Fitzroy loses an IT Provider, while Melbourne gains

With a heavy heart, I announce we are leaving our home of Fitzroy after 12 years. One less IT Provider in Fitzroy. The more exciting part of this announcement is that as of June 1, we are moving to our new home in the CBD!

From little things…

After starting the business around the kitchen table, our (my) first office was a small desk we were able to squeeze into the laundry. When the phone rang, I would have to pause the spin cycle to hear my customers on the other end.

After a few months of that, our garden shed was converted to a 3-person workspace fit with air conditioning and a mini fridge full of Coke zeros. I can’t believe how much coke we used to drink. Even the walls were painted certain colours to provide the most mental stimulation possible, ensuring we were at the peak of our powers when we were solving your problem. Not sure if it helped, but my sister was an interior designer at the time, and I chose to believe it for the sake of our relationship.

A grown-up office

Then in May 2011, we made of first “real hire”. You might know him, his name is Eden Freeman. Having Eden join the team, we thought it might be time to get a grown-up office space. So where was the best place to move – Fitzroy, of course. Melbourne’s oldest suburb and the keeper of my heart. I love Fitzroy and everything it offers, which is why we’ve been here for 12 years.

Our current office space is on level 2 of 281 Brunswick St. We took possession of it in February 2020. We had grand plans to build a custom meeting space, have room for a table tennis table and have room to grow our staff to 20+. Which is what we did. What a time to sign a three-year lease – right before the first of our Covid-19 lockdowns.

Well, as we all know, office work was never the same. I can count on one hand the number of times we had everyone in the office since the pandemic. Most days, there are 3 people in the office. I sit here now, typing out this post (no, I’m not using ChatGPT), and there are only two other people here. Everyone else is working from home.

So as the end of our 3-year term was closing fast, we decided such an ample space was no longer required. We wanted to shed our pre-pandemic notions of what an office looks like. We wanted to reduce our footprint and feel a little more connected to the people around us when we were in the office—the answer for us – a coworking space.

So what is a coworking space?

FYI – This part was written by ChatGPT

A coworking space is like a coffee shop on steroids, but instead of caffeine, you’re fueled by the energy of other professionals. It’s a shared workspace where people from different industries come together to work, collaborate, and maybe even commiserate over the ups and downs of their careers.

Think of it like a playground for grown-ups, but instead of slides and swings, you get ergonomic chairs and high-speed Wi-Fi. And unlike a traditional office, you can wear trackies, and no one will judge you (although we can’t guarantee your productivity won’t suffer). 

Joining Hub Australia

Having looked around, we decided to join the Hub Australia network taking up a 6-person office in their Parliament location. It’s located on level 18 of the Orica building, 1 Nicholson St, East Melbourne.

Eden and I worked out of the Hub Sydney offices in Customs House last month, and we enjoyed the experience.

It had a great cafe and plenty of areas to have meetings. However, what I enjoyed the most was the feeling of being part of a large office, with people buzzing around and going about their business. It is a massive contrast to our current office. As an introvert, I’m looking forward to meeting some new people (crazy, right?), and as the owner of a business with a rather significant gender imbalance, it was great to be in a space with a healthy gender balance.

The other benefit is that we used to require someone in the office to receive packages. That could be a lonely day for someone in some cases. We no longer need that, as packages can be left at reception.

A six-person office, how will you all fit?

Well, we won’t. The great part of our membership is that we can use the hot desks if we have more than six people turn up for work that day. We’ll continue to use our fantastic automation systems to reserve our desks at the moment. The team will be asked to book their desk in our office, and if you’re too slow, you can still come in and find yourself another seat.

Helping our net zero goals

The other great thing about Hub Australia is that they are Carbon Active Certified. This is an important and helpful step for Intuitive, as we look to doing the same. More and more, we will look to partner with businesses that also believe in reaching Net Zero. We’re hoping that by moving our office to the CBD, more of our staff will use public transport to commute to work and take an extra car or two off the road.

So although we’ll miss Fitzroy, we are very excited about the next stage of our office life. One that is in keeping with modern working requirements for our team.

We hope to host you in are new digs once we’re in.