The Wivenhoe Business Centre is located on Brook Street in Wivenhoe and provides workspace for a range of small businesses and independent operators. It is one of the less obvious parts of the town’s local economy, as many of the businesses based there are not particularly visible to people simply walking around the High Street.
The centre is made up of a number of individual units occupied by different businesses. The companies and activities vary, which is typical of a small business centre. Among the businesses associated with the centre are professional services, creative businesses, suppliers and other small enterprises.
For a town such as Wivenhoe, this type of business premises has an important role. It provides somewhere for businesses to operate without requiring a large office or commercial building. It also allows several different companies to work in the same general location.
A Place for Small Businesses
The Wivenhoe Business Centre is primarily suited to smaller businesses.
A small company does not necessarily need a large office with a reception area and several floors of accommodation. It may only require a few rooms, somewhere to meet clients, storage space or a workshop.
The business centre provides this type of environment.
This is particularly relevant to businesses that are growing beyond the point where working from home is practical but are not yet large enough to require their own premises.
It can also suit established businesses that want a relatively small and straightforward base.
The result is a collection of businesses which might otherwise be spread across different parts of the town or operated from private homes.
A Variety of Businesses
One of the features of the Wivenhoe Business Centre is the variety of businesses that have operated from its units.
The centre has accommodated businesses involved in areas including accountancy, creative work, printing, video services, specialist supplies and other professional activities.
This mixture is typical of a small business centre. There is no single industry which defines the building.
That can be useful for the businesses themselves. A person working for one company may regularly encounter people working for another. There can be opportunities for companies to recommend one another, use each other’s services or simply become familiar with other businesses in the area.
It is not a formal business network, but proximity can create some of the same effects.
The Importance of Local Business Premises
There is a tendency to think of employment in terms of large offices, factories, shops and public-sector organisations.
Small business premises are less noticeable.
However, a building containing a number of small businesses can represent a significant amount of economic activity. Each business may employ only a small number of people, but collectively the businesses provide work for people in the local area and contribute to the wider economy.
This is particularly relevant in Wivenhoe, where there is a strong residential character and relatively limited commercial space compared with a larger town such as Colchester.
The Wivenhoe Business Centre therefore provides something which is not particularly easy to create in an established town: dedicated space for small businesses.
An Opportunity for New Businesses
Business centres can also be useful for people starting a company.
A new business often has to keep costs under control. Taking a large commercial lease can be unrealistic, particularly when the company has no established income.
A smaller unit provides a more manageable starting point.
The business owner can have a proper business address and dedicated workspace without immediately taking on the costs associated with a much larger premises.
This can be important for professional and creative businesses in particular.
A business that begins with one person may eventually employ several people. Having suitable premises available locally makes it possible for some businesses to grow without immediately moving to another town.
The Centre and Wivenhoe
The location of the Business Centre is also significant.
Brook Street is close to the centre of Wivenhoe and is part of the older commercial area of the town. The Business Centre is therefore not an isolated industrial estate on the edge of town.
This makes it reasonably accessible to people living in Wivenhoe.
For an employee, this can mean a short journey to work. For a business, being close to the town centre provides access to local shops, services and transport.
It also means that businesses based at the centre form part of the ordinary working life of the town rather than being completely separate from it.
Looking for Work
The Business Centre is also worth considering by people looking for work in Wivenhoe.
Not every company based there will advertise vacancies on LinkedIn or on one of the large job websites. Small businesses often recruit differently from large organisations.
A person looking for administrative, accounts, sales, marketing, design, technical or other professional work could therefore identify the businesses operating from the centre and investigate them individually.
The approach is fairly simple.
First, find out which companies are currently based at the Business Centre. Then look at their websites and find out what they do. If one appears to be a suitable employer, find the appropriate contact and send a CV with a short covering letter.
There may not be a vacancy.
That does not necessarily mean that contacting the company is pointless.
A small business may know that it needs additional help without having formally advertised a position. It may also be planning to expand or may need somebody for a particular project.
A direct approach therefore has some value.
It Is Not Just About Employment
The Business Centre also has a wider role than simply providing jobs.
Small businesses need other businesses.
An accountant may provide services to a designer. A printer may provide materials for another local company. A video business may work with a marketing company. A specialist supplier may have customers among other businesses in the area.
This creates a small local commercial network.
Some of these relationships will be based within the Business Centre itself, while others will involve companies elsewhere in Wivenhoe, Colchester and further afield.
The centre is therefore part of a wider business economy rather than being a collection of completely unrelated offices.
A Useful Part of Wivenhoe
Wivenhoe is often thought of primarily as a residential and historic town, with its High Street, riverside, railway station and surrounding countryside.
The Business Centre represents a different side of the town.
It is concerned with offices, commercial premises, small companies and employment. It is not necessarily something that attracts attention from visitors, but it is part of the infrastructure which allows businesses to operate locally.
The continued availability of this type of space is important for a town which wants to retain some employment rather than becoming entirely residential.
Small businesses also provide a different type of employment from large organisations. They can offer more specialised roles and may give employees the opportunity to work closely with the owners or managers of a company.
This will not suit everybody, but it can be attractive to people who prefer a smaller working environment.
A Small Business Centre With a Local Role
The Wivenhoe Business Centre is not a large commercial development and it is unlikely to become one.
Its value is largely in doing something relatively simple: providing practical premises for small businesses in the town.
For businesses, it offers somewhere to work. For employees, it provides potential local employment. For other companies, it provides potential customers and suppliers. For Wivenhoe itself, it helps maintain an element of commercial activity within the town.
For people interested in the local economy, it is therefore worth remembering that Wivenhoe’s businesses are not confined to the shops and offices that are immediately visible from the High Street.
Some are operating quietly from places such as the Wivenhoe Business Centre.
They may not be advertising jobs every week, but they are still businesses worth knowing about.
For someone looking for work locally, the centre also provides a useful starting point. Rather than waiting for a vacancy to appear on a job website, it is possible to identify the businesses there, research what they do and introduce yourself.
It is a fairly traditional approach to finding work, but in a town with a collection of small independent businesses, it remains a sensible one.
