CAN Mezzanine Case Study 

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SpeakersBank are one of few new customers we've welcomed to CAN Mezzanine London Bridge. With only a few desks available at this riverside location, most free desks are taken up with internal growth. Luckily, this fast growing training charity had the luxury of being able to wait for as long as it took to get the space they wanted. 

According to Jez Sweetland, new CEO, it was worth the wait. "We were working from our founder's house for many years. It was great as the costs were low, but working from someone's home has a completely different feel to it than working from an office." Like any small organisation, there were factors of varying importance to consider when choosing where their new offices might be. "Location was an important factor for us, it was also crucial that we had a 24-hour serviced office space. While we have 80 training staff, there are only two core members of staff. We don't want the hassle of office management, we need to focus on our core aims, to deliver public speaking training to third sector organisations. CAN Mezzanine allows us to do that."

SpeakersBank, part of the Speakers Trust charity, has trained 30,000 people this year alone and is the UK`s fastest growing trainer provider in the public speaking and communication fields. Their network of professional trainers, speakers and facilitators provide dynamic training to all sectors of the population, particularly to those in the education, voluntary and public arenas, who often have little access to such opportunity.

Other draws to the CAN Mezzanine space was access to meeting rooms and conference rooms. "Having access to meeting rooms has been invaluable. Visitors and potential clients are always impressed that we have such smart offices in such a prime central location. It's also a big draw when recruiting trainers and staff. We look more professional and are taken more seriously here. We've also saved thousands of pounds on venue hire." CAN Mezzanine offices include access to meeting rooms and conference rooms at no extra cost. "We saved £2,000 last year by using the CAN Mezzanine conference room to deliver our training or host our team days. This is half the hire costs of a desk!" Jez says enthusiastically.

Jez seems to be enthusiastic about everything CAN Mezzanine has to offer. "The quality here is exceptional, particularly for the price." continues Jez. "Not only do we have an exceptionally good rate, but so much is already included. You can be confident too that the rent won't suddenly be hiked up. Renting from a charitable social enterprise means we know our landlard is not looking for a profit and rent increases are to cover genuine costs, not to line someone's wallet. We feel really secure here which again, allows us to focus on what is important to us, delivering to our beneficiaries."

According to Jez, moving into CAN Mezzanine London Bridge has completely transformed the way they work. "Being in a building made up entirely of your own sector has enormous benefits. Being able to just walk up to someone and start a potential partnership is incredible. Being in a professional environment really motivates you to work harder. Being here allows us to punch above our weight. We love it and would thoroughly recommend it to other third sector organisations."

If you have a group who will benefit from Public Speaking training, or want to find out more about Speakersbank, please visit www.speakersbank.co.uk