Taunton digital hub 'needed' despite home working trend

A digital innovation centre will still be essential despite more people working from home due to coronavirus, a business forum has said.

Plans for the centre have secured £5.5m of funding, dependent on the strength of its business case.

Digital Taunton is helping to gather evidence of the need for such a centre.

Co-founder Jeremy Hyams said: "The pandemic has shown us you don't have to be working from home or in an office block 9-5, five days a week."

"I think the innovation centre will facilitate that hybrid model," he added.

The centre, based in Firepool, will have an amphitheatre, exhibition space, open and private work spaces, meeting rooms for hire, and a cafe/bar.

The plans are being led by Somerset County Council, along with Somerset West and Taunton Council, and the regional Local Enterprise Partnership.

Mr Hyams also runs an insurance claims business and intends to scale down one site in Northampton.

"We are not renewing the lease, as we can work from home really well but what we want is a site for meetings, for inspirational get-togethers and to meet clients."

He said place like the digital hub would be "an amazing place to hang out" for businesses which share a similar outlook.

So far 80 local businesses have signed Digital Taunton's register, set up to reflect the local need.

"At the moment, everyone is doing webinars or talking to their clients, but they are very samey, samey, patchy, not great quality," Mr Hyams said.

"The hub will have a great conference room specifically designed for sound, great broadband and great tech for filming.

"You've got the perfect environment to broadcast and host webinars or podcasts," he said.