New Vulcan Works tenant praises workspace's innovation and culture

Darren Sharp, founder of S-SA Digital, moved into Vulcan Works at the beginning of January, saying there’s “no better place you can be” for businesses in his industry.

S-SA Digital has been established for almost 17 years and is renowned for its talent acquisition prowess. It boasts some big household names as clients as well as having smaller start-up businesses on its books.

Darren became aware of Vulcan Works through his work with Digital Northants, which celebrates and promotes the county’s innovation. S-SA Digital has been a part of the initiative since its inception.

He decided to move to Vulcan Works to create a new immersive, creative culture for his team of six employees, who were previously housed at Silverstone Innovation Centre.

Darren said: “Silverstone was great, we had a good four years there but at Vulcan Works, we are right in the heart of the town centre, the location and infrastructure are fantastic. There’s not been anywhere like this until now.

“We wanted to build a culture purely embedded in the tech and digital environment and what Vulcan Works has achieved as an innovation and business hub cannot be overlooked. It made perfect sense to move here.”

Already S-SA Digital, which builds talent teams across the UK but also has a strong homegrown presence in Northampton, has settled in well to its new home.

“So far it has been absolutely superb,” said Darren. “The interest that moving in here has created has been unreal. There’s been a lot of noise around it.

“I’ve got a new meeting everyday with people coming to Vulcan Works to see me, which is unheard of, a real rarity. I love it.”

Darren is now looking to partner with Vulcan Works to build a tech club for likeminded businesses to meet and share best practices.

He said: “The tech companies I work with have been to events here, so they know it’s a great place to be. We are looking to do some other expansion pieces like building a club where techies can get together for events. There’s no better place for it.

“I’ve had clients move to Vulcan Works too, which has been so great to see. It shows the right people are moving in and a community of similar artistic, inventive people is building. We are already creating a culture and working environment conducive to the arena we are in, and it is easy to see why anyone in that environment would be attracted.”

Vulcan Works business growth manager Darren Smith is on hand to guide and support all tenants and clients from established businesses to new creative start-ups.

The flexible workspace provider has also recently partnered with high street bank Barclays to launch a Barclays Eagle Lab which supports start-up businesses by building an entrepreneurial ecosystem around it. This ecosystem will give Northamptonshire based start-ups and young businesses access to a network of industry experts and mentors as well as growth programmes, events and workshops, and investors and funding streams.

Darren Sharp added: “The Barclays Eagle Lab shows there’s impressive investment and gathering interest in Vulcan Works and the incredible service they are providing. The facilities are great, and there are a lot of community-based events here, specifically for creative and tech, as well as invaluable support on offer.

“We see this move as a fantastic opportunity to grow in a relevant and inspiring environment. There are six of us in the S-SA Digital team and we want to grow this year. The plan is to embed ourselves here, then start a recruitment drive and bring new talent into our team.”

Vulcan Works centre manager Garrick Hurter said: “It has been absolutely fantastic to welcome S-SA Digital to Vulcan Works. Darren and his team represent exactly the type of company that this centre was built to support - digital and creative specialists – and have immediately made the most of all the centre has to offer.

“Our community is growing and thriving, and it is wonderful to see and be a part of.”