Image of a wood workshop with lots of people working in aprons

Supporting makers and creative businesses in Park Royal: growing affordable workspace at POW

Type:
Case study
Category:
Business
Area:
Park Royal

Park Royal Open Workshop (POW) is an open-access makerspace in Park Royal, providing affordable workspace, specialist equipment and training for makers, designers and manufacturers. The organisation helps tackle one of the biggest challenges facing creative businesses in London: access to affordable space and professional-grade equipment.

To support its growth, POW secured investment through the OPDC Loan Fund, which provides affordable finance to businesses and workspace providers across the OPDC area. The funding enabled POW to install a new mezzanine and invest in additional machinery, increasing affordable workspace capacity and expanding opportunities for local businesses. The expansion has delivered significant benefits for both POW and the businesses it supports. 

Image of a woman in blue overalls using a spray gun on a wall

Supporting innovation, skills and growth 

POW provides a unique offer within Park Royal, combining affordable workspace with access to specialist tools, equipment and training. This supports local businesses to test ideas, develop products and grow without the significant cost of buying their own machinery.

The investment has also strengthened POW's ability to support the wider creative and manufacturing ecosystem in Park Royal, creating more space for collaborative innovation.  

The loan from the OPDC has been transformational for POW, allowing us to double our floor space by creating a mezzanine and investing in new machinery. We've gone from three permanent studio members in our previous set up, to 15 studios, all of which are now fully let.

We've also created a dedicated classroom to run our lessons from. Previously, we had to arrange classes every other weekend to avoid clashes with workshop users; now, we can host fully booked classes every Friday as well as weekends. All of this would not have been possible without the support of the OPDC Small Business Loan Fund.

Alex Marsh, Director of Operations, POW

Related news