In September, O2 and franchise business Telenomics opened O2 Workshop, a revolutionary drop-in workspace targeted at flexible workers, entrepreneurs and local small businesses.
The move was borne out of research conducted by O2 at the peak of the recession, which found that fears over the stability of the economy could be forcing over 50,000 small businesses a month to close down their offices. We found that, at the time, over one in ten (13 per cent) had chosen not to renew a lease or an office or business premises and are now working remotely or from home.
Without doubt, getting rid of the office relieves many small businesses of a major overhead very quickly and helps them respond rapidly to current economic pressures. And as part of the technology and mobile communications sector, we are well placed to enable that change and provide one-stop-shop support.
The Workshop forms part of the latest and largest store in O2's estate and spans 4500 square feet over two floors. It is run by Telenomics Ltd, an O2 franchise business founded in 2007 by Amar Radia, Adarsh Radia and Asad Hamir. In addition to the shop itself - which is complete with an express till, comfy consultation areas and the latest live handsets in a fully interactive environment - the O2 Workshop space, based in Tottenham Court Road in London's West End, includes:
- Open Work Stations for up to 10 people with access to power and wireless printers- Customer Lounge with soft seating, tablet devices for browsing and free hot and cold refreshments- Four Semi-Private Meeting Rooms each able to hold up to four people with access to LCD screens for presentations- Seminar Room for up to 30 people in lecture format, featuring interactive white boards for presentations and seminars- Private Conference Room with interactive white board facilities for up to 10 people- Concierge Bar for customer enquiries and booking facilities- O2 Guru Bar with a dedicated business O2 Guru offering advice and business specialist appointments - O2 Wifi which will be free and open for all customersAs well as catering for up to 75 visitors, the space will also play host to weekly events designed to support and encourage entrepreneurs and small businesses, working with organisations such as Start-Up Britain and Enterprise Nation. Telenomics will use the O2 Workshop to host an ongoing programme of networking events and seminars, targeted at small businesses and entrepreneurs. Partnering with leading organisations and figureheads, O2 Workshop aims to become a hub for end-to-end small business support and networking. And as testament to its importance to O2, our Direct London SMB team will be permanently based at the Tottenham Court Road store. We at O2 are fervent supporters of entrepreneurial activity and believe it is a force for economic and social good. It therefore needs to be encouraged and supported and we see the launch of O2 Workshop as a reflection of our ongoing commitment to champion small businesses. They are so crucial to driving our economy forward, after all. 

Simon Devonshire is the General Manager of the Small & Medium Business division of O2, providing telecommunications to SMBs across the UK. In addition to his role at O2, Simon is also actively involved with a number of small businesses, and is co-founder of One Water. One Water is a social enterprise that sells products in the developed world in order to fund related projects in the developing world. To date, the One portfolio has generated and donated more than £6m.