An interview with: Rory Southworth from Fraser House Hub
We caught up with Rory Southworth, community manager at Fraser House Hub, to hear all about the many ways community impacts his life and get his insider insights into life as a community manager and the powers of a well-connected co-working space.
What is Fraser House Hub?
Set in the heart of Lancaster city centre, Fraser House Hub is a cutting-edge co-working space for Lancashire’s vibrant tech and digital economy.
Full-fibre broadband, innovative meeting rooms and breakout spaces, friendly community, and reams of inspiring events… what more could you want?
The atmosphere in Fraser House Hub is bubbling with inspiration and enthusiasm thanks to its collection of digital and tech businesses, associates and business support.
Fraser House Hub is a space where entrepreneurs and businesses can thrive in a collaborative, supporting and inclusive community. Delivered by Lancashire County Council, Fraser House Hub’s benefits extend beyond its tenants by boosting the growth economy of Lancaster and surrounding Lancashire areas.
About Rory, Fraser House Hub’s community manager
Over to Rory — Rory is Fraser House Hub’s community manager and a pillar within Lancashire’s digital and tech scene.
First of all, can you tell us about your background and how you became a community manager?
Rory: My background is as a product designer — I spent 10 years designing, four years in London at Design School, then came up North and worked in consultancy-style and funded-support product design.
When working in design, you’re always straddling marketing — trying to understand what’s going to work, understanding products from idea to shelf for new product development. You work closely with marketeers as part of the role. So, using that knowledge, my creativity as a designer, and my sporting ability and passion, I started doing social media work for sports brands.
Then I had a blood clot. It was a pretty serious life incident that took me out of work for 3-months while I was recovering. During that time, I realised I didn’t want to be a designer anymore — I didn’t want to just be sat down. I’d spent everyday glued in front of a screen. I didn’t want to do that anymore.
“I already knew Fraser House well and wanted to help make it a place for the community.”
I knew when I came back to work I wanted to change what I do.
So, I came back and did a little bit of business development work for the company I was with then changed job to be full-time in the business development side, putting on events for digital marketing companies and moving into the events space.
They’re my people. We have the same problems, the same methods.
Leaving product design was scary so feeling like I was still with my people made me feel really comforted.
I started on a relatively new programme so there was a lot for me to get involved with. And I love a challenge — I love numbers, focusing on targets. As a team, we ended up building a successful and respected project.
When I heard about the Community Manager job opening up at Fraser House Hub, I knew that would be perfect for me and had to apply. I already knew Fraser House well and wanted to help make it a place for the community.
What does a day as a Community Manager look like?
Rory: In the morning, I go say my hellos to people, check my emails and get ready for anyone coming in for a trial day.
After that, I’ll check in with a few people and see how they are. I like to spend time chatting to people, finding out more about what they do and any interesting projects they’re working on. I want to understand better how I can support them and how they can support others.
I know all my members names and what they do so I can introduce people to each other. Anyone new who comes to Fraser House, I can then introduce them to anyone who’s relevant and of interest to them so they instantly feel at home.
There will normally be meetings throughout my day — like the one we’re having now or with other support programmes, teammates…
Then, we might have an event that we’re running at lunchtime. Say it’s a Thursday, where we have our weekly tech lunch. So, I’ll be preparing for that. Post-event, I’ll always count how many people came to the event and track any valuable metrics.
In between all of this, I’ll have also done some social media for Fraser House too.
At some point, I’ll look at my data and check memberships, add any details I need to.
I’ll do some planning and future preparation. In the evening, I might have another event to prep for and attend.
Contrast to that, I might not have a lunchtime event — like today. In which case, I might go for a lunchtime run instead. Then this evening, we’re hosting an event for Lancashire students.
There’s lots of partnerships and maintaining partnerships. There is nothing I love more than introducing people and that firing off into a new project or idea between them.
Can you tell us more about Fraser House Hub?
Rory: Fraser House Hub is a tech and digital hub with a co-working space.
We have 77 businesses operating from the space, which is 320 members who have access to the space. Then there’s 76 co-workers.
It’s predominantly tech businesses with a bit of digital, a chunk of associated and a little bit of business support.
Associated businesses will include people like Helen, who’s a virtual assistant, and Matt, who is a project manager. There are a number of businesses in here that won’t work if they didn’t have associates helping them.
We have a small amount of student members who have their own businesses. They can be in here learning so much because everyone helps them out. They accelerate their knowledge so fast by being in a place like this.
Then we also have a small amount of business support. For people like the students, new businesses, and even the more experiences ones, we make sure they have access to business support as part of their membership. The likes of Lancaster University, UCLan, Boost all come in to offer business support.
Events-wise, we run five events a month, every month, at least. That’s our weekly tech lunch event on Thursdays for 30-minutes. That’s on a tech-associated subject and is normally from members or friends of Fraser House. We get people externally, as well as from Fraser House, coming to that event.
