Perth 15 May 2015. As a small business, fixed overheads such as office rent, utilities and insurance can make a significant dent in the company’s limited budget during the set-up phase.

St.George Bank Perth is helping small businesses alleviate some of the costs associated with business set-up by offering the newly opened St.George Bank Business Hub - located on Level 1 of their Central Park branch in the heart of Perth’s CBD – to SMEs, free of charge.

Beata Brennan, Regional General Manager SME Banking WA, said “Small to medium business is recognised as the engine room of the Australian economy, and make up 97% of businesses in WA.

“The new Perth Hub, coupled with the tax rates cuts and tax write-offs announced in the Federal Budget, means now is a great time to be a small business in WA,” she said.

The St.George Bank Business Hub is a fully serviced, shared office space and boardroom facility available to all SMEs - regardless of whether they are a St.George Bank customer or not – for free. The space, which can accommodate 20 people at a time, offers free Wi-Fi, top of the range Mac desktops and MacBooks, telephones, printers, stationery, daily newspapers, a kitchenette, along with the perfect city centre location for business meetings – all with no cost or catch attached!

“St.George Bank has strong relationships with many of the SMEs in WA and it is important to us to give something back to that community. Following on from the success of our Sydney-based Business Hub, we knew that offering the same facility here would offer great value to WA businesses that might not have the funds available to rent in the CBD,” Beata said.

“Using the space gives SMEs a fully serviced professional environment to work in, an opportunity to network, and allows for more available funds to reinvest in their business. It also alleviates the loneliness for some sole traders.”

SMEs can simply pop in to the Business Hub and a friendly St.George team member will be on hand to offer a personal tour of the space. The logistics of running a small business from the CBD just got a whole lot easier thanks to St.George.

To trial the co-working space yourself, simply email perthbusinesshub@stgeorge.com.au to book your spot.

User comments on the St. George Bank Business Hub Perth:

New Perth-based business Alto Modular is one such business that is utilising the free office space in Perth. The modular building consultancy launched in December 2014 and the company’s three staff have been utilising the St.George Bank Business Hub since April this year.

James Clark, Director of Alto Modular says, “As a small business, it is great to have a city location for business meetings and as a base until we establish a permanent central address.  The convenient location, great facilities, zero cost, has really helped us as a newly formed SME.”

Another small business that operates from the Business Hub is Dream Teams, a Perth-based company committed to helping corporate and schools groups communicate, engage, trust and smile more when working together. Headed up by Andy Barrett, the company started using the Business Hub over six weeks ago.

Mr. Barrett said, “It is fantastic that St.George Bank is investing in small business in this way and can really make a difference by taking away the burden of rental costs. I was blown away when I first walked into the Hub. It has everything that any business would need. Its fresh, open-plan workspace coupled with the ability to use the state of the art technology, really gives me the sense of working in a professional business environment. The St.George staff have been extremely welcoming, which fitted very well with the relaxed atmosphere of the Hub. It really helped me settle in to what is now my own CBD office space, and being rent-free is a real bonus for a start-up business!”

Mr. Barrett encourages other start-ups and SMEs to follow in his footsteps saying, “It will be fantastic for more people to use the Hub as their CBD workplace, especially if they are in their start-up phase or in a similar position to me. It will provide good networking opportunities and ideas sharing. The interaction with other small businesses, learning from them and gaining insights will give that sense of collaboration and support that is an essential for any small business to thrive.”