Venaspace Offices – A 2022 Recap

As 2023 is just around the corner, we at Venaspace Offices took the time to reflect on everything that made 2022 one of the best years yet.

Venaspace’s 2022 Fundraising

Throughout the year, we organised and participated in multiple fundraisers for our chosen charity Julia’s House Children Hospices, as well as took part in the Macmillan Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Support.

a) Team 13

Venaspace CEO, Alex Bonnet, ran several marathons as part of his fundraiser for Team 13 and Julia’s House and raised £2,060. Caroline Attreed to celebrate her 13th year at Julia’s House, formed Team 13 from 13 of the top business leaders in Bournemouth. The goal was to run 13 miles while raising £13,000; however, they surpassed this goal by miles and raised over £20,000. As part of his training, Alex completed the Seville marathon in February, The LA marathon in March, the Edinburgh marathon in May, and finally, with Team 13, the Bournemouth half-marathon in October. At the Bournemouth Half Marathon, Alex also placed 1st in his age group!

To further support Team 13 and Julia’s House, we charged a small cover fee at our Exeter Summer Party and held a raffle at our Plymouth Launch Party, which raised £530 and £300, respectively.

b) Welsh 3000

In June, our CEO, Alex, and operations director, Becca Clancy, with a few other people from team Venator, took on the Welsh 3000, which consists of summiting 15 of the Welsh peaks over 3000 square feet. Although we raised just under £1,500, unfortunately, due to dangerous weather conditions, they only summited the 1st peak, then had to go back. On the bright side, this gives us a chance for another fundraiser in summer 2023!

c) Charity Volleyball Tournament by MSP Capital

In August, three members of Team Venaspace, Becca, Katrin, and Gosia, were pleased to have participated in the charity volleyball tournament organised by MSP Capital on Bournemouth beach in support of Julia’s House Children Hospice and Lewis-Manning Hospice Care. The event raised a phenomenal £5,000, evenly split between the two charities. Our team contributed £250.

d) Macmillan Coffee Mornings

In September, our Bournemouth Community Manager, Katrin Dakeva, hosted a Macmillan Coffee Morning in Unit 7 at Venator’s House. The event was a huge success, raising £156, and the star baker was Dan Claridge, director of Venator Recruitment.

Following this, on October 31st, our Exeter Community Manager, Holly Moore, hosted a Halloween-themed Macmillan Coffee Morning down The Rabbit Hole at Venaspace Exeter. It was great to get the Exeter business community together and raise £140 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Rebecca Hilling, regional manager at Berry Recruitment, won star baker with her delicious carrot cake.

Grand Openings

In 2022, Venaspace cut the red ribbon on two office buildings, The Apex in Plymouth and The Lodge in Bournemouth.

a) The Apex

In September, we officially launched The Apex in Plymouth, the newest addition to Venaspace’s office space portfolio. We have transformed The Apex into this newly refurbished, modern workspace, which provides bright and professional office space across three floors.

With offices available for teams of 2 – 200 people, it is a workspace you definitely do not want to miss. The design of each space was inspired by the surrounding trees and wildlife, creating a space that promotes well-being and productivity.

Did we mention we have a free beer tap, EV Car Chargers, unlimited tea and coffee, and a stunning boardroom for you to win your next pitch!

b) The Lodge

In December, after nearly three years of restorations, we launched The Lodge in Bournemouth and welcomed our first client. The Lodge has undergone a £ 1 million transformation, designed by Footprint Architects; it is as show stopping as its glory days in the 1800s, with nods to its heritage and Victorian design, but with modern infrastructure to make this space a building for the future.

Networking

In 2022, we began a series of networking events across all our locations, at times hosted independently and, at times, collaboratively with other groups.

a) Venaspace Exeter

Our Exeter Community Manager welcomed the Exeter business community once a month down The Rabbit Hole for coffee, cakes, and conversation. Every month the events grew, and eventually, we hosted two Business Breakfast Meetings with Your Partnerships and one LinkedIn Local with Vic Williams.

Finally, in August 2022, we hosted our first summer party in The Rabbit Hole, sponsored by Salcombe Gin. We were honoured to be joined by so many business people who helped us raise £530 for Julia’s House while enjoying a gin-tasting by Salcombe Gin.

b) Venaspace Bournemouth

In April, we launched the Roof Terrace at Wilson House in Bournemouth. The weather has been perfect for summer networking events, BBQs, and relaxed after-work evenings. We hosted the first Honey Asset Finance’s Hive @ Five networking for young professionals with clients’ BBQs and summer events.

At Venator’s House, in Unit 7, hosted a range of free workshops for clients in the first quarter of 2022 in collaboration with West Peak Partners, including topics such as Negotiation for success and Decision Making for Businesses. We also hosted Macmillan Coffee Morning and raised £156 from selling home-baked goods. Our last event for the year was the SOCIAL networking event, where we enjoyed wine tasting and cheese bites.

c) Venaspace Plymouth

We launched The Apex in September 2022 in style, with a launch party that lasted from noon to late. We hosted tours of our newly renovated building, hosted an open house, and followed it all with a party until the early hours of the morning. Sponsored by Salcombe Gin, our guests enjoyed a cocktail-making master class. We also raised £300 for Julia’s House in a raffle, with prizes donated by KUKU Plymouth, Salcombe Gin, and Bays Brewery, who also supply the Devon Rock in Plymouth’s self-serve beer tap. 

Now that 2022 has come to a close, we cannot wait to see what is in store at Venaspace Offices next year. Stay tuned!