There are a fair few co-working spaces in Nottingham these days, but not many have the buzz or resources Antenna can shout about. We have a nosey round and meet some of the businessfolk who call it home...
There are a fair few co-working spaces in Nottingham these days, but not many have the buzz Antenna possesses. With a bustling cafe bar filled with all manner of businessfolk, students and staff from Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies knocking around, you can really feel the energy and creativity – you just need to look around and see how people interact with each other to realise there’s a big community vibe around the place. It also comes with all the added benefits of working in a super-slick business environment - high-speed broadband, reception services, in-house hospitality, and unrivalled practical business support.
Nestled amongst Nottingham’s Creative Quarter, a stone’s throw from the city centre and economic hubs like Sneinton Market Avenues, Hockley, BioCity, and the other recent and ongoing developments along the city’s south-east flank, it’s an ideal place to do business. But besides the location and hugely diverse array of members and tenants - from post-grads getting settled into business life to established creative agencies and start-ups - Antenna has another ace up its sleeve.
It feels like a lot of people doing a lot of things that are vital and worth doing
What really sets it out from Nottingham’s co-working pack is the never-ending supply of young talent that laps through Antenna’s doors. Being a part of Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and sharing real estate with the likes of Confetti and Notts TV, there’s no shortage of potential new ideas and skills. The students come from various courses including Graphic and Digital Design, Content Creation and Event Production, to name a few, and have brought fresh perspective and energy to many businesses.
In terms of sustainability, Antenna is off to a fair start – co-working in shared spaces rather than heating up a whole house for one person can bring energy savings, and public transport links are numerous. Now that the space is fully integrated with NTU’s award-winning environmental management system, they’re well on their path towards net zero. Single-use plastics have also been phased out of restaurant and meeting room menus, they've recently swapped to bamboo cutlery and compostable takeaway boxes, and Confetti Media Group are working on phasing single-use plastics out of the organisation completely by October 2023
But, as they say, it’s the people wot make it… Let’s meet some of the members and tenants and see why working at Antenna works for them:
Merryn Rae Peachey, Script Supervisor working in high-end TV
What does a Script Supervisor do?
The answer is pretty much almost everything, we work from prep to the end of shooting. In prep, we look at the script and then we absolutely break it down. We look at each individual scene, which characters are in it, what props they’re using, what wardrobe they have, hair, makeup, everything, and we put it into a nice document. And then we also pre-time the scenes, so we can give production an estimated runtime of the film or the episode, or whatever it is. We also communicate with the Director about what their vision is, and communicate with the Editor to make sure that our notes are useful to them. I'd say the Script Supervisor is the Editor’s eyes on set.
How do you find working at Antenna?
I'm an ex-student of Confetti, so I get the alumni discount, which really helps me to be able to afford a co-working space, especially being freelance. I have a spare room at home but it's always in this weird in-between state; it's where my parents come back and stay, there’s a lot of junk. So I prefer to get out of the house to work. When I was a student, I used the Antenna bar, so I'm used to the atmosphere here and I know that I can work in this space - that really helps me. If I need to have any private meetings, I know I can book rooms upstairs. One of the main things I like about Antenna is that my uni tutors still work here too, so I can see them and catch up with them and they get to know what I'm doing, which I hope they enjoy! I already know the community here from being in Confetti, and it makes it a nice, welcoming environment whenever I do come back.
Andy Afford, Managing Director and Co-Owner of STENCIL Creative Agency
What do you get up to at STENCIL?
Creative projects - anything that helps people tell their story, really. If someone has a brand-based challenge - either a campaign, or web build, or anything like that - we'll help with photography, websites, graphic design, print pieces, digital pieces, the whole thing. We've got a team of about seventeen, which is… bonkers. If we've got anything going for us, it's that we've got lots of talented young people, and that's our thing. We work very, very closely with Confetti, in terms of supporting their young people, offering placements and the like, and we try to employ the best kids when they come out the other side. And we’ve often road-tested them first.
What do you like about being based at Antenna?
It feels like a lot of people doing a lot of things that are vital and worth doing. Looking around, you’re seeing Confetti people in here, catching up, getting a coffee and doing their thing. You’re seeing young businesses growing up: You can see people sat across tables, starting businesses, and we - myself and Sam, who's my partner in the business - started exactly like that here. So it's just got a good energy, you know? You sometimes see a famous person, which is always good; it gives you a bit of pep. And I like being around this part of Nottingham. It's undeniably the best part of the city.
Stacey Green and Laura Grant, Co-Directors of Freedom Foundation and Shades Dancewear
Two businesses in one! Let’s start with telling us about Freedom Foundation?
Stacey: I am the principal of a successful dance school in Ruddington and in 2017 myself and Laura founded Freedom. At that time I had a lot of students who suffered with anxiety and depression, in some cases self-harm and eating disorders, which I believed social media played a big part in. So I spoke to Laura about how we could get into mainstream schools and raise awareness about the impact social media was having on the mental health and wellbeing of young people. We work in primary and secondary education, supporting using the creative arts. This includes singing, songwriting, and streetdance, and we run a variety of programmes, empowering young people, improving their wellbeing, and encouraging emotional dialogue.
And what’s Shades Dancewear all about?
Laura: After the tragic death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, we started looking at the work that we did at Freedom Foundation along with Stacey’s experience within the dance industry as a mixed race woman. Stacey's background is in the dance industry, included ballet, tap, musical theatre, and we started to ask how diverse is that world? We found that there was such little diversity and racial representation in dance education. So, if we're working in diverse communities, and we're promoting the industry, how can those children really believe that that's an industry that they can enter into? A big issue is suitable dancewear for people of colour, so we decided to launch our own inclusive dance brand, Shades Dancewear. We have created four shades of skin tone in ballet tight, socks and shoes, as well as jazz shoes. We have also designed male dance support belts; nowhere else in the world does them in four shades.
Stacey: And we’re the only UK brand to offer ballet shoes in all four shades for all child sizes. The whole point of Shades Dancewear is that, from the minute you walk into a dance class, you should be able to embrace your ethnicity and retain your identity throughout your dance career.
What are the benefits of being based at Antenna?
Laura: When we set up, we were really keen that it wasn't just us at kitchen tables. So we became tenants here, held all our meetings here, and could even run our launch events here. We became virtual tenants, too, so we didn’t have to use our own mobile numbers or home addresses. Now we’ve got our own office space, our programme facilitators are in and out, we use it for training, we can hire a room for strategy days. The receptionists are great, too. We’re really happy here – it’s part of our story, really. We’ve grown with it.
Stacey: I like the networking, I’m quite nosey – so I’m often downstairs in the co-working space! It’s a great place to connect.
Antenna offers flexible memberships from only £8.95 per month, including loads of exclusive perks – find out more about joining here
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