An industrial estate in Loughton, Essex, is unlikely to be the first place that springs to mind when you imagine a creative work hub.
But for nearly a year, swathes of businesses – from a local dog groomer to a satellite office for wealth manager St James’s Place – have been making the Oakwood Hill estate the site of their new office HQs.
The result has been the creation of an overnight business hub in the most improbable of locations. And the whole thing operates out of a stack of 36 crates.
Before dismissing the concept as a “been there, done that” replica of other, well-known set-ups such as Boxpark, the founder of Crate is quick to point out that this is unique.
“We get asked what makes us different all the time,” says Adam Walker, who set up Loughton’s pilot Crate scheme in April last year. “Someone once said that if WeWork and Boxpark had a baby, it would be Crate,” he laughs.
“But really there is no similarity to the latter in terms of use. They are leading the way when it comes to meanwhile use with a predominantly food and beverage offer, whereas we are absolutely a business park.
“The cargotechture – which is the word we use to describe shipping container or crate design – is very similar, but in terms of use and planning we are unique in what we provide.”
Each of the sites will include food and beverage amenities – the Loughton site even boasts a Costa – which is not only the first of the coffee company’s outlets ever to operate out of a shipping container but also the first to take space on an industrial estate.
But it is the workplace focus that makes it so different.
A 50-module Crate scheme can accommodate up to 60 businesses, generating 150 full-time jobs and £4m of economic value-add.
The stackable nature of the shipping containers means the schemes attract companies from pre-cash start-up stage all the way through to firms that have been established for more than 25 years.
“Companies have a licence to occupy their space for a year, with a three-month notice period, so there is very little risk. They can take half a crate and grow into one,” says Walker.
“They can then expand further into the stack (which goes up four crates high) and, eventually, outgrow us entirely and start looking for their own space locally. This means that local authorities don’t see us as a challenge for their local high streets but rather as reseeding their own asset.”
He adds that this is not the only benefit for the local authorities, which he considers as much of a client as Crate’s tenants – otherwise known as Craters.
“When I first went to the local council to ask if I could take over the empty space on the Loughton industrial estate for Crate, they laughed and said: ‘This is Epping Forest, not Shoreditch.’ But I explained my vision and how we would be bringing a superstructure and a brand to the area.
“We design, deliver, build and fund the schemes – it costs about £2m to build each site. The local authority just provides the land – we look for 10 years plus – and they get the ground rent.
“Following the success of the existing schemes, Essex County Council has said it wants a Crate scheme in every Essex town. And we are more ambitious than that.
“We are now working as far west as Ealing, and my initial plans to roll out 22 Crate schemes in seven years (comprising 500 micro flats and 1,000 modules) looks more than possible following a multi-million-pound finance raise last year.
“We are expecting the response to be positive because we are creating these new, fresh hubs in local areas that may otherwise be struggling to attract fresh talent.”
“In terms of the macro view, the timing for this sort of concept couldn’t be better,” says Denizer Ibrahim, director and head of special projects at BNP Paribas Real Estate.
“Towns are having a hard time when it comes to identity, especially in the retail sector. This concept could really help to reinvent the high street.”
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