Leo Wood co-hosted a dinner we organised over the summer that brought together founders of coworking spaces in London. The dinner encouraged conversation and idea sharing between London’s most innovative coworking spaces over food & wine. We recently caught up with Leo about her gorgeous space in Bethnal Green called Winkley Studios and plans for the future (coworking space with creche, yes!).

What’s the elevator pitch for your coworking space?

Winkley Studios is a friendly, beautiful and low key coworking space in Bethnal Green.

What were you doing before this?

I ran another smaller coworking space for several years, which gave me the experience I needed to open Winkley Studios last year. I have also worked for many years as a freelance theatre and festival producer.

What’s your biggest ‘hindsight’ moment?

You can have a great product but you also need to get the pricing structure right in order to maximise sales. I’ve found it hard to understand what people are prepared to pay for coworking and how they want to use a coworking space time-wise but I think we’ve got our pricing model nearly there now.

What will the rest of 2014 bring?

I’m busy planning another coworking space in east London, but this time with a crèche space alongside it. I’m a new mum and am getting really passionate about supporting mums and parents who want to work flexibly and who need good quality flexible childcare to help make this easily possible.

1 piece of advice for someone starting a coworking space?

I think there are loads of different ways to make a coworking space work – so many different people use coworking spaces now – but I think it’s handy to have something that sets you apart (location, market type etc) as its becoming a more crowded market place. Also, make sure that your location and building match appropriately to the market that you are trying to reach.

Explain why a startup might want to join your space in under 50 words.

Winkley Studios is set in a beautiful light studio space just by Broadway Market, which is a great location. We’re a calm and peaceful working space and our coworkers are all super friendly. We also offer really affordable desks for people who want to sign up for 3 months plus.

What’s your favourite coworking space (not including your own)?

I’m a big fan of Central Working. I think the design of their spaces is really strong, and they’ve been very smart in developing a large coworking space and brand that doesn’t feel too corporate. I like their ambition too. 

What’s your favourite London restaurant?

I always like going to new places so I don’t tend to go to a restaurant more than once as there’s so much choice in London!  Yautcha is a pretty delectable and classy dim sum restaurant that comes to mind. http://www.yauatcha.com/ As far as chain restaurants go, I rate PingPong the most. Any type of Asian food tends to be a favourite.

Thanks Leo and best of luck with your next venture.

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