20 questions...

LAST MONTH WE TALKED ABOUT DIGITAL NOMADS. AND WE WERE FLOODED WITH ENQUIRIES ABOUT SHARED SPACE OPTIONS. TIME TO MEET THE TWOSOME BEHIND POMAR COWORKING IN OLH Ã O

1 Who are the people behind POMAR Coworking ? We are Claire and Hadrien, a couple from France, with a four-year-old daughter. Claire studied in Lisbon – her father was born and raised in Estoi. After Covid, we wanted to find a setting that was more linked to our needs and aspirations.

2 How long have you been in Portugal? We’ve been here full time for 18 months.

3 Business backgrounds? Web/digital/ tech, and digital transformation. Claire is now focused totally on Pomar; Hadrien works remotely as Tech Product Manager for a French insurance company.

4 Why Olhāo for this new venture?

Olhão remains a city relatively untouched by the grip of mass tourism. And it possesses the ideal features to entice digital nomads – it is close to the airport, has a large choice of rentals and offers many different activities as well as access to the Ria Formosa islands.

5 What prompted you to focus on the nomad market? Covid has revolutionised the way we work and brought a large-scale generational change. Portugal has been voted the best place for digital nomads and we see more remote workers choose to settle here.

6 How big are you premises for workers? We opened our first coworking initiative in a 50sqm commercial space close to the city market, in a pedestrian street that offers a lot of calm. After renovations, it can now accomodate up to seven coworkers.

7 What facilities do you provide?

Each coworking desk has a large table, an ergonomic chair and a monitor. There is space between desks, a phone box to take private calls, and areas for relaxation.

8 How do you deal with power cuts, failures, etc? Until now we have not had any problem; the internet service is really reliable here with a strong fiber cover.

9 What sort of contracts do you offer?

We have half-day/day/week/month passes with reserved desks, and a membership offer for locals who work remotely. Our customers pay a monthly fee and then get discounted prices on passes.

10 What facilities are there for food and drinks? All our passes include unlimited coffee, cold water and cookies. And we are right near shops and cafés – our tip to disconnect? Walk by the marina and have a coffee facing the Ria Formosa.

11 Do you provide office basics? We have a printer/scanner. We have had a few request from people passing by just for a print, so we provide that service for them in our shop.

12 Opening hours? Monday to Friday, 08:45 to 18:00. On request, we can provide access to the coworking space ouside these days and times.

13 Is there a ‘minder’ on site all the time? 99% of the time.

14 You are building the first local community for Digital Nomads? Yes, we just launched the Faro-Olhão Digital Nomads Community on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook to help remote workers and nomads feel at home and settle in the area.

15 How many remote workers do you have in that community? We started on 11 October. Two weeks later we had more than 100 on Instagram and 50 on our WhatsApp channel.

16 How do you keep the community animated? We have monthly after-work meets and drinks in Olhão and Faro, and share local news. We are planning workshops, too.

17 Who do you work with locally? We hope to draw support from local government and businesses to create large-scale events and attract more remote workers and local people working remotely. This is our challenge for the end of the year.

18 What nationalities do you attract? Those from Portugal, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Italy, Argentina, the US. And we are proud of the interest from Olhanenses.

19 What is your ongoing vision for Pomar Coworking? To open a bigger co-working space in 2025 with at least 14 workstations, meeting rooms and even a little books corner!

20 And for the community? We want to promote the Algarve as a unique and desirable destination, and Olhão and Faro as places to live, work and have fun all year round.

Shen Ming Cun