New platform lets businesses rent office space in empty houses
Vrumi, co-founded by Roddy Campbell, is a platform which allows people to let out empty rooms in their house during the day to small and start-up businesses as an affordable workspace option. “Vrumi enables the flexible entrepreneur to occupy space they otherwise couldn’t find, afford, or obtain flexibly, and gets that space used rather than remaining idle,” said Campbell. The sharing economy is making many businesses re-consider their business models, and platforms like Vrumi are helping businesses reduce costs in order to maximise profits. 





Mat Gazeley doesn’t think of himself as an entrepreneur. Like many people in the UK workforce, he starts his day with a commute to the office, where he works for P2P (peer-to-peer) money lending service Zopa.

However, Gazeley often has a passenger sitting alongside him in his car whom he has never met before. This is because he is a user of online car sharing service BlaBlaCar, which enables commuters to book a space in his vehicle for a fee. He advertises his journey, including a price and start time, and then liaises with interested customers via the platform. “It’s a good way to generate some income from something you are going to do anyway,” says Gazeley. “Having a passenger basically pays for my fuel money. It’s a good way to meet people, too. Also, they pay online, so there’s no awkwardness at the end of the journey.”

Gazeley also rents out a space on his driveway in a similar way via JustPark, which nets him roughly £10-15 per week from shoppers struggling to park in Cheltenham’s busy town centre. He also plans to start offering room in his house to overnight guests via Airbnb. Gazeley says he has no intention of running these services full time, but that they make a substantial addition to his income. “You can make it work if you are willing to put in the effort. But it can be time consuming with all the monitoring,” he says.

Gazeley is far from alone in taking part in this new type of enterprise. According to figures from accountancy software company Intuit, 6% of Britons are using sharing economy services to supplement their income. Widespread digital technology and familiarity with using social media platforms, means the public appears to be confident in connecting, interacting and organising in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

Disrupters

For consumers, sharing services broaden the market, with greater choice and access to things they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. For providers, it can boost sales in an efficient way. But the biggest beneficiaries are those running the platforms, potentially making huge revenues by acting as an intermediary for millions of sales. Silicon Valley, as you might expect, is a hotbed for such enterprises, but UK entrepreneurs are also getting involved.

One homegrown business appealing to the needs of business owners is Vrumi, co-founded by Roddy Campbell. The platform enables people to let the empty rooms in their houses during the day, with an aim to provide affordable workspaces for small and startup businesses.



Campbell says the UK is becoming more flexible and entrepreneurial and old patterns of doing business are being disrupted. “There is a cultural shift towards entrepreneurship and a move away from ownership and towards experience,” says Campbell. “Vrumi enables the flexible entrepreneur to occupy space they otherwise couldn’t find, afford, or obtain flexibly, and gets that space used rather than remaining idle.”

The growth of such services is causing entrepreneurs to fundamentally rethink their business models. For some UK businesses, the sharing economy is a way to reduce costs and to maximise profits. Delivery services are among those taking advantage. Among them is Richard Johnson, general manager of Xpert Delivery. He uses Nimber, a service recently launched in the UK, that aims to help people send and deliver goods more efficiently. The idea behind the service is that you are able to book space in a vehicle that is already going to make a journey anyway. Nimber’s “senders” post details of their shipment and then receive offers from the platform’s “bringers”.

Johnson says many of his customers are eBay users who suddenly realise they have no way of collecting or sending their goods. “The buyers may have just won their desired piece of furniture but then what? They research delivery with the big companies and find they can’t afford it. With those companies, packing, pallets and other things can cost hundreds of pounds. Here, Nimber comes into place. It connects us with our customers,” he says.

Cars

Car ownership is, for many people, a costly and time-consuming experience. Nonetheless, the freedom to be able to drive where and when you want is still appealing to many. Car clubs are perhaps one of the earliest incarnations of the sharing economy, with early innovators such as Streetcar, set up by Brett Akker and Andrew Valentine in 2004. Since then, there’s been a growth in car clubs offering “pay as you drive” services, and digital technology only looks set to increase their popularity.

Pierre Fox, director at car club Co-wheels, says tech savvy young people living in densely packed urban areas are spurring on the sharing economy. “Car clubs are not so much carving out a new sector in the sharing economy as filling a niche which is growing hugely as population density in cities increases, and the cost of independent living for younger people rises,” he says.

The taxman and sharing

For anyone making money out of the sharing economy, it is important to remember that, from a tax point of view, it does qualify as income and therefore needs to be declared. Linda Frier, founder of Coalesco accountants, says there are a range of reliefs, exemptions and responsibilities for those interested in making money from the sharing economy. However, tax law is complex and taking advice is always recommended.

“When renting out rooms in your own property, it is possible to claim rent-a-room relief,” says Frier. “The first £4,250 of income received is exempt from income tax, increasing to £7,500 from 6 April, 2016. However, you are unlikely to qualify for this relief if you derive taxable income from renting out other parts of your house, such as your driveway or attic.

“If you are considering not only renting out rooms, but also letting out your driveway and attic space, this is a business and something entirely different. Expenses such as insurance and management fees would be deductible and would be used to offset against income, lowering profits and saving tax and National Insurance if applicable.”

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