Over the past weeks many of us will have been following the developments in the devastating case of Sarah Everard’s disappearance. Many women have been particularly shaken by the case because they identify with Sarah, and this has further reinforced existing grief and anger over women’s safety in the UK.

It was amid this tragic news that we marked the year anniversary of the World Health Organisation’s declaration of the COVID-19 virus as a pandemic, and International Women’s Day. The global theme for International Women’s Day this year was #ChooseToChallenge. The pandemic has impacted women in profound ways, but a key contributor to a more equal COVID-19 world is increasing women’s access to leadership roles and encouraging women to challenge any bias. We want women to initiate, lead and influence.

Paddington Works is a company that has already done this. We’re here to make a difference. We are a COVID-19 secure co-working space run by strong and empowered women (bar one – our Production Manager Henry, our Token Man if you like). As a female led workspace, we like to make sure we take precautions to keep our female team and members safe at work. From our round-the-clock unintrusive CCTV surveillance, to our security systems which includes access passes and logging the details of every non-member who comes into the building.


Our business is about protecting the human and their well-being, in other words we humanise business. We put people at the heart of our collaborative community, and part of this is protecting them while in our care. Our General Manager Lulu is driven to support the essence of our company culture. So much that if she feels an individual doesn’t sync in with our attitude and ethos of understanding human respect, they won’t be accepted into our membership.

Speaking on female safety here at Paddington Works, one of our members said one thing we do that makes her feel safe at work is ‘The team are always active around the building, there is normally someone walking by, they’re always friendly and say “Hi”, it makes me feel safe’. She also commented saying she feels more comfortable with the fact that our staff are primarily made up of women. This is exactly how we want our members to feel while at work.

Is there anything we can do to help you feel safer? Come let us know. We want you to feel supported.