Part of the Community: Kancho Creative

The small but mighty Kancho Creative team consists of husband and wife Howard and Lisa, both graduates from Wolverhampton University. Starting out as a sign designer for Signs Now, Howard later moved on to become a pre-press mac operator and artworker at Alpha Graphics, an artworker with Greenwell and Co, an in-House Designer at Enta Media, an Art Director at OWB, all of which led him to become Director at Kancho Creative.

Lisa started off as advertising production assistant with Sans Serif, later moving on to become senior designer at Mooch before arriving at Kancho as co-director with husband Howard.

~"Graphic & interior designers based in Birmingham. We create intelligent visual solutions across a wide range of media from print, digital and interiors"~

Self-confessed cat people, oth Howard and Lisa are active young professionals, engaging in some pretty impressive recreational activities! Having trained for 22 years, Howard is a 4^th Dan Blackbelt in Shotokan Karate and has competed all over the world. Lisa is interested in Streetdance and performs in a number of charity shows throughout the year. She is also currently in training for the 5k Race for Life, as well as a 10k run later in the year.

The name ‘Kancho’ comes from the martial arts term for the highest possible rank and literally translates as ‘owner of dojo’. Initially Kancho came into being four years ago in 2007. Howard completed small jobs for friends and family and as word spread, his client base grew. After a lot of hard work and dedication, Howard was able to leave his full time job and set up on his own and, upon leaving her position at Mooch, Lisa too joined the Kancho team to form Kancho Creative in August 2009.

Kancho Creative’s most recent projects include branding and interior for a unique live music venue which will be opening 80 other venues nationwide, brand identity for a brand new wine range due to hit supermarkets later this year (we’ll definitely be looking out for that one!), interiors for a chain of pubs and an Asian takeaway outlet, a four bedroom residential house refurb and more! They also recently attended the launch event for a new Holiday Inn opening in Birmingham this month.

Kancho were also responsible for designing the brand identity and interior of Birmingham’s famous basement bar The Hairy Lemon. This was their first major project and set a standard they have kept up from one project to the next. The creative skills Howard and Lisa possess allow them to work harmoniously on major projects, giving them a definitive edge over other businesses.

We’re happy to have them under our roof at traditional grade listed building Regent Place. With thanks to a simple introduction and a tour around the building from our very own Gerry, Howard jokingly suggested he run Kancho from our premises. Only a year later, with thanks to UrbanWorkSpace’s excellent rates, informal, helpful staff and can-do attitude, that’s exactly where he was.

The Kancho Creative team love Birmingham. The Bullring, Wagamama, St. Paul’s Square, not to mention karaoke in The Hill on Friday Nights, are all just a selection of their favourite bits. Howard noted that his favourite bit about our home city is how Brum ‘reinvented itself’, transforming the Bullring and local shopping areas into modern, stylish and creative areas attracting attention from around the country. ‘It’s cosmopolitan and has lots of different areas like China Town and the Jewellery Quarter’. Just like us here at UrbanWorkSpace, Howard wants everyone to see how far Birmingham has come and for everyone to see everything it has to offer.

Grilled about plans for the future, Howard jokingly told us Kancho Creative will have offices in Monte Carlo and New York! In the mean time, they’re looking forward to growing and progressing and eventually employing a full-time team for larger projects in the future.

You can find Kancho Creative in the Jewellery Quarter’s Regent Place. If you’re looking for graphic and interior design, get in touch with them via the unique and charming Kancho Creative website today!

For more information on available UrbanWorkSpace offices, get in touch with us on 07878 732025. Check out our Facebook page for a sneaky peak at our creative studios and business centres.

Elusive Birmingham Office Space

Check out the UrbanWorkSpace facebook page to take a look at Birmingham offices available to rent today. Link

Lambert Smith Hampton recently suggested that Birmingham office space is getting more expensive and harder to find, a problem only set to intensify over the next 2-3 years. With property projects ongoing within the city one-by-one falling victim to the recession, it seems that quality office space for businesses is now becoming few and far between. If the latter is true, rents for Grade A office space are likely to rise, which means businesses that are already struggling to stay afloat are going to find difficulty finding affordable office space.

LSH senior surveyor Jon Hinton noted “Companies wanting to move to offices in Birmingham are looking at the four million square feet of space currently available and thinking – wrongly – that they can take their time making a decision. The opposite is true." With this on the horizon, many business are no doubt concerned about finding the ideal place to operate. It's hardly surprising that so many companies are focused on snatching up the best offices in the centre of the city, but many would be surprised by the quality of the properties to be found just outside.

The Jewellery Quarter is just one of the places offering affordable and modern office space in Birmingham, and is only a short hop from the city centre. If you're looking for low rates and sensible rent, the Jewellery Quarter offers a significant amount of newly built, regenerated and renovated properties that are not only affordable, but come with a little bit of history and charm. A short distance from the M5 and hosting a variety of public transport links, it's amazing so many local businesses are missing out on the potential of this idyllic area.

Wandering the Jewellery Quarter

I haven't always been too accustomed to the sights and sounds of Birmingham and it wasn't until I moved to the outskirts that I ever visited the place. Now I have the luxury of working near the city centre, right in the Jewellery Quarter, I've got the opportunity to discover more than ever before. With that in mind, this morning, armed with my trusty camera, I went exploring.

It always amazes me how much you miss when you drive everywhere you go, so it was nice to just amble and investigate and see what quirky things were around. I wanted to do the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter Heritage Trail, but I didn't really have time to visit and fully appreciate the museums and the business centre and all of those places the Jewellery Quarter is famous for (I'll just have to save that for another sunny day like this one!). Instead, I wandered down to St. Paul's Square to take a few shots.

This hidden gem is the only surviving Georgian square in Birmingham, developed in the 1770s. The church in the centre - St. Paul's Church - was constructed in 1771 to the design of Roger Eykyn and the spire was later added in 1824. Birmingham's Matthew Boulton and James Watt used to worship there! It's something you don't necessarily expect to see when you're walking down Caroline Street. The view is initially blocked by a row of greenery, but then you see the spire emerge, flanked by the BT Tower just beyond. An odd combination, but just another symbol of the diverse nature of Birmingham's architecture.

St. Paul's Square doesn't just have the delightful little church grounds to offer either. It's surrounded by modern and stylish, or quaint and quirky cafes and restaurants, so many that I have no idea how on Earth I am ever going to try them all! This fact extends to the entirety of the Jewellery Quarter, too. On every street there seems to be a gorgeous cafe, bar or restaurant. I had no idea the JQ was turning into such an urban village, whilst at the same time maintaining the industrial charm of its past. There are still teems of stunning jewellery stores up and down the historic streets as there were fifty or more years ago. The Jewellery Quarter even now remains responsible for 40% of British jewellery output, an achievement not many places can lay claim to.

At the same time, there's a sense that the place is changing. The Jewellery Quarter has the kind of creative atmosphere that you don't encounter very often and it's clear it's attracting healthy young minds eager to succeed. There's an eclectic mix of people here and it's exciting to see everyone always on the move, ambitious and motivated. It's infectious and it reminds me of what we're striving for here at UrbanWorkSpace; businesses that work together and alongside each other to create a working environment that benefits all of us and our stunning city.

Welcome!

In the coming months, here you're going to find an abundance of news related to our current and planned rebuilding, renovation and regeneration projects, plus details of events and introductions to businesses that have planned to or are soon to be welcomed to the UrbanWorkSpace neighbourhood! Our website is very nearly up and running, so please don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you want any information on our currently available and coming soon office space in Birmingham!

You can get in touch with us on 0121 554 6404 or call our letting agent directly 07878 732025.

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