The development of the Good Space company

in France

The Good Space Company – a British company specialised in operating bilingual coworking spaces – decided to set up in the Lille Métropole, more precisely at La Maillerie.

Published on 30.05.2024

Who is
The Good Space Company?

The Good Space Company operates bilingual coworking spaces and was co-founded by David Brown and Ashley Brown in 2019. Their goal is to offer an opportunity to their clients to:

Work remotely, meet new people and make connections
Practice their English with a 2-hour lesson every week and discuss with like-minded international who live in the area and don’t know that many people

They already have 3 offices located in London (Queen’s Park, Chiswick and Spitalfields) and where looking to develop in France due to the dynamic of its market.

Why was the Hauts-de-France Region
chosen for their project?

#1
Strategic location

The Hauts-de-France Region is the closest European neighbour to the UK. Lille more particularly is the capital is easily accessible for British companies. By taking the Eurostar, it takes 1 hour and 20 min to get to Lille city centre.

“It is easier to get here (Lille) than to go from London in Birmingham in the UK” – Roger Eaton, Regional Director of the Good Space Company

#2
Young and dense population

The Hauts-de-France Region is the #1 training centre for continuing education as well as the #2 region for education.

Here are key figures to keep in mind*:

256,000 students
7 universities
Over 30 specialised training institutions (with 21 engineering schools, 16 schools of business and management, 67 specialised schools in art, design, communications, journalism, architecture, multimedia)

#3
Efficient transport infrastructures

“(…), I think the Lille area has great transport infrastructures. You have the metro which comes every few minutes, the tram, buses and the city is bike-friendly. As such, it is really a multimodal lifestyle.”

David Brown, Co-founder of the Good Space Company.

#4
Good living conditions

Their current regional director, Roger Eaton, lives the city and experience the quality of life in the region:

“I’m British and have lived in Lille for 11 years. I didn’t know it well before moving, but when my wife and I visited we really enjoyed the city. It is easy to picture yourself living here due to the great living conditions, work opportunities but also access to housing. It was much more affordable. It is also near other major cities, you can imagine taking a weekend in Paris, or Bruges, or Brussels. It’s just a good place to live and work, and that’s why I’m still here after 11 years. Our image of Lille has only grown more and more fonder.”

#5
Attractive costs

Real estate and transport costs are also significantly lower than in Paris:

“Paris would have also been a bigger financial commitment. It’s a lot cheaper to operate in Lille and it give us a softer landing.”
David Brown, Co-founder of the Good Space Company.

What does the Good Space company thinks about
the UK Business Centre Lille?

“I think the UK Business Centre Lille is invaluable to a UK company that has never tried to operate in France. If we had not had Roger Eaton who was already living here in Lille and was already familiar with the way things operate, we would have been completely lost and would have had a lot more trouble figuring things out. Every time we expand geographically, there is risk and there are things which are scary, so any reduction of that is good. I think the idea of UK Business Center Lille is largely that both risk and fear.”

David Brown, Co-founder of The Good Space Company

The Tailored support of the UK Business centre Lille to British companies

The UK Business Centre Lille offers development support from A to Z to British companies looking to access the French market. Our support includes expertise in the following matters: