The Bee House opens in Milton Park, Didcot

The Bee House, based at Milton Park off Eastern Avenue, was officially opened at the end of last month and is believed to be Oxfordshire’s largest flexible workspace offering space to about 550 people.

A variety of office spaces have been built ranging from 97 to 2,574 sq. ft. There is a 145-seat conference facility, phone booths and meeting rooms available to hire as well as The Hive Café.

READ MORE: Pictures - The Bull on Bell Street in Henley refurbishment 

The Bee House official opening

For commuters, there are secure bike parking areas, a cycle hire hub, showers, and heated lockers.

There are also fast-charging electric vehicle (EV) points or people can pay £20 a year for “unlimited bus travel” within Didcot.

Milton Park founded the Bee House after the coronavirus pandemic saw a rise in people working from home.

Nikki Gibson, head of flexible workspaces at Milton Park, said: “We’re buzzing that the Bee House is now open and that we have a growing number of companies settled here.

“The pandemic has shown us more than ever that businesses are after flexibility when choosing where to work.

READ MORE: Oxfordshire programme converting empty units into affordable spaces is coming to Didcot

MP David Johnstone at the Bee House official opening

“Creating a space that encourages collaboration and cross-pollination between businesses has been the vision for the Bee House from the very beginning.

“The level of interest and enquiries we’ve received over the last few weeks for co-working memberships and flexible office space has been so pleasing to see.

“We can’t wait to welcome more people to our buzzy home of brilliance over the coming months.”

David Johnston, MP for Wantage and Didcot, attended the launch of the workspace and said he was “impressed” by the facilities and the quality of the building.

The Bee House

He said: “The design and innovation shown throughout the flexible workspace is a real testament to all the hard work put in by those at Milton Park who have made their ambitious vision become a reality.

“I’m sure occupiers and local residents alike will be excited to use this new building at the centre of this thriving science, technology and business community.”

At the opening, guests were given tours of the building and enjoyed live music. They could also visit the “Bee Meadow” art exhibition which formed part of Oxfordshire Artweeks Festival where 10 per cent of all artwork proceeds were donated to the Didcot Powerhouse Fund.

READ MORE: Theatre introduces new 'pay what you want' scheme to tackle cost of living crisis

The Bee House

The Bee House was named after its literacy geocode for the area, found on “what3words square”, which is “feasted, cloud, honeybees”. Founders felt it fit well as it is “where people can feast in a brand-new café, work in the cloud and collaborate like honeybees.”

For more information, visit: bee-house.co.uk 

-

Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.