ONE of the developments that has taken place in Wiltshire during the Covid-19 pandemic is the rise in finding new ways of working.

As companies ordered their staff to stay away from offices, home working became the new norm and lives changed for many employees across the county.

But as lockdown restrictions are slowly lifted, will companies find they no longer need the expensive office space they used to own or rent?

The moves have led to a rise in people needing somewhere to interact with colleagues and clients and many firms are finding that co-working space provides the ideal answer to their problems.

Trowbridge architect Pepper Barney has just opened some new co-working space next to her studio in the Meadow Works above the Court Street Gallery. Similar spaces are available in many other local towns, such as Bradford on Avon and Warminster.

Ms Barney says co-working space not only provides a hassle-free management solution for people who need somewhere to meet but also offers an ideal platform for users to leverage business opportunities.

“We’ve been working in Trowbridge to host creative co-working, education/workshops and professional networking events," she said.

“We’re actively trying to attract inward investment by bringing our clients, who include developers and investors, to our studio.

“We want to share our enthusiasm for the town, and demonstrate that Trowbridge has quality services to offer to the rest of the region.

"Most of our business comes from meeting people and we have not been able to do that for most of the past year."

Together with Craig Morris, Ms Barney is the co-founder of chartered architects BiBO Group in Trowbridge. She is a member of the Design Review Panel as well as lecturing at universities in Bath and Bristol.

BiBo was recently named as a 'rising star' in the Bath Property Awards for 2020.

She specialises in producing masterplans and has an interest in public realm architecture and social enterprise as well as housing and leisure development projects.

“We’re also developing an outreach and education programme in response to how disconnected the public are from development processes.”