident and competent in using IT
- Thinking about how technologies can support different learning styles.
We work with schools to help them identify what they want to achieve. Sometimes this includes developing a vision for IT in learning in their schools. Once schools have a clear vision, we help them develop an action plan, broken down into manageable steps with measurable outcomes. Development activities need resourcing and so we work with schools to help them prioritise spending and allocation of resources. We understand educational pedagogy and can work with teachers to help them create opportunities to embed IT into their lessons and learning.
What advice should you have given yourself when you were setting up your business, looking back now?
From registering the business, it took about six months until we were ready to work with schools. We hadn't planned for this nor for the cashflow problems that this brings, so my advice to myself would be to realise that it takes time to start a business, and plan for that in your financial forecasts.
How would you describe your approach to marketing your business?
Our best marketing tool is our customers who tell other schools about what we've achieved. We make a point of formally evaluating each event or development and feeding that back to the school. That's powerful in helping them realise that progress has been made. We then use these evaluations on our websites. Real testimonials are really valuable.
Why is a Newcastle base useful for your business, and why did you decide on a Newcastle mailing address rather than an office?
Newcastle is in the centre of the region with easy access to all Local Authorities. It's a great centre for development and has a great promotional aspect. We went for a "virtual" office at Clavering House Business Centre because we're a very small organisation and couldn't have afforded the overheads of setting up a full time office base.
Brilliant, so what's next for you?
Our constant focus, as a relatively new business, is building our customer base and developing new educational IT services to meet the needs of schools - our development won't (and shouldn't) ever stop!
Thank you, Mel!
Behind the scenes with Martin Underhill and tempertemper
We're so pleased to be able to take you behind the scenes with one of our long-standing customers, Martin Underhill. Martin is really passionate about the work he does with the small business community through his small business tempertemper. As well as developing what he describes as "expertly crafted websites", we've also found him to be so generous with his vast knowledge of all things web-related.
So we decided to spend some time with him recently to find out more about him and his business, and to ask a few cheeky questions about website design and marketing. Here's what he said ...
Can you introduce tempertemper, Martin?
Through tempertemper I work with small business owners to create a better (or new) website that delivers their message in the most effective way possible.
Why the name ‘tempertemper’?
Tempering is the process of making metal more durable. My thinking was that I’d be making my clients’ websites stronger, tougher, and more resilient. But I don’t explain that much these days – it’s more that it’s catchy and easy to remember. There’s a familiarity to it, from when we were small and our parents would tell us to keep our cool!
What makes what you do work for your customers?
The best website is a result of a collaboration of experts. The website owner knows their business better than anyone and I know websites. Not only does involving my client at every step of the process make for a better website, it gives them a real sense of it being theirs - and that ownership is great for the ongoing health of the website.
My customers often acknowledge that I’m careful to explain things—even the more technical issues—in layman’s terms. Baffling with science only distances the client from their website.
Finally ease of use for the end user is central to everything I design, and my clients get a lot of great feedback from visitors telling them what a breath of fresh air their website is to use.
What 3 pieces of advice would you give to small business owners needing a new website?
Am I allowed four…?
- Seek some advice before you begin. Paying for a few of hours of an expert’s time to help you clarify the road ahead is invaluable.
- Like most things, you get what you pay for. There are all sorts of ways to build a website; some are quick and low cost, others are more consultative and come at a premium. Work out what kind of budget you have available for your website and let your web designer work within that.
- Keep an eye on your analytics and optimise your design and wording accordingly. Nothing beats real visitor data. Not even the most experienced, well read, well informed web designer can get your site exactly right. Your analytics will tell you if your website’s visitors are leaving before they achieve what you want them to - send you an enquiry, join your mailing list, buy your product, etc. Your web designer will be able to help you optimise things over time so that your visitors are happier and your site achieves your business goals.
- Factor in ongoing maintenance work. Any piece of software (which is what a website is) needs maintenance – what was secure a couple of months ago may not be today. With regular care and attention any security issues will be patched and any bugs can be squashed. It can be time consuming and expensive to recover from after a hacked website so prevention is better than cure!
