Case studies

Our business centres are home to a thriving and resilient community of small businesses, start-ups and SMEs drawn from a diverse spectrum of professions. Find out more about our small business customers, their growth, successes, aspirations and tips.

Helping local people in crisis from Loughton’s Seedbed Centre
In a society seemingly fuelled by consumerism and greed, it’s easy to forget the number of people who now rely on food banks in the UK to simply feed their families in times of crisis. Our Loughton Seedbed Centre customer, Epping Forest Foodbank, knows only too well.   Helping local…
Puppy love creates business opportunity
Many businesses are born from spotting gaps in the market and acting upon them, but when that gap is also a passion, it’s a real bonus! That’s the case for our Colchester Seedbed Centre customer, Muttley and Mabel, who have been open for business for less than a year but…
Reduced startup costs help first-time entrepreneurs take the leap
Gearing up to start your own business can be quite a challenge with the uncertainty of the potential success of your business hanging over your head. What if we told you that finding a workspace for your business to operate out of, that will help to alleviate some of these…
Taking your SME global with a virtual office
The months following the start-up of your own business can be an unstable and uncertain time in your life, with what’s around the corner completely unknown. This was the case for Alan Stenson, who founded a pioneering carbon management and sustainability consultancy, Neutral Carbon Zone, in 2006. Now, 18 years…
How to develop a 7-figure turnover in two years
How do you grow your business to seven figures in just over two years? By anticipating trends and making sure you capitalise on changing consumer habits.  That’s exactly what our Loughton Seedbed Centre customer, My Rocking Kids, has achieved, and they’re now passing on some of their expertise to help…
Changing lives with tailored mental health care
Sometimes when it comes to setting up your own business, it can take a personal experience to push you into action, as it did with one of our newest to Churchill Square Business Centre customers, Devon McDonald, founder of Devon McDonald Counselling. She shares how she retrained,…
Helping entrepreneurs achieve business success
Creating a business which delivers more for its clients than is typically expected is a sure-fire way to build strong, long-standing relationships, setting your business up for success. Friend & Grant, a chartered accountancy practice with a branch at our Churchill Square Business Centre in Kings Hill, has done just…
Schoolboy wizardry lays foundations for business success
Showing the professionals how to fix computers when he was still at school meant Richard Bentley’s career path was fairly obvious.  He’s managed to turn his innate talents at IT into a thriving business – despite launching in the recession. And the flexibility of our business accommodation at St. George’s…
20 years of keeping the army comfortable
The army do one of the toughest jobs in the world – but the front-line troops are often let down by poor-quality uniform.  It’s a challenge that one of Dragon Supplies Ltd based in our Colchester Business and Seedbed Centre has capitalised on – enabling them to build a successful…

Did you know?

Our VoiP telephony solution is available for all businesses – either onsite or offsite – and means you can handle calls via a desktop, mobile app or traditional handset. Better still, it is available on a simple, monthly licence, meaning you are not constrained by restrictive, long term contracts.

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