Ex-Bagelman boss Anthony Prior joins PLATF9RM
Brighton & Hove’s largest independent business and coworking community, PLATF9RM, has hired Anthony Prior as its first Commercial Director.
Anthony, who was MD of the city’s Bagelman chain for almost eight years, will focus on new opportunities and expansion plans at PLATF9RM. Before taking over Bagelman in 2013 he worked in the underground music scene, running nightclubs such as Audio and Coalition and brings this experience of growing businesses in fast-paced hospitality industries.
Now approaching its third birthday, PLATF9RM has more than 800 members across two sites, one in Tower Point near Brighton station, the other in Hove Town Hall. Each houses a blend of beautifully designed coworking spaces and private offices for freelancers, contractors and small businesses. Last month it received two national awards at the Global Coworking Unconference Conference for its community programme and the design of its dramatically renovated Hove branch.
Sharing the news of Anthony’s appointment today, CEO and Founder of PLATF9RM Seb Royle said:
“As well as bringing exactly what we need in terms of skills Anthony knows our business and has been a member of our coworking community for years. He really gets PLATF9RM and our ambitions to improve the world of work and connect businesses with the communities in which they are based.
It’s almost three years since opening our first site in Tower Point and we’ve got a proven model working, so it’s a great time for Anthony to help move us to the next stage.”
Anthony added:
“I love the whole ethos of PLATF9RM and as a member I’ve seen how being part of a connected community in a brilliantly designed space changes people’s businesses and their working lives. The team are a really diverse mix of creative people so I’m really excited about joining and helping them achieve even more.”
PLATF9RM’s focus will be on expanding the cultural calendar to turn it into a seven-day venue including evening and weekend events. This builds on recent sold-out weekend events such as PLATF9RM’s Welcome to Work event headlined by Twitter VP Bruce Daisley and a conference for International Women’s Day.