VIDEO: Belfast's Ormeau Baths announces major expansion plans

by Gráinne Connolly

The Ormeau Baths space in Belfast has announced expansion plans that will see it double in size, by taking the second half of the former Victorian Bathhouse building in which it opened just over 12 months ago.

Ormeau Baths is an entrepreneurial workspace that supports the brightest and best indigenous tech start-ups and helps them gain access to the networks, funding and expertise needed to succeed in global markets.

The Baths officially opened its doors in July 2017 alongside its major corporate partner Barclays, which has established its first Eagle Lab in Belfast in the new technology hub. 

The expansion, which represents an investment of almost £1m, will create more flexible spaces for growing tech businesses and allow Ormeau Baths to support start-ups who have previously outgrown the co-working space for longer.

Since opening just over a year ago, Ormeau Baths has had more than 16,000 people pass through and attend over 500 events held in their purpose-built event space, ranging from white hat hacker gatherings to product tank meet-ups and pitch contests.

During the first year Ormeau Baths has seen over 50 per cent of their companies grow their teams or revenues and between them they have raised over £10m in venture funding.

(Ormeau Baths phase 2 plans)

Co-founder Steve Pette said the descision to expan was based on the desire to help support more start-up companies as they scale up by enabling them to take more space or have their own dedicated offices within the Ormeau Baths community.

“When we opened Ormeau Baths the vision was to create a genuine start-up community and a hub that could become the beating heart of Belfast’s tech community for the growing number of start-ups currently being founded and scaling up across the city.

“We originally envisaged Ormeau Baths becoming the natural home for tech meet ups, hackathons and pitch events where early stage and advanced start-ups could learn from one another, gain access to corporates and attract potential investors.

"This has certainly happened beyond our wildest dreams and we are incredibly excited about what the next phase will bring.”

Jon Bradford, co-founder of Ormeau Baths added: “Northern Ireland and Belfast has repeatedly demonstrated that it can compete head-on with any other community in the UK and beyond.

"In what has been a very short period of time, the tech community has embraced Ormeau Baths and has become a permanent venue at the centre of this thriving sector.  Our expansion will create more opportunities to support more businesses and job creation in this knowledge economy.”

Below is a video of the expansion plans at Ormeau Baths: