Office on wheels

The pod offers flexibility

Offices aren't always the most agreeable places to work.

All too often you find someone has pinched your chair, been using your computer or that the cleaners have thrown out important papers.

The 1990s fad for hotdesking encouraged office workers to limit their possessions and be less territorial.

But there could be another solution.

A Huddersfield design company has come up with the Macropod, a mobile workstation that can provide as much or as little space as you need and can be locked up when you've finished.

Unexpected

The idea if to make any work environment as flexible as possible.

"It's a fully integrated, self-contained office space," says designer Mark Partridge. "It folds from a very small unit and is completely mobile."

The pod has been in development for the past four years and first went on the market about 12 months ago. It's proving popular in unexpected areas.

Compact when closed

"Originally we thought it would be blue chip corporate companies, but we have had a mix of companies such as media centres, local authorities, banks, even airports and hospitals, so there's quite a broad spectrum," says Mark's wife Liz, co-director of Volume Products, the firm behind the pod.

"The computer equipment inside when it's locked is completely secure because polycarbonate is very tough to get through. And the products are mobile, so you can wheel them to one side and you can use that space for something else."

The Macropod contains a computer, printer, phone, chair and filing. There's dimmable lighting and the desk height can be altered.

"You can have a sit workspace or a stand workspace, which is very good from the point of view of ergonomics," explains Mark.

Exhibitions

"Once it's opened you've got 3.5 square metres of workspace, which is very efficient for the size of unit."

The Macroscreen can be used for meetings

The pods can be joined together to create more of a team environment and there is also a Macroscreen, which can be adjusted to handle team meetings or one-on-one interviews.

"We've been doing a lot of exhibitions as we find that is the best way to actually promote the product," says Mark. "We can get it in front of a lot of people in a short period of time."

In fact, a recent show in Dubia brought many inquiries, persuading the company to see the Middle East as a big future market. There are also plans to license the products in other countries.

"The potential is to make it a worldwide business," believes Mark.

Funding

But he admits that it hasn't always been easy getting to this point.

"It's taken a long time to get the product in front of people, getting the interest of people, but it's also been quite hard getting the funding," he says.

The potential is to make it a worldwide business. Mark Partridge, Volume Products

"Early on you have to be a jack of all trades, as you start small with very few staff. Getting to grips with all areas of the business is the difficult bit.

"You start thinking about the business the minute you wake up and the minute you finish thinking about it is when you fall asleep that night.

"The one thing you must do is just keep going, keep pushing."

But Mark feels the business is now entering a new phase, confident that there is a demand for an idea to which he has committed himself totally.

"What keeps us going is the enthusiasm of other people, the people who see the product and tell us it's very good."