The surprising co-working community in an East Devon town
With its dramatic ancient coastline, rolling moorland and quaint villages, East Devon might not be the first place you’d think to look for a community of remote workers, tech experts and start-ups.
But thanks to changing work patterns (and in part, 2020/21’s Covid lockdowns) making remote work a very realistic alternative for individuals and companies all over the world, seaside towns like Exmouth are becoming increasingly aspirational places to live and work.
But, when so many people are moving to a town to work online, where do they actually go? This is the story of Exmouth’s co-working space, Propeller!
The origins of Exmouth’s co-working space
Propeller, Exmouth’s co-working space a five-minute walk from the beach, dates back to 2016. “Exmouth had a desperate need for non-seasonal work”, Jim Hill, the co-founder, explained. Rolle College, the Exmouth branch of the University of Plymouth, had closed in 2009 and had taken a lot of Exmouth’s livelihoods with it.
Hugo Swire, the then-MP for East Devon, said in parliament that “the decision to relocate the Rolle campus will create an economic void in Exmouth, resulting in the estimated loss between £4 million and £5 million per annum to the town’s economy”. (source)
At the same time, the co-working industry was expanding. Research Gate tells us that “co-working spaces (CWSs) have emerged as a distinctive phenomenon in the sharing economy… under the slogan ‘working alone together” and that “By the end of 2019, 2.2 million people were working in 22,000 co-working spaces around the world.”
Three years before this, in 2016, Rolle College had been completely abandoned. When parts of it were being sold for shares, Hill had the idea to set up a not-for-profit co-working space. “It was full of pigeons at first”, he said “we borrowed a load of tables, kit and built a co-working space. We wanted to boost any kind of international work that could be done remotely from Exmouth, including tech start-ups and creative industries, but we also had artists in residence and even circus trainers!”
“We’d all have lunches and there would be jugglers and clown instructors sharing skills with tech company founders”.
Rolle College ultimately got sold to the Deaf Academy, a leading school for deaf students in the UK.
But in the nine months Propeller had been going, they’d created something that didn’t need a physical space – a community. “We worked on the tables in Ocean (an entertainment venue and restaurant) for 6 months” Hill mentioned. “Then we found our now-premises on Victoria Road”.
Moving into Victoria Road
Sitting opposite The Grapevine pub, steps from the town centre and a five minute stroll to the beach, the Victoria Road location is arguably even better-located than the Deaf Academy location. The building used to be a courthouse on one side and a pub on the other; now it’s one building with a co-working space, social area and offices.
Nick Murray manages the Exmouth office of Pixelfridge in Propeller, which is based between Devon and London. He told us “Pixelfridge was only a few months old when we found Propeller. It was just what we were looking for in Devon, a community that was full of such lovely people, doing some really interesting things, whether that was their own business or working for other global companies”.
Murray continued “we’ve been lucky enough to add people to our team from the Propeller network, and I’d love that to be more of a thing in the future!” while also noting it’s not just business related, and “the community has grown into a group of friends”.
The main premise of Propeller has always stayed the same; a non-profit organisation that was focused on building a community of like-minded people. The founders and volunteers – Nathan, Alex and Jasper as well as Jim – have and continue to dedicate hours each week to the successful running of the space, on a completely voluntary basis.
Along with hot-desking, fixed desks and offices, Propeller was able to start hosting talks and workshops. “We wanted to have something for everyone” Hill said. “It wasn’t just about tech – we had food and drink talks, Salcombe Gin came here. One of our best talks was about agritech, the turn out was huge!”.
Propeller also worked directly with The Hive Youth Centre, arranging a 2019 hackathon with teenagers who use the space. They answered the question “how would you improve Exmouth” and came up with a range of business plans and social campaigns.
Riverford, a vegetable-box delivery business based near Totnes, have used the space throughout the years, as have the heads of Starling Bank.
There have been very real benefits to the town’s economy too. “We had a large company called Inconf based here”, Hill explained, “and they brought more than £15,000 extra income to the Strand (Central Exmouth) thanks to team lunches, coffees, food for away days etcetera. Unfortunately, Inconf eventually had to move because they got too big for the space!”.
Propeller today
Non-profit and profit businesses alike were affected by the 2020-2021 lockdowns and Covid restrictions, along with the subsequent hikes in fuel prices and general cost of living.
Nonetheless, the co-working market is expanding post-Covid. Market Research Future’s 2024 research into co-working spaces states that the “global coworking market was valued at $22.01 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $82.12 billion by 2034, growing at 14.1% annually”.
But it’s the community of Propeller, which has always been non-profit, that has always made it special. I (Claire, the author) came here for the first time at the start of 2023, six months after I moved to the town.
First I hot-desked, coming in for the occasional day on a pay-as-you go basis. Then, when I found I was using the space more and more, I rented a fixed desk, which means I pay a monthly fee and have 24/7 access to the space – including its high-speed WiFi, showers, kitchen with tea and coffee and secure bike storage.
It’s attracted people to the town, too. “I was moving back to East Devon and working out where to base”, Tess Sillars-Powell, a remote worker who has a fixed desk in Propeller, told me. “I wanted somewhere where I could meet people, make friends and be a part of something. That’s why I ultimately settled on Exmouth”.
The space draws people from not just Exmouth, but Budleigh Salterton, East Budleigh, Woodbury, Lympstone and elsewhere.
One of my favourite memories of this year was when a few of us planned a pre-work breakfast BBQ on the beach. We met at 7am, had a quick dip in the sea and enjoyed sausage sandwiches after – and were at our desks by 9am!
We also plan regular socials, from attending local festivals and events to cycling pub crawls to a book club.
And in 2025, the events are coming back! We’re planning talks and panels (open to the public) involving tech, AI, social media and more (follow our Facebook page for more details).
The first event will be “AI + US”, a look at how everybody can use AI effectively in business and their personal life, on 24th September.
How to get involved with Propeller
Anyone is welcome at Propeller. We have a mix of tech and creative industries, with people working for companies on a remote basis, freelance, self-employed and start-ups.
Try hot-desking for a day, enquire about an office or attend one of our events and see what we’re all about!
