New West London start-up hub set for grand opening

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A former Royal Mail sorting warehouse in Shepherd’s Bush is set to be opened tonight as a new ‘hub’ for start-up businesses in West London.

FIG Village, founded by venture capital group Find Invest Grow, will offer commercial office space, support and meeting venues for start-ups based in the region.

The venue contains a gym and basketball court as well as a large open-plan event space that companies can use for product launches, demonstrations, meetings and networking events.

FIG Village is already home to 15 businesses at various stages of growth, from pre-revenue start-ups to established businesses with million-pound turnovers.

It will be the first enterprise hub to be located in the West London area and will be officially opened tonight by the deputy mayor for business and enterprise, Kit Malthouse. He said: “Investing in young entrepreneurs is crucial to London’s future.

FIG is a great example of home-grown venture capital providing practical assistance to people with bright business ideas.

“The mayor and I are working to encourage more initiatives of this type in order to create the jobs and workspace our modern city needs.”

James King, founder and managing director of Find Invest Grow, said: “Whether you work at a start-up or not, jobs in the modern economy are increasingly difficult to pigeonhole in traditional ‘9 to 5’ work hours. We wanted to create a work environment that would accommodate this, where we were happy to spend time if we needed to wait late for a response from the US or come in early to speak to China.

“FIG Village is in a fantastic location with great transport links, easy access to Heathrow and, conveniently for the start-ups, West London is where a lot of investors call home.”