Working from home in a market town has one problem, and it is home.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays the room above the cafe is open, free, to anyone who wants a desk, decent wifi and a kitchen underneath them. Turn up on the day and take a table.
The room
It was refurbished over the winter and into this spring, and it is properly separate from the cafe: its own entrance off the square, its own toilet, a main room and a smaller breakout room.
There are proper tables and chairs rather than cafe furniture, plenty of sockets, an interactive whiteboard, and a window onto the market place. Capacity across both rooms is 20, and a co-working day is never anywhere near that, so you will have your pick of where to sit.
Being honest about the numbers: this is a quiet thing we have not advertised much, so some days there are a handful of people up there and some days there is nobody. As often as not it gets used by two people who wanted somewhere to meet that was not a table downstairs.
The market place window is a mixed blessing on a Wednesday. It is a nice view and it is also a market, so if you need quiet, sit at the back.
What it costs
Nothing, between 9 and 4 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Buy a coffee if you want one. The desk is free either way.
If you need the breakout room to yourself for calls, that is a small charge for a half day or a day. Outside those two days the whole room hires for meetings, with catering from the kitchen. The co-working page has what the breakout room holds and who to ring about it.
The practical bits
There is a modem up there to get you online, and plenty of sockets. There are no lockers, so do not leave a laptop unattended on a table while you come down for lunch.
If your day depends on a call going smoothly, test one early rather than finding out at two o'clock.
Lunch
Order at the counter and eat upstairs. Lunch runs 11:30 to 14:30.
The Reuben and the soup both survive being eaten one-handed next to a keyboard, which is the main criterion that matters up there.
Turning up
Come to the counter, say you are here to work, and somebody will point you at the stairs.
If you are bringing a group, send us a line first so we can be sure there is room. And if the room is hired that day, which happens occasionally, we will tell you at the counter rather than letting you get settled.
Why we do it
Honestly, because the room sat empty two days a week and a room that is empty is a room that is costing money.
It brings people in who would not otherwise come, and some of them buy lunch. That is the whole business case.
