Gain peace of mind through robust security

The town of Newbridge, County Kildare, brings with its significant tradition and history, none so much as Charlotte House, which received a new lease of life.

After a five-year renovation, the 650 square metre building is home to a state-of-the-art co-working space and cyber-secure digital hub, something reflected in its history of pioneers.

Originally built in 1840, Charlotte House was once the town’s main Post Office and the birthplace of the famed crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, the first woman elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1945. Among her achievements was her work developing several x-ray techniques for studying crystal structures and campaigning extensively for international peace.

Now renovated by Martin and Ainé Cooper, Newbridge Business Centre (NBC) marries the traditions of the past with high-tech and secure facilities, allowing the possibility of new pioneers to emerge from it. Giving back to the community by breathing life into a historic building.

The 60-desk workspace offers significant infrastructure and resilience, with high-quality comms facilities and is managed by a team of ISO 27001 and ISO 27018 certified security experts.

Martin Cooper, chief executive and owner at NBC, said the space addresses two main problems: workplace isolation and the evolving cyber threat landscape. Both those problems are handled by the level of service provided, which NBC emphasises.

“It’s really about making sure that the customer experience is 100% as customer service is absolutely paramount here,” he said. “The type of people we want to attract, it’s that level of service they want.”

The facilities are impressive, with heavy investment in high-speed internet and security. The building has CAT 6A cabling running through it, 300 wired data points accessing a 1GB internet service, 18 secure wifi access points, industry-standard WPA2/WPA3 network security for both customer and guest wifi, and offering every private suite corporate firewalls and dedicated IP addresses.

That’s not to mention the various ways businesses can set up, offering desk, office and room services for enterprises. The organisation has set itself up so that if customers require extra bandwidth, new IP addresses, or similar, they can get it within 24 hours.

The demand placed on hubs is now significant as more workers and organisations avail of them, but as Cooper puts it, that’s a good thing.

“We should be more demanding as that’s a good thing,” he said. “For too long, we accepted mediocre quality of service and customer support, and it’s not acceptable. So, we should be more demanding, we want our customers to be more demanding, and if we’re not doing something, we want them to tell us.

“We don’t bury our heads in the sand, we deal with it, and we’re adamant on that with customer service. We want all of our customers to be delighted, and if it can’t be met, it’s important to explain why you can’t.”

That openness and transparency are vital to NBC’s offering, and the confidence is down to the hard work put into updating the building. It took its time to ensure rigorous testing of all its facilities so when it opened its doors. it can meet current and future demands.

So too, are its cybersecurity credentials. One of the concerns NBC addresses is the safety of working in a hub. The fear of using the same wifi connection or working in an open-plan space when dealing with sensitive documents is enough for any higher-up manager to keep everything in the office.

NBC offers robust security in multiple ways, and companies that understand its importance will find the setup invaluable.

“Companies are reluctant to allow their staff to go to any office or hub because it could be a large open plan room, surrounded by people they don’t work with, and they’re sharing a wifi network with them,” he said. “If people are walking behind, looking at their laptop, and they have medical or financial records on the screen, it just doesn’t work.

“From the corporations’ point of view, their staff are in a secure environment, which is a great peace of mind for any senior manager or CEO in Dublin or elsewhere.”

The other element that NBC focuses on is sustainability. It’s installing solar panels over the next 12 months and offers multiple ways to access it to suit all journey types.

Train, bus, and car parks, not to mention secure bike rack facilities, means greater options for customers and for businesses in Dublin, fewer cars stuck in traffic.

The organisation also had the foresight to install charging points in their bike rack so anyone with an electric bike can charge it up. The level of flexibility and accessibility provided is a philosophy present through every feature.

The hub recently had a successful open day bringing the community and businesses in to view the facilities, with Cooper expressing how delighted he was with the reception. While it’s a very encouraging start, he is laser-focused on offering a high-class service to all who use NBC.

“We have all [that you need], but the service is important,” he said. “It’s when you need something, and you knock on the door, we make sure you get that, and that’s key.”