So what score would you give the tempertemper website out of 10?
This is a tricky one… In some ways it’s a Cobbler’s Children scenario. I’ve been working on lots of fairly intense contracts over the past 6 months or so and my poor website hasn’t had the attention it normally gets.
One thing I am very happy with is the design – stripped back and simple, works well on all screen widths, nice and readable and puts lots of emphasis on the content. Trouble is, the content could do with more attention! I’ve been getting back into a blogging rhythm and have been thinking about rewording the services section.
There are no big changes on the horizon as I tend to practice what I preach and work on my website iteratively: tweaking something, keeping an eye on how that tweak has affected visitors, tweaking again, and so on.
Let’s say it’s a solid 6.5 out of 10 :) but my customers always get 10 out of 10!
How do you market tempertemper?
I recently listened to a podcast where they were talking about the idea that you should have three avenues of creating leads. You can get away with sitting on a stool that only has two legs, but you’ve got to put a bit more effort in to sit comfortably – three legs is much more stable:
- The vast majority of my business comes from existing clients – referrals to another business owner they know or either fine tuning or adding features to their website.
- My second way to market tempertemper is by getting involved in the local web community – I run a monthly event (Frontend NE) where I meet lots of other businesses, some of whom have hired me to do their websites, some of whom have subcontracted me to work on one of their clients websites. Twitter also really helps here (I’m @tempertemper).
- The third way I market my business is often the most neglected… My blogging routine, email marketing, social media presence (Facebook in particular) and attention to search engine optimisation could really do with more energy.
Looking back, what marketing advice would you have given yourself when you started out?
Advice to myself starting out is to specialise. Don’t try and do everything yourself – find other people who are good at the things you’re working all hours to master. This frees up time to get really good at the things you love as well as spending more time with family. Also, get into co-working and desk sharing as soon as you can. Oh, and nobody expects you to give your time away for free, so make sure you charge for every hour you work.
What gadget, gizmo or app makes the most difference to you and your business?
Not including the various bits of software and hardware that I need to actually do the work I do, the gadget/gizmo/app that makes the most difference to my business is probably FreeAgent. As well as giving me a really good overview of cashflow and general income, it handles all of my bookkeeping, time-keeping, invoicing, payroll, VAT, tax, accounting, etc. Use that link above when signing up to get 10% off ;)
Why is a Newcastle base useful for tempertemper?
I’m not a Geordie, but I love being based in Newcastle (and the North East, of course). The local small business community is really welcoming and very generous with their time and advice.
Why did you decide on a Newcastle mailing address rather than an office address?
I enjoy renting desks at larger agencies or in co-working areas. I get to know lots of new people: other business owners to swap ideas with; other designers/developers like me to bounce ideas off; and other professionals with complementary skills (copywriters, brand experts, illustrators, photographers, etc.). Building these relationships is also a good way to get work, either directly from my co-workers or through referrals.
I like to make a change ever year or two, freshening up my surroundings and getting the opportunity to make new contacts. Changing my business address every time I move would be time consuming, so I have a Newcastle virtual address at Clavering House.
What’s next for you?
More of the same! I’m always on the look out for great clients who want to use their website to drum up new business.
Just contact me via my website
Thank you, Martin!
Eric explains why he prefers an NE1 virtual office
Thank you to Eric Lloyd who took time out of his busy schedule running his office furniture consultancy business MKT Consult to explain why he prefers to use an NE1 virtual office address at Clavering House Business Centre (for a small investment of only £25 a month!) rather than renting an office in Newcastle city centre.
Eric explains why he prefers an NE1 virtual office ...
Virtual office customers have their say
We’re so pleased to have had amazing, positive feedback from lots of our customers about the virtual office services we provide to Newcastle small businesses.
These short videos give a small selection of the great comments we’ve received from four of our customers who run very different small businesses in Newcastle, and who’ve chosen to use the Clavering House Business Centre virtual office service, and run their business activities elsewhere. These are non-scripted and purely their own words, explaining a bit about the businesses they run and why they chose to use a virtual office in Newcastle rather than rent a serviced office, as well as providing their own thoughts on why Clavering House Business Centre works for them.
So over to them…
Thank you to Mel Philipson Jem NE CIC, Martin Underhill TemperTemper web design, Jayne Graham 2020 Consulting and Mark Gardner Afresh Solutions for their feedback!
If you’d like to know more about our virtual office services CLICK HERE or get in touch and we’d be happy to tell you more – you can enquire about our services HERE.
What is a registered office and why do you need one?
At Clavering House we have a lot of small business customers that are just starting out with their new businesses, and they often ask us about a registered office. Mainly, what is it, why do they need one, and whether a registered office is the same as a mailing address. So I thought it would be useful to set the record straight.
What is a registered office address?
When you set up a limited company, or a limited liability partnership, you are legally required to register the company at a nominated address in the UK. If your company is registered in England and Wales the registered office must be there too - so it can't be in Scotland or Northern Ireland. The registered address will then be displayed on any public records relating to your company. It will also be the address that Companies House and HMRC will use as your correspondence address.
Is a registered office address the same as a mailing address?
That's up to you. There are some restrictions on where your registered office can be. Assuming your mailing address fulfils the requirements of an office address, the two addresses can be one and the same. However some people choose to have their registered office address at one place and their mailing address elsewhere, depending on the needs of their business. So for example they may want a different business address to use on their website if it's more local, or more prestigious than their registered office address (just make sure you display your registered office address in your footer on your website and business stationary alongside your company registration number). Also you can use your home address as your registered office address, but may not want that to be the address you use on your website.
Where can my registered office be located?
You can use any physical address for your registered office address. So you cannot use a PO Box number or, for legal services, a DX Exchange number. There are lots of options you can use though. The decision really is whether you would be comfortable to have that address available for view by the public, in person or online. The most obvious place to have your registered office address is the place you run your business - your office address or your home address. Another option some small businesses choose to use is the address of their accountant, particularly useful for people running a business from home. Another option for home-based businesses is to use a virtual office mailing address.
Can I use my virtual office address as my registered office?
A virtual office isn't classified as a PO Box, so you should be able to use your virtual office mailing address as your registered office, as long as the mail is delivered to a physical building, and your business name is displayed. Just check with the virtual office service provider to make sure before you subscribe. By using a virtual office service for your registered office address and mailing address, you avoid the confusion of having two addresses associated with the business, and of course you can protect your privacy if you run your business from home. This option also gives you the option to change easily as you grow, particularly if the virtual office service can be subscribed to monthly.
How do I change my registered office address?
Changing your registered office address couldn't be easier. Just visit the Companies House website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/change-a-registered-office-address-ad01 and complete form AD01. You can do this online, or print out a form to complete and post back. The address is usually amended by Companies House fairly quickly, and you'll receive a letter from them to confirm it's been done.
Clavering House is top notch according to Newcastle property developer
Lee Wood is the Managing Director of Mulberry Properties, and uses Clavering House Business Centre's Newcastle virtual office service for his property development business.
In this short video Lee explains why he would recommend the Newcastle virtual office service and serviced office accommodation at Clavering House Business Centre to anybody!
15 useful facts about our virtual office service
Before you subscribe to a virtual office service with Clavering House Newcastle, you may have lots of questions you'd like to ask.
Please feel free to call or contact us at any time to clear up anything you aren't sure about - and hopefully, the following 15 useful facts will be helpful too!
1. What is a virtual office service?
The virtual office service at Clavering House Business Centre is available to anyone that needs the benefit of having a business base in Newcastle city centre, but without needing to pay rent for an office! The core virtual office service is the Clavering House mailing address that can be used by your business, no matter where you actually do business. You can use our address on your website, business cards, letterheads and invoices, and you can also make Clavering House your registered office address if you need to.
