Deskcamping

Deskcamping follows Couch’s Open Studio Club venture, which was a free listings website for artists and designers looking to find affordable studios to rent.

The Deskcamping offer is more focused, however, allowing companies to commercialise their empty desk spaces by offering them to rent to freelancers and small start-ups.

Couch says, ‘We guide offices through the process of renting a desk and we also have freelancer profile pages which give hosts an idea of who they are inviting in.’

Terms, Couch says, include a confidentiality agreement and a five-day cancellation period.

The Deskcamping site also lists various ‘office vibes’ criteria, so that freelancers can get a feel for the office them might like to work in.

Offices are ranked by, for example, how quiet or noisy they are, whether they are smart or more scruffy and whether they have regular office drinks.

‘We even look at whether a bit of office flirting goes on,’ says Couch. He adds, ‘Finding a place to work isn’t a purely transactional thing, like buying something on Amazon.

‘Guests and hosts want to check each other out before they start messaging. It’s not exactly dating, but it’s not far off.’

You can find out more about Deskcamping at www.deskcamping.com.