Jarrow Insights Would Not Exist Without SPACE4

Jarrow Insights would not exist without SPACE4 and Outlandish.

When we started, we had two laptops, a social listening subscription, and a plan to make the workers’ movement more effective. Outlandish gave us a home. They let us use the SPACE4 back office for free for months while we figured out how to turn a good idea into a functioning cooperative. They pointed us in the right direction for advice on how to set up properly. No commercial space would have offered that kind of solidarity.

At that point, we had the politics and the strategy, but no track record. Building credibility with trade unions and political parties takes time. Outlandish did not just give us a roof. They brought us into their own work, including projects with Islington Council, which helped us gain our first experience and first revenue streams.

The material impact was simple. Without that support, we would not have survived the first year. Today, Jarrow Insights employs seven people full time, works with clients across Europe and beyond, runs data-driven campaigns and builds digital infrastructure for the workers’ movement.

We moved to our own office in Hackney Wick a few years ago, but SPACE4 is still a key part of our story. It remains the unofficial home of the British cooperative movement and continues to support new organisations getting off the ground. Without it, many of us would not be here.