It started with two female founders, working from home in North Yorkshire...
Medley didn’t start with a grand business plan. It started with a conversation between two women about something we were both experiencing.
We were two female founders, running our own businesses in rural North Yorkshire and spending a lot of our working lives at home. And while working from home has plenty going for it (proximity to the kettle is particularly convenient), we both missed being around other people.
We missed the conversations over coffee, having someone to bounce an idea off and those completely unplanned chats that can lead to a new client, collaboration or simply a different way of looking at something.
And living and working in a rural area made that harder.
There wasn’t a co-working space around the corner, and many of the business events, communities and opportunities aimed at founders tended to be concentrated in larger towns and cities. We knew there were brilliant people building businesses across Ripon and the surrounding area – we just didn’t necessarily have many places to find each other.
So we started wondering: what if we created one?
Before we got too carried away, we thought we'd better ask...
Of course, two people wanting something doesn’t necessarily make a viable business. So, before we started booking venues and building websites, we wanted to know whether other people locally were experiencing the same thing.
We asked.
We ran public surveys, asking local business owners, freelancers and remote workers about how and where they worked, what they felt was missing and whether they’d actually use a flexible co-working space if one existed.
The response gave us the confidence to keep going.
There was interest in co-working, but there was also something else coming through quite clearly: people wanted connection. They wanted somewhere they could meet other people doing interesting things locally, without having to travel into a city to find it.
And that became just as important to Medley as coffee, a desk and decent Wi-Fi.
Then we had to turn a good idea into an actual business
This is the bit I love.
Once we’d established there was interest, my business partner and I had to work out how to actually deliver it – and do it without immediately taking on the huge overhead of a permanent co-working space.
So we adopted a pop-up model. We partnered with local hospitality businesses and used their spaces to create temporary co-working venues each week. It allowed us to test the concept, keep the business relatively lean and, importantly, support other independent businesses in the area at the same time.
Working collaboratively was a huge part of making Medley happen. My business partner and I brought different strengths to the business, and we worked closely with our venue partners and the wider local business community to keep developing it.
Behind the scenes, my role was very much about joining the dots. I built and managed the website and booking journey, worked with venues, managed customer communications, promoted the sessions, organised our networking events and dealt with all the little operational details that meant someone could simply book, turn up and have a good experience.
There were lots of moving parts – which, as it turns out, is exactly the sort of thing I enjoy.
There was just one slight problem... lots of people didn't know what co-working was
We knew what co-working meant. But, it turned out quite a lot of other people didn’t.
We spent a surprising amount of time answering some version of, “But what do you actually do when you get there?”
And even when people liked the idea, there was another barrier… Walking into a room full of people you don’t know can feel intimidating – particularly when you’re already running a business largely on your own. We understood that because we’d been the target customer ourselves.
So we worked hard to make Medley feel welcoming rather than intimidating. You could chat if you wanted to. You could put your head down and work if you wanted to. There was no pressure to pitch yourself or justify why you were there.
You could just turn up…. And slowly, people did.
We listened, changed things and kept going
Not everything worked perfectly first time – because businesses rarely do.
Some people loved one venue and weren’t so keen on another. Some wanted more opportunities to connect; others simply wanted somewhere peaceful to work. Attendance fluctuated, and we were trying to grow something new during an economic climate where everyone was becoming increasingly careful about how they spent their money.
So we listened. We tried different venues. We adjusted how we communicated what Medley was. We refined the booking experience. We experimented with events and networking alongside the regular co-working sessions.
Rather than rigidly sticking to the original idea, we allowed the business to evolve around the people actually using it.
That experience has stayed with me. Sometimes improving a business isn’t about making one enormous change. It’s about noticing what’s making life harder for your customers – or for you – and asking, “How could we make this easier?”
Somewhere along the way, it became about much more than somewhere to work
This was probably my favourite part. People started getting to know each other.
Conversations over coffee became recommendations, introductions and collaborations. People shared what they were working on, helped each other solve problems and supported other local businesses. And we started creating more opportunities for that to happen.
Alongside the pop-ups, we ran three larger business networking events, working with local venues and bringing together business owners from across the area. I managed the practical delivery – everything from venue liaison and ticketing to the website, promotion, customer communications and making sure things worked on the night.
I also developed relationships with local businesses and charities, including working together on a fundraising element at one of our events.
What had started as two female founders wanting somewhere to work had become a much wider local business community.
And the numbers tell part of the story...
Over a year, we delivered 64 pop-up co-working sessions, ran three business networking events (including one larger fundraiser), worked with two regular venues plus two additional event venues, and welcomed around 50 attendees.
We built partnerships with hospitality businesses, independent businesses and charities, introduced the concept of flexible co-working to Ripon and, most importantly, proved there was an appetite for opportunities to work and connect closer to home.
But the numbers aren’t really the bit I remember. It’s seeing someone arrive for the first time looking slightly nervous and, a few weeks later, walking in knowing half the room. It’s hearing that two people met through Medley and went on to work together. It’s watching people discover just how much business talent exists in a relatively small corner of North Yorkshire.
That’s the bit that mattered.
Every business has its season
After a year, changing economic conditions and personal priorities meant it was time for my business partner and me to bring Medley to a close.
It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the right business decision. And I’m incredibly proud of what we built.
We were two female founders who spotted a problem because we were experiencing it ourselves. We researched it, tested whether there was a market, found a way to deliver it without huge overheads, built partnerships, created the systems behind it and adapted continually as we learnt. Most importantly, we actually did it.
Medley also reinforced something I feel even more strongly about now: you shouldn’t have to be based in a major city to have access to brilliant business communities, opportunities and support.
There are extraordinary women building businesses in rural towns, villages and communities across North Yorkshire and beyond. They may be doing it from a spare bedroom, a kitchen table, a shop, a farm or a little office nobody knows exists – but that doesn’t make their businesses, ambitions or ideas any less important.
It’s one of the reasons female founders and rural businesses are now such an important part of the work I do. Because I’ve been on that side of the table too.
And whether I’m helping someone untangle the way their business operates, get a project moving or turn an idea into something real, I still approach it in much the same way we approached Medley:
Listen to the people. Work out what’s really needed. Bring the right people together. And then get on with making it happen.
