Village Underground (Auro Foxcroft)

Gaze up at the Shoreditch skyline and you could be excused for doing a double-take. Perched on a disused viaduct, high above the streets below, stand six brightly coloured tube carriages. The brainchild of furniture designer, Auro Foxcroft, Village Underground looks like a piece of modern art, but it is actually one of London's most desirable – and affordable – office spaces.

For Auro, Village Underground is the culmination of five years' hard work. After graduating in 2002, the budding entrepreneur had wanted to start a furniture design business in East London. But his plans never got off the ground, largely due to a lack of cheap workspace. "It was a real problem," he recalls. "I just couldn't afford anywhere to start the business from."

The solution arrived halfway up a Swiss mountain. Standing in a giant cable car, Foxcroft had the idea of transforming disused tube carriages into offices. Back in England, he called London Underground to see if they had any old stock. Then he set about finding a suitable location. After 18 months of site visits, planning applications and meetings, he had bagged a prime spot in Shoreditch.

To secure the lease and carriages, Foxcroft had to produce a viable business plan and the necessary start-up funding.

For business advice, he headed straight to CIDA. "I'd studied just around the corner from their offices in Whitechapel, so I already knew about CIDA," he says. "I did one of their courses straight after finishing university – and once Village Underground was underway, I really got stuck in."

Foxcroft attended the 'Access to Finance' support programme, which helped creative individuals and organisations to attract the capital needed to make their businesses prosper. "It really knocks you into shape," he says. "By the end of the programme, you're ready to go to the bank."

Today, Village Underground has successfully raised finance through two social lenders, London Rebuilding Society and Triodos Bank. Together with a £20,000 award from social entrepreneurship fund, Unltd, and a small grant from CIDA, this capital enabled Foxcroft to transport and transform the tube carriages and begin renovating the Victorian warehouse situated below.

Foxcroft always intended Village Underground to provide affordable workspace for creative professionals. Today, more than 35 individuals – from freelancers to small creative businesses – are based in the carriages.

The second component of Village Underground is its vast Victorian warehouse, which provides a platform for cultural and creative work. When it came to maximising its commercial potential, Foxcroft again turned to CIDA for professional advice.

"When I was writing my marketing plan, I got really useful advice and guidance," he says. "The one-to-one support and training I received was really useful."

Today, the warehouse caters to a wide variety of clientele. Securing agreements with big brands such as Diesel and Sony, says Foxcroft, helps Village Underground to provide the space to smaller creative businesses at subsidised rates.

With the London site now fully operational, there is no sign of slowing down. Foxcroft is already planning to expand Village Underground, first to Berlin and then other European cities.

"The business model is working," smiles Foxcroft. "And we're providing a real community. After all, without affordable workspace, where are the next generation of creatives going to come from?"

Contact:
Auro Foxcroft
Village Undergound
07886 751 205

Photography by:
Anna Schori
anna@photo-booth.net
07968 211 087