The Hub

Based: London, UK

Website: www.the-hub.net

Headlines: Welcome to the Hub. So what’s the deal? Social entrepreneurs “need spaces for meeting, working, learning and relaxing. All the tools and trimmings to cultivate an idea, launch a project, host a meeting and run a business. You need the flexibility to pop in, scale up, wind down, change gear, move on. You need a place you can call your own. This we can do. We’ve been seeking to borrow from the best of a members club, a business incubator, an innovation agency, a dynamic public space, and a think-tank to create a very different kind of institution. You can find Hubs all over the world, in places as diverse as London, Rotterdam, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo.

Change agents: Jonathan Robinson.

Theory of change: “There is no absence of good ideas in the world. The problem is a crisis of access, scale, resources and impact. So what would happen if there were places to go to access resources, connections, knowledge and investment?  You can be here by the hour, day, month or year. It’s like your mobile phone. You sign up on the tariff that works for you. The Hub is home to a diverse community of people who believe in creating a radically better world.”

Nature of engagement: John Elkington is an Honorary Fellow of The Hub.

Why we engage - and indicators of success: Basically, we buy into the idea that incubators—at their best—can play a crucial role in building a critical mass of social enterprise. The Hub is one prototype among many, but its links to a rapidly evolving international network of like-minded initiatives boost its chances of success.

Change agent’s indicators of success: To come.

Contact at Volans: John Elkington.