I’m now closing this project, thanks again to everyone that donated!

Description of subprojects and results, including major changes from the original proposal

As mentioned in my previous update, we moved our office to a new 35-desk space across 2 floors and have been there for over 1 year now.

Last year, we ran an updated user survey of 39 office users where users reported an average of:

• 7.3 additional productive hours per week from using the office. 

• overall rating of 8.6/10 for the office.

• 9.5 new connections and 4.7 impactful connections.

As Arcadia has worked to restructure and focus our core programmes on AI safety, we have recently re-branded the office to be run by Impact First (named the Impact First Coworking Space), a new project within Arcadia Impact working to support exceptional students and early-career professionals as they explore and pursue high-impact careers.

Alongside continued grant funding, we have implemented a charging system which has contributed to ~15% of our costs in the past year. We have continued to focus on providing low-cost office space. In the past year we have reduced our cost per desk to £360 per month from £467 the previous year. We have also now obtained business rates (UK property tax)  relief as a charity, which will allow us to reduce our costs this year to ~£336 per desk per month.

If you’re interested in supporting the office in the future then please get in touch. You can learn more about the office and apply to be a member here.

Spending breakdown

All of the funding contributed to our rent costs, covering ~1.5 weeks of rent. In our 2025 Financial year our full spending breakdown for the office was: Rent (71%), Food (16%), Business rates (12%), Other (1%).

Thank you everyone who donated to support the LEAH Coworking Space and to Manifund for organising the EA community choice. Your donations have helped our space continue and improve over the last 6 months. 

Since our first post there’s been some big updates on the office which we think have improved the space and make it a more sustainable project. 

New office
One major update (which I mentioned as a possibility in the original post) is that that we have now moved the a larger office in our building. This has improved the space by:

• Increasing our capacity from 25 desks to 34 desks and has more space per desks allowing us to serve more users and provide a better working experience.

• Improving our meeting rooms and call pods. The new office included a (much needed) extra call pod, and two private meeting rooms with space for 4 or 10 people. We previously shared meeting rooms with other companies in our building, so this allows us to get more use out of the rooms and improve the booking experience.

• A few small improvements such as being brighter, having better ventilation, more social/dining space, and better space to host events.

Charging users

Another big update is that we have recently started charging users for the office usage with the option to apply for discounts. So far, we’ve been impressed by the take up of users paying for space while still being generous in the discounts we offer. We have given many discounts including free memberships to those who wouldn't be able to pay including students or those working for small nonprofits with limited budgets.
We’re expecting to cover around 1/3 of our office costs, and if Arcadia paid for desks for our own staff it would come to ~50%. With the introduction of charging, we have seen a slight decrease in usage which was expected. 

Costs

The new space has decreased our cost per desk to ~£400 per month and ~£22 per visit. We are also hoping to reduce costs further in the future since Arcadia Impact recently became a registered charity in the UK, allowing us to apply for a significant discount on business rates which is currently 19.4% of our office costs. 

Next steps

For the rest of this year, we are planning on making some improvements to the office and promoting the space to new users. If you’re interested in applying as a permanent user or visitor, you can submit an application here.