Other virtual office services include a telephone answering service, as well as meeting rooms.
2. What do I need to do to get started?
If you'd like to subscribe to our mailing address service, all you need to do is call into the office with some formal ID. We'll need to see your current passport or a valid driving licence, and a confirmation of your home address via a utility bill or bank statement from last 3 months. You do need to call in yourself, so we stay in line with our legal responsibilities, and once we've taken a record of your ID we will issue you an invoice for your first 3 months. Once you've paid we can get your service started (you can pay by card in our office or over the phone, or by BACs, whatever works for you). If you're ready to subscribe now, just call into the Business Centre or click here
3. What's the minimum time I need to subscribe to the virtual office service for?
You can subscribe for the virtual office service for 3 months or more. If you decide to subscribe for a full year, and pay for the year in advance, you'll receive a 10% discount on the cost as a thank you.
4. How much does a virtual office service cost?
Each element of our virtual office service is costed separately, so you can pick and choose whatever you need, as follows:
- Mail address and registered office address £30 + vat/month
- Telephone answering service £35 + vat/month
- Meeting rooms from £10 + vat per hour
5. How do I pay for a virtual office service?
You will be asked to pay 3 months service in advance when you subscribe to the core virtual office service. Towards the end of this period you will receive a further invoice for the following 6 months - this can be paid in one payment, or you can set up a monthly standing order to pay instalments over 6 months. We can also issue an invoice for 12 months, and if this is paid in full you will receive a 10% discount.
Some answers from Rachel
Watch this short video of Rachel, from our Clavering House team, answering some of your questions about the virtual office service
Mailing address service
6. Are there any limits to how I can use the Clavering House mailing address?
Not really, you can use the service in any reasonable way, to respond to the needs of your business - on your website, business stationery, invoices and so on. All we do ask is that you take into account that we have limited storage, so we aren't able to accept large volumes of parcels in one go.
7. Can I use Clavering House as my registered office address?
Yes, for a one off fee of £50 + vat. Many of our virtual office customers use Clavering House as their registered office address - this is the address they use for their business with Companies House.
8. What will happen if people turn up in reception and ask for me when I'm not there?
Although it doesn't happen very often, sometimes your customers and suppliers may call into Clavering House with the objective of meeting with you face to face. If this hasn't been planned, other than if we're under a legal obligation to do so (very rare!), we would simply let them know you're out of the office, and take a message that we can pass on to you. Discretion is our middle name!
9. Can I use the photograph of Clavering House on my website, as my business location?
Yes that's absolutely fine with us. We're proud of our prestigious Grade II listed building, and our location on the edge of the newly developing Stephenson Quarter in Newcastle, and would be happy for you to share that with us.
We'd also encourage you to verify your business on Google maps using our address for that too - that will help people to find you online.
10. How will I know when my mail has arrived at Clavering House?
You will always receive an email within an hour of your post arriving here at Clavering House. You can then arrange to collect it whenever it's convenient. We aren't allowed to forward your mail to you, but if it's urgent, with your permission we can open the post and scan it for you, on an exception basis.
11. What would happen if you received mail after my subscription to the virtual office service has expired?
During the first month following termination of your subscription, we will continue to let you know that you have received mail in the usual way. After that, we'll need to return it to sender, or agree a payment for the continuation of the service for as long as you need it.
Telephone answering service
12. Who will be answering my phone calls?
Your phone calls will be answered by the Clavering House receptionist in a professional manner, using whatever greeting you would prefer.
13. Will my company name be used when calls are answered?
Yes, we will always answer the call in your company name, and act as though we are the reception service within your own business. If you'd like us to follow a script when we answer a call, we can do that too.
14. Can calls be diverted to me once they are answered?
We can provide this service, and can discuss the additional cost of call forwarding to you should you need it.
15. How will I know who's called?
As soon as we've taken a call for you we will email you to let you know full details of who's called and a message so you can either act on the call or call back when you're free.
If you need to know anything else about our virtual office services just get in touch - we'd love to hear from you.