70 jobs created in first year of new Cork business startup

Cork’s leading business innovation hub, REPUBLIC OF WORK, is celebrating its first birthday this week. Throughout its successful first year, businesses operating out of the South Mall campus have created more than 70 new jobs in the heart of Cork.

 The number of members of REPUBLIC OF WORK has grown to over 120 members, with many more expected to join in the months ahead as other leading companies opt to place staff in the unique space at the heart of Cork’s business district.

 The industries currently represented at REPUBLIC OF WORK include healthcare, beauty, food, communications, fashion, banking, insurance, fitness, technology, law, accounting, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, hardware and recruitment. The size of businesses varies from freelancers and solopreneurs to teams from some of Ireland’s largest companies.

 REPUBLIC OF WORK has hosted over 300 public and community events since it first opened, attended by over 5,000 people. These included conferences on VR/Augmented Reality with speakers straight from Silicon Valley, talks focused on growing local retail businesses, software design, female entrepreneurship, and charity drives to build websites for local Cork causes.

 REPUBLIC OF WORK Chief Executive, DC Cahalane said: “Like any new business, surviving the first year is a great milestone to be celebrating. It has been fantastic to see how Cork has embraced the new way of working, scaling and innovating that we’ve introduced at REPUBLIC OF WORK. This is a place for all kinds of businesses, not only to work, but to meet other companies and share experiences and advice. We’re catering for everyone, across all industries from start-ups to multinationals in helping them discover what the future of their businesses look like and the steps they needs to take to get there”.

“We are working on some really exciting plans for the year ahead, including expanding outside of Cork and we also have some interesting plans and additions we are making to our Cork campus. This is going to be a big year for us.”

 Staff and members at REPUBLIC OF WORK are spending the week fundraising for mental health charity, Pieta House through a wide variety of activities and free to attend events. In addition they have offered companies and individuals free co-working spaces throughout the week to experience the facilities at REPUBLIC OF WORK first hand.

 Thursday, 12th April – the official first birthday of REPUBLIC OF WORK – will see a special BUILTINCORK evening event with guests such as serial entrepreneur Pat Phelan and REPUBLIC OF WORK cofounder Dave Ronayne of Irish Mainport Holdings and the business’s partners like Bank of Ireland and Nespresso in attendance.

 Seven people are employed directly at REPUBLIC OF WORK, with plans to further increase that number later this year. The team is led by General Manager, Frank Brennan. This year REPUBLIC OF WORK won ‘Best New Business in Cork’ at the Cork Business Association Awards.

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