A Day In The Life of an AOB Centre Manager

How long have you worked for the company?
I joined the company in 2017 as Assistant Centre Manager of our Ashton Old Baths centre in Greater Manchester, before being promoted to Centre Manager in 2021.

What does your role entail?
I’m responsible for overseeing the overall running of the centre, which is located in a Grade II listed building dating back to 1870. The building originally housed the municipal baths, but had been closed for 40 years before our client Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council secured funding to reopen it as a hub for SMEs in the IT, technology, media and creative sectors in 2017.
My role is to ensure all processes and practices are being adhered to on both a compliance and a customer service level. My day can include everything from producing licence agreements, managing invoices and planning an event to handling room bookings, responding to customer requests, answering enquiries and setting up coffee machines. I’ve even been known to unblock a toilet when necessary!

We’re only a small centre at just under 10,000 sq ft of lettable space, but we’re currently at 98% occupancy with 26 offices and 27 businesses so it is very busy. Our customers really like the flexible and professional service we offer. It provides them with the ability to scale-up their offices as they grow. We also have strong links with local organisations, so we can connect them into the local business support ecosystem.

Actively demonstrating the centre’s social value is an important element of our work. We’ve developed strong links within the local community, providing school/public tours and organising charity fundraisers. We’ve even hosted an art exhibition for a local college. These activities help raise awareness of the centre and helps us evidence our social values to our client.

What’s the most rewarding part of your role?
It is extremely rewarding to see our customers develop over their time with us. You see the growth, connections and collaborations happening right in front of you. For example, we had one entrepreneur that came to us with just a pen and a carrier bag. He’s since grown his business to eight employees and he has upgraded his office space four times. Another company, started with two founders in a small office but have grown quickly with our support and have now successfully graduated from the Centre.
Reading the amazing feedback we receive through our Customer Satisfaction Surveys is another highlight. We’ve maintained a 100% customer satisfaction rating for three consecutive years now. All this positive feedback makes all the hard work worthwhile!

What’s the most challenging part of your role?
Balancing admin duties with customer service can be challenging at times. As well as the daily tasks, I have to ensure all commercial and compliance processes are met within the deadlines. Being a listed building it also requires a lot of maintenance, so ensuring tradespeople are here on time and conducting their work safely is a task in itself. Each day and each customer is different, so you have to be ready for the unexpected!

What is an interesting fact about yourself?

I can rap the full version of the hit song ‘Ice Ice Baby’ by Vanilla Ice – I recently performed this at our work’s Christmas do!