‘Pirates’ of Irish business all set for expansion

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins officially cut the red tape on the new Fumbally Exchange flagship building in the city centre last week.

With the opening of their new HQ on Dame Lane in Dublin 2, the award-winning non-profit organisation is gearing up for the next stage of their expansion.

Founded in 2010, the Fumbally Exchange offers a low-cost base and collaboration opportunities for creative business.

They provide cheap office space, along with the opportunity to collaborate, expand networks and build business for members.

It is the brainchild of architect George Boyle who called it after its first home in Fumbally Square, Dublin 8.

George created the Fumbally Exchange as a response to the recession, but it has since come to thrive as an effective model for creative business.

In the past year, their membership has tripled to more than 150 small businesses, sole traders and start-ups.

With a combined turnover of more than e6 million, two thirds of the members are planning to expand operations in the next year.

As well as the Dame Lane HQ, they are planning to open 13 more further Fumbally Exchanges in Ireland and the UK with the first to be the Fumbally Exchange Inchicore, due to open in summer 2014.

Located in a former bank in the centre of the Southside suburb, the 15-desk location will provide a base for social entrepreneurs.

The building will also be home to the SEED (Social Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development) centre, a new national development centre for the sector.

Last month the FEx Academy, a new learning community based at 5 Dame Lane opened to offer training and specialised education modules.

George Boyle, the architect and founder of Fumbally Exchange, said:

“We are home to some of Ireland’s most creative, contemporary award-winning talents.

“Whether we’re known as the

‘scrappy little workhorse of Europe’,

‘pirates of the corporate world’ or

‘citizen developers’, the Fumbally Exchange is making change for all.

?

Speaking at the opening, the President said he had been inspired, moved and astonished by the determination of so many people to craft a new and better future.

“It is such a will that lies at the foundation of the Fumbally Exchange, a unique business model with its four step vision of urban regeneration, community consolidation, industry innovation and creative collab- oration,

? he said.

“In looking at your website in preparation for coming here today, I noted that you describe yourselves as a

‘family’ of entrepreneurs and creative professionals – and you are, indeed, a supportive unit of, and for, individuals which has continued to evolve and develop, held together by a common purpose and a deep sense of shared and intuitive understanding.

“I would like to congratulate everyone involved with this new phase of the Fumbally Exchange initiative; an initiative which represents a microcosm of how Ireland can continue to prosper in an increasingly competitive and globalised world.

?