New Hastings HIVE manager Claire St John Pedlar is stamping her own mark on Hastings HIVE bringing her “can-do” attitude and creative flair to the HIVE at a time when COVID-19 has been an unwelcome disruption to all.
From positive affirmations and quotes on the fridge in the café area, through to a morning coworkers’ quiz to kick off the day, Claire is enjoying her role as manager whilst operating her own marketing businesses from a desk in the shared “i-desk” coworking area.
“It’s such a great place to come and work from. There’s a wide cross-section of people here and that adds to the atmosphere. We have all faced challenges recently, but we also uplift each other.
The HIVE will become even more vibrant when Stage 3 opens. The smaller format offices have proven very popular with all but one Stage 2 office now taken. And hopefully we can soon emerge from COVID restrictions and reintroduce our get togethers in the central café area and create an awesome co-working vibe.
We can’t wait.”
Stage 3 construction underway
A vision to create the Hawke’s Bay’s first large-scale co-working space is reaching its final stage of completion, having welcomed many new businesses since their launch in January 2020.
Inspired by shared work place concepts pioneered in international trading centres like London, New York and Toronto, Rob and Jenny Gill’s vision is to create a modern co-working space with all the benefits of a corporate office space but with a super affordable and flexible rental model, for small and emerging businesses.
In hindsight not the greatest timing the Gills will admit, but they are thrilled now to need the third and final Stage 3 area to meet the demand for flexible office space. Local Hastings based MCL Construction are providing and managing the Stage 3 fit out with a completion date in June this year.
There have been many challenges in the last two years but they are proud to have provided a new home to many local, national and international businesses, keen to participate in the Hawke’s Bay growth story. Hastings HIVE now has over 20 organisations on site, from one person start-ups to larger companies with multiple teams.
Stage 3 is set to welcome yet more businesses with five new four-person offices, another video conferencing suite and three more sound-proofed i-booths for those personal phone calls, or one-on-one zoom meets.
It is also really pleasing that the HIVE has become the base for a number of not-for-profit organisations such as recent addition, the Graeme Dingle Foundation, who provide inspirational programmes supporting NZ youth; Volunteering Hawke’s Bay who support volunteer organisations within the Bay; Puhoro Trust who provide targeted tuition for young Maori to achieve excellence in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths); and The Wharariki Trust providing grass root support to Flaxmere and its diverse community.
Some recent corporate additions include DCA Architects, The Recruitment Network, Newline (bathroom fit-out specialists) and Sandpiper Communications.
A recent big mover in the HIVE is BECA. Their Hawke’s Bay Market Leader and Senior Associate Matt Sanders says the Hive is the perfect spot for dynamic businesses, providing flexibility to grow as the business and team grow.
“The HIVE has allowed us to quickly establish our permanent office in Te Matau-a-Māui. We started in one of the mid-sized offices, and on the back of supporting our clients in the region have grown rapidly and now occupy a large office fronting onto Market Street.
Rob and Claire (HIVE community manager) were fantastic to work with during our move, and the flexibility offered allowed us to increase our footprint without any disruption to our business.
