London's TechHub has been forced into administration due to a revenue drain from startups feeling the pain of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Founded ten year's ago as a co-working space at the heart of London's Silicon roundabout, TechHub offered tailored support and events to help developing startups and entrepreneurs scale up. Companies to have passed through the TechHub ecosystem include the likes of Seedrs, FundApps, Callsign and SwiftKey.
Explaining the decision to shut up shop, founder and CEO Elizabeth Varley, says: "Unfortunately, with a significant reduction in revenue due to the impact of Covid on our member companies, and without an agreement from our major landlord to our proposals for a way forward, we are unable to continue."
TechHub had been renting its space from offices owned by the InterctontinentalExchange.
Varley says that the company was operating its London workspace at “almost full capacity in February this year”, but has lost three-quarters of its income since the start of lockdown on 23 March.
TechHub’s administrator Paul Stanley, regional managing partner at Begbies Traynor says: "I was brought in by the TechHub directors to advise them during this difficult period, and felt their rescue plan was very viable. TechHub's customer levels were almost at full capacity just before lockdown was enacted by the government, and the company is only in this position because of the Covid situation.
"The funders, advisors, directors and employees were happy with the rescue plan, and I'm very surprised that the landlord as major creditor wasn't even prepared to engage with the company about it."