Regeneration of 42 Junction Road

September 1st 2022, by Calvin Cooper

42 Junction Road - preserving the best of the old, with the function of the new

What it's all about?

Co-working: the power of community

This project is not just about the rejuvenation of an old building. This is about creating a new co-working space (think WeWork) for all of Orkney's next generation of entrepreneurs, startups, and remote workers.

Once complete, 42 Junction Road will be able to host up to 30 entrepreneurs on any given day. A range of individual 'hot desks', private soundproofed booths, and small office spaces, will be available.

One of the biggest issues facing any budding entrepreneur is loneliness. A lack of people to bounce ideas off (without driving your better half up the wall!)!

The long, stressful hours needed to grow any business can be very isolating.

Something that became incredibly apparent during COVID. People need to be around people.

And when times do (inevitably) get tough, being round other like-minded individuals can provide relief, fresh inspiration, and the impitus needed to keep moving forward.

And even for those who aren't starting up their own business, but perhaps are working remotely for someone else, the impact is the same.

Not being around the rest of your colleagues can take its toll.

This project will create the perfect environment for people to work together.

Within the co-working space, people will have the opportunity to focus on their own business & workload, bounce ideas off other bright, creative individuals, all without the big expense and ongoing commitment of taking on your own larger premises.

Our vision is that by creating this environment, we will help more and more business get the inspiration, community input, and mental resiliance needed to burst through those tough early stages of their business journey!

The building as it stands

The full site, showing the tight, constrained nature of access for the contractors. A tricky project, but well worth preserving!
Originally this was part of an old saw-mill with some key features, including the large, unique floorboards, complete with bolt-holes from the old machinery (c. 1910), and the porcelain brickwork (c. 1935).
Built in 1902, these stone pillars originally formed the shop-front of a standalone building (furniture shop, Thomas Kennedy).
The original furniture shop. A new window at the road front will provide much-needed natural light.
Current first floor, looking towards the main road.
Restoring the beautiful 120 year-old stonework is key for this project!
The 'main hall' (blockwork section, as seen from the road), which was added in the late 1930's, by Bob Milne.
The main corridor, which will connect working spaces to social spaces.
A new mezzanine will maximise the useable space within the main hall.
Accessibility is key going forward. Two stairwells and an elevator will give the building maximum flexibility and accessibility to all users.
A look through to the old workshop. This will form the future common social-area.

Like-minded people, working together

Our firm, CRC Accountancy, will also be based in this space.

As we're growing our own business, we want to share our experience day-to-day with other entrepreneurs, and perhaps offer some insights and advice to help them on their own journey.

Yes, we could call these business owners up, and organise a formal meeting. And we will be looking to host development workshops and events within 42 Junction Road once it's up and running.

But hey, sometimes the best conversations happen in the kitchen, over a fine Orkney coffee!

Community & Collaboration

Some of businesses on our 8-month business development programme, The Flywheel Collective. Sessions like this will be a key point of connection for local businesses within Number 42.
Hosting team development sessions will be a key focus. Bringing businesses up to Orkney from across the UK for team development retreats.
And importantly, all of this will be well-fuelled by some local Orkney coffee!
Connecting online with speakers from further afield is just part and parcel of business these days. Here is Kelly Lundberg, a personal branding expert, who joined a Flywheel session by Zoom - all the way from Dubai.
Good local food matters!
Other local businesses were used throughout the Flywheel programme, including new catering business, Box'd Orkney.
Collaborating with other local business experts is key. Lauren Miller, Marketing Manager for Kyloe Partners, shared her expertise with attendees on last year's Flywheel programme.
And we can't wait to bring clients based outside Orkney into Junction Road, and into our islands - such as our Norwegian clients, seen here on a recent trip to Bergen.
Bringing speakers into Orkney is key, like with Mark Jenkins, serial entrepreneur, brought in to talk at a recent event at 42JR
And of course, we'll do a wee bit of presenting ourselves too!

How our firm's model works?

We offer SME's - typically turning over £1m+ (or looking to burst through their first £1m) - financial and strategic advice to help them on their growth journey.

This includes offering Finance Director assistance, performance measurement and analysis, strategic forecasting and financial modelling, and team development.

That last one's key; as every growing business knows, having the right team on board is essential.

And ensuring you have a financial model that can attract, retain, and empower, that team along the growth journey is what it's all about!

As our name suggests, we do also take care of the traditional accountancy aspects too. But this is more out of convenience for the client, so they get everything done under one roof, rather than being the focus of our work together.

Needs-musts are a given. For us, the focus is always on the value-adding elements of the relationship.

Further growth opportunities for Orkney

We never wanted to disrupt the existing local market. Orkney's too small for us to be competing with one another.

The key is on collaboration locally, and focussing on bringing new money into Orkney.

Our own firm's growth strategy is focussed on the exporting of our services across the UK. Thankfully, COVID completely opened up the UK market, with businesses now being much more willing to work remotely.

As a result, we now work with a range of interesting, growing businesses across the UK.

And as the likes of Kyloe Partners, Aquatera, and EMEC have proven, Orkney's services-export sector works, and has huge growth potential.

To have all the lifestyle benefits of living and working in Orkney, and have a career that you might only expect to find in a larger city south is a very exciting prospect indeed!

By generating new money for Orkney, and then keeping it on-island through the creation of new high-skilled, high-paid positions of employment for Orkney residents, we ensure we build a model that gives the greatest possible benefit to all of Orkney's economy.

The co-working space isn't solely aimed at existing Orkney residents; it's also open to business tourists, and future Orkney residents.

By welcoming these people into Orkney, and enabling them to integrate with other members of Orkney's business community, we open up a whole new range of collaboration, working relationships, and business-to-business opportunities!

There's plenty still to be honed in, and plenty we're working on in the background, but all we know is; we're excited for the platform 42 Junction Road will become!

This is just the beginning!

We can't wait to share this regeneration journey with you all, and welcoming you into 42 Junction Road before too long!

If you have any suggestions for the space, or anything you'd like to ask - just drop us a line here.

We're always happy to chat it through!