15 July 2020
5
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Co.Unity: Come home to your office Writer Hedda Mittner
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O
ur time on earth is finite and we are spending so much of this precious time at the office, or getting to and from the office. All our choices, including where we live and where our children go to school, are determined by where we work,” says Craig Austin, whose brainchild, Co.Unity, opens in Hermanus this week. With all the changes we’ve been forced to make in our professional lives due to the lockdown, Craig’s philosophy of ‘Live where you want, not where you work’ is making a whole lot of sense. Many small businesses have had to give up their offices and employees are adjusting to working from home – something that freelancers and the self-employed have already been doing. Working in isolation, though, does have its challenges – and this is where Co.Unity’s concept of shared working space comes in.
ABOVE: The Co.Unity Café is open to both clients and the public for onthe-go coffee and a bite to eat.
LEFT: Co.Unity offers shared work spaces and private offices without the risk, as you only pay for the time you use the space.
The 300m² premises on the corner of Royal and Dirkie Uys Street (previously occupied by Standard Bank) are light, spacious and welcoming. You enter through the Co.Unity Café, where delicious on-the-go coffee is available to clients and the public all day, along with gourmet sandwiches and treats supplied by Rebecca Matthysen of The Eatery. Behind the counter you’ll also find a familiar face – barista Alfred Chinamasa from The Wine Glass.
“We love the ocean and we wanted a different life. We really enjoy living in Hermanus – it is a vibrant, clean and attractive town with good infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and the varsity, and a well-run municipality. But the
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From the coffee shop you enter the shared work space, where you can choose between an open hot desk, a cubicle or a private office. Temperature-controlled at a pleasant 21 degrees, with always-on electricity (they have a back-up generator that immediately kicks in during load-shedding) and unlimited super-fast WiFi, Co.Unity offers a vibrant, safe and convenient hub for the Hermanus business community. “There are so many people working from home now who don’t know about one another and who are all struggling with poor internet connectivity and load-shedding. Our vision is to pull people out of their homes and connect them by creating a hub where ideas are shared and businesses can thrive and grow, bringing revenue into our local community,” says Craig, who hails from Johannesburg and moved to the Overstrand with his wife Sasha two years ago.
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Brothers-inarms: Entrepreneurs Brett and Craig Austin. PHOTOS: Taylum Meyer local economy would be more sustainable if it weren’t so tourist-centric. We should be attracting a lot more of the digital nomads who can live and work anywhere – and what better place is there than Hermanus?” Craig’s partner in the Co.Unity venture is his brother Brett, who is based in Johannesburg, where he runs their software company. He equates Co.Unity with having “an A-grade office without the set-up hassles and without the risk, as you only pay for the time you use the space”. Shared office space is offered through various membership options, ranging from a Day Pass
at R270 (no deposit) for a hot desk in the open area, to a 5-day pass at R1 200 which is valid for 30 days (no deposit), to a private office at R4 500 (deposit required) for a minimum 3-month lease (all packages include VAT and café vouchers). Add-ons include use of the boardroom at R350 per hour, under-cover parking at R750 per month, a virtual receptionist at R250 per month, and quotes on request for evening events. For more information, go to their website, co-unity.co.za or visit their Facebook page. Until their telephone system is installed at the end of the month, Craig can be contacted on 082 576 6328 or craig@co-unity.co.za
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