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Anita McGinty, Kelly Teahan and Anne Falvey, GB Business Global at the official opening of HQ Tralee on Friday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
A NEW concept which has seen a number of businesses set up in the town centre was officially launched on Friday.
HQ Tralee, set up by Ken Tobin and Tom O’Leary, provides a workspace for new and existing businesses on three floors above The Abbey Inn. There are 34 people working in the building at the moment, but that’s set to increase to 50 very soon.
The offices are ideal for small businesses and provide high-speed broadband. The first floor has corporate offices, the second floor has private business suites, while the top floor has co-working space.
Among the 13 businesses already in the building are graphic design, video production and business consultancies.
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Ken Tobin was delighted that HQ Tralee was finally open for business as he told well-wishers at the opening on Friday.
“Even though it took us two years to plan it, we turned it around in a very short summer, because we had a lot of anxious people wanting to move in,” he said.
Ken Tobin and Tom O’Leary in the boardroom of HQ Tralee. Photo by Dermot Crean
“A lot of them have taken a risk by moving their business into the centre of town, but myself and Tom have a vision for the area and we’d like to see a lot more jobs in the town centre and this is the first stepping stone for us. It’s of huge benefit to bars, restaurants and other businesses based around here. So far we have 34 people working in the building, within the next six months that’ll have grown to 50,” he said.
His business partner, Tom O’Leary, said HQ Tralee will be great for both the town and the businesses based in the building.
“The whole concept is to get people back into Tralee town centre, to give people the opportunity to grow their business here. Ken and I have been working with small businesses in town for years and we noticed that there was a need for flexible and affordable workspace near to shops and restaurants. We saw it in other cities around the world and thought why not Tralee. That’s what we’re trying to do and I think we’ve achieved it here in HQ Tralee,” he said.
Tom added that they hope to replicate the HQ concept in other Kerry towns in the future. Scroll down for photos…
Joanna Kelly, Digital Greetings, Aisling Carmody, Creative Practice and Derek Kelly, Digital Greetings at the official opening of HQ Tralee on Friday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
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Diarmuid Murphy and Pádraig Ó Dálaigh of PAC Web TV at the official opening of HQ Tralee on Friday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
Ken Tobin of HQ Tralee with Nathan and Aine Tadier of Kerins Launderette at the official opening of HQ Tralee on Friday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
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Emer and Helen Tobin at the official opening of HQ Tralee on Friday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
Karina Corbett, Maeve Moriarty of Maeve Moriarty Consulting and Morna Clifford at the official opening of HQ Tralee on Friday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
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Eamon O’Reilly of NEWKD and Tomas Hayes of Kerry Local Enterprise Office at the official opening of HQ Tralee on Friday afternoon. Photo by Dermot Crean
Sounds great. Best of luck to all.