When I lived in Hove, I had loads of hipster coworking spaces and cafes around me to work from when my bedroom felt too small to be creative and productive. But then the pandemic hit and I couldn’t go to any of them anyway.
Since then, I moved to Worthing and have been on the search for a coworking space that would compare to Platf9rm which is my favourite over in Brighton&Hove. There are actually a few around, most of them only opened in the past 2 years.
I tried 4 different spaces over the last months and here is my very subjective review.
Coworking Spaces in Worthing
The flat I live in has a second bedroom that’s part office and part guest bedroom. Except we don’t have guests constantly so it’s really just an office with an extra bed.
I like working from my office – I have food and drinks nearby, have a bed to rest on and the sea outside my door for a quick walk during the day.
Sometimes though, a change of environment is really helpful to get out of my own head and into a productive mood. Worthing has got some nice coffee shops that are great for a few hours of uninterrupted working time but it obviously comes at the price of coffee and food and I usually only stay for a few hours.
That’s where coworking spaces come in – you pay to use the space for a day or half-day and bring your own food. But which spaces are available in Worthing and what do they look like and cost?
Here are my experiences…
Liberty Cowork
The first place I trialled is called Liberty Cowork. It’s almost directly on the beach, a few minutes walk away from the town centre and a favourite coffee place of mine, Malt.
Liberty is a small space. It’s a single room with 8 desks, a little phone booth (not soundproof though), free coffee and tea and a toilet. That’s it.
What I liked about Liberty is the location because it allowed me to walk back home along the seafront as well as pop out for a barista coffee in the afternoon. But it’s also a very nice atmosphere, it feels very relaxed, there’s nothing corporate about it and since there’s no front of house, the space is available literally 24/7. Perfect for night owls like me.
Prices: £15/day or £160/month
Coexist
Coexist is run by a young woman called Anja – which is a rare name (and spelling) to have the UK. That alone intrigued me when I heard about the space.
The office is located right behind Worthing train station which is a nice central location. Like Liberty, it’s just a single room but it’s connected to a music studio and shares a big breakout room with them. There’s a well-stocked kitchen, lots of beautiful plants, oil diffusers and a great feel about it. It is a little darker than most offices and they currently have a problem with the heating which means we had to have small heaters running while I was there. I assume over the summer months, this place will be a nice and cool space to work from.
There’s no front of house which means access to the space is not regulated by a person having to open or close up for you and therefore the office is open to use 24/7. One of my favourite features!
Prices: £20/day , £250/month (permanent desk)
Rooms
Rooms has a very different feel to all the other coworking offices I tried. It’s spacious with beautiful interiors and a calm feeling.
What I like about this place is that it’s very central, in the middle of Worthing, close to shops and places to grab lunch if you forgot to bring yours. It also has lots of different rooms – hence the name – that can be rented individually for events or meetings. All of that at a very affordable rate.
There’s a small kitchen area with free coffee and teas and as it seems they’re also doing a great job at building a real community for their members.
The only drawback I see is that the space is only open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.30pm. Most times I go somewhere to work from, I arrive around 11am so having to leave by 5.30pm means it may stop me at an inconvenient time in my work. Have I mentioned I’m a night owl? My brain gets going around 3pm and I can easily work until midnight. Stopping at 5.30pm is not ideal for me – but it probably works for a lot of people who work remotely for their companies.
Price: £8/half day, £14/day or £150/month (Mon-Fri 8.30-5.30)
Freedom Works
The last place I tested is called FreedomWorks. There are actually 2 different locations in Worthing, the one I went to is called the Creative and Digital Hub. It’s near the library and Worthing Museum so easy to get to from the town centre.
I felt like this was the most corporate coworking space of all the ones I tested. However it felt really relaxed, the decoration is great, there’s a massive kitchen and breakout spaces for the members to use. There are lots of individual offices inside the big space that are rented by companies, the hot desking space is rather small which means they probably don’t cater to flexible working as much as the other spaces.
Like Rooms, there’s more of a community behind the office with events and offerings which starts by asking you to sign up to their website and a full tour on your first arrival. And also like Rooms, the space isn’t available outside of standard weekday working hours for hot deskers.
Prices: 22.50/day (8 hours), £160/80 hours, permanent desk £275/month
The benefit of coworking seems obvious – and if your goal is to find a community of freelancers, then the bigger spaces are probably a better shout. If you, however, like me just want an occasional place to work from that’s not a cafe, that gives you complete freedom around your working hours, then the smaller spaces might be a better fit.
After trying those 4 options here in Worthing, I have to say I haven’t found a permanent home and that’s totally fine. I can’t and don’t want to commit to a monthly membership to any of the places purely because I don’t think I would use it often enough. Occasionally, I still work from Paltf9rm in Hove and having the freedom to bounce around between all the options I have available actually suits me best.
But I hope this review gave you a little insight into where you can work from in Worthing if you want to mix it up occasionally. And if you have a favourite space, please feel free to share that with me!
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