Major awards recognition for EastHants’ flexible workspace provider

Whitehill & Bordon-based business network and flexible workspace provider, SiGNAL, has been shortlisted for three awards at the prestigious SME National Business Awards 2023, including a place in the much-revered Positive Impact category.

Just five years since its conception, SiGNAL has grown to become a key focal point for East Hampshire’s small business ecosystem and these efforts have now been recognised by the SME National Business Awards, for which SiGNAL has been nominated for the Positive Impact Award, the Networking Award, and Best Community Business Award.

The SME National Business Awards celebrate the achievements of small and medium-sized businesses of 250 employees or fewer across the UK. The 2023 awards will be presented at a glitzy ceremony at Wembley Stadium on 1st December.

SiGNAL was founded in 2018 by Emma Selby with the direct aim of making Whitehill & Bordon the best place in the UK to own and run a small business. Emma was soon joined by Louise Eldridge, SiGNAL’s Head of Community.

SiGNAL works closely with The Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company (WBRC), the organisation overseeing the major regeneration of former military land in the town. Small business creation and support forms a vital pillar of WBRC’s placemaking ambitions, and will help ensure that the new, growing town will achieve sustained economic success for decades to come.

At the centre of its business support activities, SiGNAL manages 20,000 square feet of work space, from private offices to workshops, studios, and co-working spaces across four distinct, characterful sites in the town.

These spaces are currently home to 40 local businesses, from carpenters and distillers to silversmiths and care home providers.

Most recently, SiGNAL collaborated with WBRC to create an ideal business hub on the mezzanine level of The Shed, a local independent shopping centre, which now serves as dedicated workspace for 13 businesses.

Among East Hampshire’s local businesses, SiGNAL is particularly prized for its business networking events and workshops which enable local entrepreneurs and stakeholders to meet, share ideas, collaborate, and offer the vital emotional and practical support that running a successful business requires.

Emma Selby, Managing Director of SiGNAL, commented:

“We have always had an ambitious goal to transform the culture of our town by developing a strong and engaged business community. Being nominated for three national awards is a great honour and a real motivation to keep moving onwards and upwards!

We’re determined to make Whitehill & Bordon the best place to be a a small business owner in the UK. And when this is complimented by the work WBRC is doing in attracting major international business to the area, our town is becoming something really rather special.”