Accelerate Places, a network of flexible co-working spaces for ambitious small businesses and scale-up companies, has signed up its first member for its Manchester site.
DueCourse, a FinTech company empowering SMEs to get paid within hours after sending an invoice rather than waiting up to 90 days, has agreed to a 12-month deal to be based at the newly refurbished two-storey space on Princess Street, Manchester.
The office space offers flexible co-working facilities and will open its doors in April. It will welcome scale ups from FinTech, creative, digital and design and technology development companies.
鈥淒ueCourse is a growing business within the UK FinTech sector and we are really pleased to welcome the team to be part of our exciting new venture in Manchester,鈥� said Lisa Murgatroyd, community manager from Accelerate Places.
鈥淪ince announcing our entrance to the Manchester market the response has been phenomenal and we are receiving enquiries every day from businesses operating in many industry sectors.
鈥淒ueCourse has been the first company to formally sign up for office space and we look forward to welcoming many more.鈥�
Accelerate Places, backed by investor Blenheim Chalcot, will provide 180 desk spaces over two floors, with a members only private caf茅, communal area, tech-enabled meeting rooms and breakout areas.
It will also offer business mentoring support for SMEs to learn and grow, with advice on accounting, tax, legal, finance, HR and will host networking and learning events to bring the co-working community together.
Michael Hall, head of growth at DueCourse, said: 鈥淲e had heard of Accelerate Places and Blenheim Chalcot through our business contacts in London.
鈥淗aving been impressed with the space in London we were keen to see the plans for Manchester; we were not disappointed. We want to be part of a space that provides the right platform and attracts people who truly want to do global things with their business ambitions.
鈥淲e are confident Accelerate Places can provide this platform for us, hence the reason for signing up.
鈥淭he space is important to us and there are some great features like the phone booth in the lift shaft, but most importantly we want to be around people and businesses that want to take Manchester to new heights.
鈥淲e are proud to be the first in the space and play a key role in contributing to the Accelerate Places community.”