Red Ochre

Hassle-free service with a social ethos

Uday Thakkar, Chief Executive of Red Ochre, is no stranger to CAN Mezzanine. He was one of the first customers to take space in CAN Mezzanine's first offices in York Road, Waterloo, in 2000 when he managed the charity Smartchange. Now he's based in the Old Street office with seven desks for his social enterprise Red Ochre.

Red Ochre has been in existence since 2002. "We are a training and consultancy organisation that works entirely within the third sector, so our clients range from social enterprises, voluntary groups, and community groups, to charities and faith groups" says Uday. Their remit grows ever wider. "Increasingly we're working with local authorities, Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and also some government departments."

The decision to become involved with CAN back in 2000 was down to the ethos of the organisation and it was enough to convince Uday to stay. He says: "Shared facilities and flexibility about growth - it all sounded very good. The fact that CAN Mezzanine is a social enterprise and is so dynamic was icing on the sake. So we went for it."

Red Ochre considers the meeting rooms to be one of the biggest advantages. As they provide consultancy, organisational support and training, they rely on that space to deliver their services. "The meeting and conference rooms that come as part of the package are of huge benefit. On an annual basis, we have over than 3000 people who attend our workshops and conferences. A fair number of these events are based here and just being able to have the facility really benefits us. It also benefits our clients - because we charge them a much lower rate than other training organisations do."

But by far the main benefit for Uday and his team is the hassle-free service. "We don't have to worry too much about all the usual things a tenant has to worry about. A lot of that is taken care of by CAN Mezzanine," he says. "Things like alarms or who contacts the police in the event of a break in are all covered by CAN Mezzanine. The very fact that we're sitting next to the landlord means that if there are any problems, we can just talk to them and sort it out." The potential for growth is also invaluable. "We can expand or shrink without too much trouble and you're not locked in to a fixed lease should you want to move out at short notice."

The feeling of kinship is also something that Uday and his team value. "We're happy here. The atmosphere is quite buzzy and the other customers in the building are friendly and approachable. I suppose all that makes it feel like a little community."

For more information on RedOchre, visit www.redochre.org.uk