We have our PyData event on the last Wednesday of every month which gets people from all over. It’s a great way to house the community. I try to take on any community event I can because there’s so much going on and Fraser House is the perfect place to host it.
As you know, Lancashire Digital Hub also host events here. We also host the Pink Link Ladies networking meet-up.
I’d sum Fraser House as a nice place to come to make friends and not be lonely working at home on your own, you’ll probably pick up some work, and you’ll learn so much.
Home working has so many benefits but it lacks people. Fraser House has that exact thing — it has people who will make you feel welcome and who are interested in what you do.
Fraser House has earned its place in the community.
What do you love most about the space?
Rory: 100% the people. I love that you can go in however you’re feeling and be cheered up by everyone else. You can go in with an undeveloped idea and someone else will help you bright it to another level that you never thought you could.
Everyone in the space does amazing things.
I love data gathering and research but I’m not a data scientist by any means. I’m not a data scientist but I have elevated my skills so much just by being here. I can deal with data so much better than I ever could before.
I love the people so much.
They will train you to be better, make you better, and teach you things you never thought.
The community is so strong that you can guarantee and rely on it.
You have the opportunity to learn from so many people than you normally would in a space like this.
Why should someone join a co-working space, in your opinion?
Rory: You should join a co-working space partly because it’s the best networking opportunity. It’s constant.
But also because it’s a place that you feel like you belong to. It’s not someone that’s employing you. You choose to go there and, when you’re here, you should feel the most at home.
Sure, it’s somewhere to work from and you might get some work from it, but the main thing is that it’s a place that you feel like you belong and you’re not alone.
“Take more coffee breaks. It can solve so much and add so much valuable.”
When you’re a freelancer or small business, not having that team or community can be heavy. It feels really lonely. A co-working space is that place you can go where you instantly have colleagues, friends, and a sense of belonging. It’s so valuable.
Plus, you get to enjoy celebrations with other people! We celebrate birthdays, all of those things you’d normally do in a workplace.
And I haven’t even talked about the diversity in the space yet. Fraser House Hub has really worked hard on building a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming space for people.
We’re still going through that culture change. We want Fraser House to be a place where people of any gender, race, and background will belong. It’s a constant effort and one we really care about.
Are there any exciting events or projects on the horizon for Fraser House Hub?
Rory: We’ve got the Women in Tech event coming up in December which Gaby is organising. I’ll be hosting a panel there. I’m really excited about that.
We have our monthly PyData event coming up this month and next. We’ve got some amazing speakers lined up. We’ve just been elevating what we do. This month we’ve got James, who used to be the CTO at Modern Milkman, and Alice Ashcroft who’s does amazing work on gender research.
Over Easter, we are opening up the Fraser House Hub extension which will house even more tech businesses. I’m excited to grow the space and bring even more people together.
How does community impact your life?
Rory: The swim community is massive for me. I have my swim crew that I swim and race with. Outside of that, there’s people who give me a lot of support and help. Ice swimming is a weird sport so there’s not many people doing it. So, I get a lot of support and help from the community.
I really appreciate the brand and influencer community too. We’re all out here trying to do the same job so it’s nice to get together when we’re working on the same project. We’ll also share information to make sure we’re all getting paid fairly for the same work. We check in with each other to make sure we are aligned.
That sense of community and openness in the community is really important for our own development.
With the data and tech community, I love PyData. I originally starting going as someone who just attends, then started hosting it at Fraser House and now I’m one of the co-organisers which I love. I’m not a data scientist so to be accepted by those guys and be part of that community is amazing.
I’m not an expert when it comes to really niche tech stuff but I’m an expert at researching. I know exactly how to find out the information I need to find out to do my job and help other people in the community.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to find their community?
Rory: Ask your friends and search or look on social media.
Word of mouth is the most powerful thing. Speak to people, even those you’re not that close to, and they will be able to sign post you and point you in the right direction.
Before I let you go — any words of wisdom you want to share with tech enthusiasts?
Rory: Take more breaks. Get away from work, away from your desk, and chat with people.
Talk to other people who might not even do what you do but their viewpoints might influence you or their thoughts might help you collaborate or come up with a new idea.
Be open to conversations and actively look for those conversations and opportunities. You never know where those casual conversations could lead you.
Take more coffee breaks. It can solve so much and add so much valuable.
Closing thoughts — Take more breaks and find your community
And that’s the behind the scenes view of life as a community manager! Lots of conversations and camaraderie, for sure.
If you’re interested in visiting Fraser House Hub for a trial day or to become a member, reach out to Rory or check out the Fraser House Hub site.
Follow Fraser House Hub on LinkedIn to be the first to hear about any of their upcoming community events and meetups too.