The city of Leeds is known for many things – but in recent years it has emerged as one of the most important hubs for business, innovation and enterprise. Many large organisations have been investing money and confidence in Leeds, from Google launching its Digital Garage in Leeds to the government investing £17.5 million for businesses to improve skills. Leeds City Council continues to focus on the Leeds City Region Enterprise Zone and last year, Leeds University announced plans to develop a £25 million enterprise hub – as reported by Business Editor Bernard Ginns in the Yorkshire Post.
All of these are very positive signs for Leeds as a thriving centre for business in the North, and in the UK as a whole. But what about its meeting facilities? Has meeting and conferencing been able to keep up with the rapid changes and demands of modern Leeds business needs? Let’s explore a little of the history of meeting rooms in Leeds, and how these vital spaces – where crucial deals are made, winning business ideas created and useful networking opportunities seized – have changed over the years.
A look back to Leeds meeting rooms of the past
Let’s face it – meeting spaces of a few decades ago could be distinctly uninspiring. Four walls, a table and chairs was the basis of most meeting rooms in Leeds and the rest of the UK. In fact, some business would make do with any spare space, no matter how small or unsuitable. People would hold meetings in a tiny office or cubicle, at the end of a bank of desks or the break-room, or even in the local coffee shop where the noise of customers and coffee machines would drown out most of what people were saying. Needless to say, these were not ideal spaces for holding meetings.
For those who recognised the importance of holding meetings in a professional, dedicated meeting space – see our blog on the subject – some of the available options were too grand and formal, too expensive or too inaccessible for many smaller enterprises, or those looking for a more innovative or informal way of working. As Mark McDonald points out in an WTN News article, it’s important to hold casual meetings too.
What’s more, meeting rooms in Leeds from 20 or so years ago were missing an essential element that is absolutely crucial for today’s business spaces – technology.
How technology has transformed meeting rooms in Leeds
By far the biggest impact on business, meeting and conferencing facilities in recent times has been technology. Technology works best when it can make our lives easier, when it can solve problems, save time and help us to work more efficiently. This is why it is so widely used in modern meetings, from videoconferencing and meeting management software to presentation tools, meeting apps and even 3D screens, displays and projections to helps us explain our ideas. Technology is changing all the time, as meetings technology consultant Corbin Ball points out as he lists the ten top trends for 2015.
We can now use cloud computing to collaborate, whether we meet in person or not, along with virtual meeting software which allows us to connect with participants from all over the world. It really is amazing how the way we work, and the way we meet, has changed in such a relatively short time – and meeting spaces have had to work hard to keep up.
It’s not enough to have a meeting room that you can bring your own equipment into. The room needs to be set up and ready with all the latest meeting technology already integrated – otherwise you’ll be wasting valuable time on setup (and inevitable snags and technological hitches) each time you hold a meeting. This is why all the great quality modern meeting spaces used by businesses in Leeds, from big companies to innovative start-ups, is equipped with the latest technology and ready to roll from the moment you sit down at the meeting table.
We’re more flexible nowadays – meeting spaces should be too
One of the other factors that has transformed meeting rooms in Leeds is flexible working. We no longer stick religiously to the 9-5 working day, and many of us work from home, remotely or on flexible hours. Some choose to mingle with like-minded professionals in Leeds co-working spaces – our blog explains how this way of working can benefit everyone from freelancers to start-ups.
As we are no longer tied to the office and we embrace a more flexible approach to work, this is reflected in the meeting spaces we choose. We need inspirational spaces we can adapt and adjust to suit our needs, from informal meeting areas to encourage networking and the sharing of ideas to dedicated presentation spaces with the latest in meetings technology at our fingertips.
What we don’t want is to be staring at peeling paint on the walls of a drab, uninspiring cupboard of a meeting room – and that is why meeting rooms in Leeds have undergone such a dramatic change. According to Startups.co.uk’s annual round-up of statistics for new businesses launching in the UK, the city was home to a massive 2,970 start-ups in 2014, showing that Leeds is continuing to attract new enterprises left, right and centre. Business facilities in the city have recognised the needs of its innovative, forward-thinking businesses, as well as the need to attract others, and they adapted to suit. Let’s look forward to the next generation of meeting rooms – what changes will happen next?
