AN EXCITING new co-working space has arrived in Bury.

Newton's of Bury launched in January at The Rock, offering an innovative shared working and office space, in a first for the borough.

Created by entrepreneurs Matthew Kendall and Ryan Goodwin, Newton's provides a space to work, study, meet, relax and escape from homes, classrooms and offices, for freelancers, micro businesses, SMEs, start-ups and other groups.

The site features a shared kitchen, and everything in the workspace is free to access from the coffee and snacks to the wifi.

To use the space people simply have to book, and will be charged at a flat rate of £3 per hour — and there is a 20 per cent discount for students.

The space also offers pods on a monthly basis and solo offices for longer-term for more formal arrangements.

Mr Kendall said: "Newtons offers a modern, cost effective solution that’s more than just a traditional office space.

"With an ethos of creativity, collaboration and support, this is an environment to kick-start great ideas, share skills, knowledge and success.

"All you need to do is book in and away you go. Help yourself to the shared kitchen, join our super-fast WIFI, find a nook to set yourself up, and get stuck into work or kick back and relax.

"This is one of the easiest ways to start a business, because not everyone can run one from a kitchen table."

Mr Kendall is also hoping the space will become a symbiotic collaboration between Newton's and people who use the space, where they and others can source from within to push business development and "feed back" into the space.

More commonly associated with Manchester, London, or perhaps even Silicone Valley, shared work spaces have blossomed across the world as many entrepreneurs, independent business people and Creatives ditch traditional and home office spaces.

The phenomenon has grown, as Mr Kendall noted, as business has changed, with the end of paper chain reliant business practices, meaning people no longer need traditional office based infrastructure to run their business.

Mr Kendall said: "I wanted to set a co-working space up in Bury after spending my own time in several co-working spots in Manchester.

"I knew if there was a greater Manchester town that it would work in it would be Bury. "Bury has a real buzz about it, things are happening for the town, it has great links to the city and I believe there is a business and student community in Bury that would benefit from this kind of space.

"For a price of a coffee you can use Newtons for an hour and help yourself to whatever you like so it makes the space available to those who perhaps found it difficult to find a place to work or study."

Since taking over the site, Mr Kendall and Mr Ryan have given a fresh, modern twist to a building steeped in history, while being sympathetic to its period aesthetic.

Originally built around 1790 as an elegant gentleman's townhouse, the site still features servant's quarters, stables and a coach house to the rear.

The owners believe the building may have at one time been a doctor's surgery or residence after finding copies of the British Medical Journal dating back to 1891 during renovations.

They have also found shoes belonging to former servants and maids at the property.

The building had been a home to Newton's of Bury furniture shop since 1960 but was sold by its last owners Glen and Christine Wild last year, after Mr Wild retired.

The company held a soft launch last month and is hoping that this will be the start of an organic growth.

As yet only the ground floor co-working space is open to the public.

But renovations are being carried out on basement spaces and meeting rooms, and first floor offices, which are expected to open in the coming months.