Back in April 2014, the upstairs room at NW5’s award-winning boozer, The Grafton, hosted the inaugural Kentish Cluster drinks. Over 150 people attended, and so began a monthly ritual.
The idea was simple. K-Town is bursting with creative businesses, ranging from a surprising number of the UK’s most successful digital companies through to freelancers working on fascinating projects from their homes. But they didn’t have a focal point to gather, share a drink and connect with their neighbours.
The free meet-ups quickly helped galvanise these people and organisations, leading to Kentish Town becoming recognised as a growing hub by the likes of Tech City Insider and the Evening Standard, name-checked as such by Tessa Jowell on Bloomberg News and representatives of the Cluster being invited to discuss business challenges at 10 Downing Street.
And now…Camden
Camden Town has long been a hotbed of similarly creative and innovative businesses, so taking the Cluster concept down the road has always been mooted, and now the time is right.
“We’ve been so inspired with the feedback about Kentish Cluster over the last 18 months,” says founder James Eder, of proudly NW5-based student marketing leaders The Beans Group. “Camden Town is home to an even bigger creative business community, and there’s now a real push to provide support and facilities for entrepreneurs too, so it is ripe for its own monthly Cluster event.”
The launch will be held next Tuesday (29th Sept) from 6pm at WORKLIFE, the brand new co-working space based opposite MTV/Viacom on Hawley Crescent.
“Camden has incredible start-ups, freelancers and bigger businesses,” says David Kosky of WORKLIFE. “We’re really excited to be part of the Cluster and to be able to give the community a platform to meet and work together.”
There’ll be drinks, plus food too provided by Parkway restaurant Hook, rightly famed for their fish ‘n’ chips with a twist.
As with the Kentish Town events – which have taken place in various locations including Spring Studios, Camden Town Brewery and The Vine – Camden Cluster will take place in a different venue each month.
Another founding partner is Chalk Farm Road’s Roundhouse. The charitable trust will host future meet-ups at their home in NW1’s most beautiful and historic events space. “The Roundhouse is delighted to partner up with Camden Cluster as it gives us the exciting opportunity to really connect with other organisations in our local community,” says Head of Development Michaela Greene. “With the support of Camden Cluster we can continue to offer life-changing creative opportunities for thousands of young people across London.”
With Camden Market about to launch Interchange offering 1500 desks for start-ups, Camden Town Unlimited continuing to back entrepreneurs via their Collective scheme, and IncuBus operating their 12-week bootcamp for start-up businesses based on a double decker, there’s now a real buzz in the area. Come along for a drink and join in.
