Space for Growth is an initiative to make space on the Government Estate available for free to small and medium enterprises, charities and social enterprises. The first step is to make workstations available in office buildings. However, in future, this will not be the only facility on offer. There will also be retail opportunities like pop up shops, free meeting rooms and other types of buildings becoming available.
Through this portal you will be able to view details of the workstation spaces currently available. If you wish to book a workstation or simply wish to be informed of future developments you can register your organisation here and we will keep you updated with regular email bulletins.
To use space in government buildings you need to go through a basic security clearance procedure. This is a two stage process. Firstly, you need a Disclosure Certificate. Some people will already have one of these because, for example, they volunteer for certain charities or are school governors. If you do not have one you can get one via Disclosure Scotland. They have an online application facility and charge the minimum cost of £25. This should take around 5 or 6 days to come through. Once you have a certificate, you can then apply for clearance, which should take no more than 2 days. You are then good to go and can book desks to work at in government offices completely free of charge.
