School Space started as a student leadership project for sixth formers Jemma Phibbs and James Lloyd to boost their Oxfordshire school’s reputation and ties to the community.

The passion to prove their school had more about it than a poor Ofsted and damage done by budget cuts and bad press inspired them to host community events to showcase its facilities.

After four years of working on the venture with two local schools around their own educational commitments, they turned to UnLtd to supercharge their business in 2016.

Jemma said:

Although James and I were not really friends at school, we are very close now - we speak to each other more than our partners sometimes! We are opposites in lots of ways - but we fundamentally really care about the same things.

Joining UnLtd’s Accelerator Programme, which gave us funding but also valuable insights to grow our business, was really helpful. We were supported to articulate our social mission as a business and what we cared about, which was and is supporting schools and connecting them with their communities.

We soon found out there was a huge demand for our business, not only for events but to provide spaces for groups meeting regularly. We’ve been working towards building thriving schools at the centre of thriving communities ever since.

With the tagline: "Your booking will make a difference to the education sector", James and Jemma’s student idea has given £8 million back to schools and engages over 200,000 community users annually.

In the face of ongoing funding cuts to education across the country, School Space is providing schools with a way to generate essential income.

Holy Family Catholic School in Waltham Forest, London, has been able to invest in an all-weather sports pitch, sporting equipment, a hardship fund, and a breakfast club while other schools have, among other things, built a sixth form block, and employed more staff.

Gary Kynaston, headteacher at Hammersmith Academy, said:

Since working with School Space, we’ve seen an increase in the use of the site by various community groups which includes children from within the academy. There is a clear public benefit as a result.

The income generated has been invested in various additional student facing and operational elements of the academy life, redecoration of parts of the academy, resources for books and revision materials for students and adding resources to our sustainability agenda.

School Space is now based in Hoxton in London and has unlocked these essential revenue streams for around 200 education establishments across the south of England. Jemma and James are currently eyeing an expansion into the Midlands.

Jemma, 31, from London, said:

The £20,000 in funding from UnLtd’s Big Venture Challenge in 2016 allowed us to scale up the team to partner with more schools and opened the door to the impact investment world for us. We are really lucky that everyone who has become a shareholder of School Space really cares about what we do.

A school is an asset at the centre of the community, everyone knows it and is comfortable there, but it’s not used after the school day ends. Schools simply do not have the resources or the time or the support to open them up to the community - but the demand is there.

The spaces are hired for lots of reasons, from knitting groups and religious services to sports including anything from football to padel. We are providing local employment. It is a win/win for all sides.

While Jemma is heavily involved in the investment, shareholders and growth side of the business, James, also 31 and from Windsor, takes responsibility for the finances and HR, and new partnerships with schools.

They acknowledged that in the early days they leant on UnLtd’s expertise to mitigate for their lack of business experience.

We were pretty young, so we appreciated UnLtd’s business workshops to refine our skills as we grew. We were so lucky to have had the support from UnLtd. They understood our drive to have a growing business that was and still is taking on investment but is also always protecting its social mission. Finding people who want to work with us like that is a core part of my role - and UnLtd were just so on the money with that.

School Space’s ‘community connectors’, often people in the local area who are already motivated to support the school, handle the lettings and venue management before, during and after each booking, allowing the school staff to get on with their day jobs as an income stream is generated for the school after hours.

Jemma said:

The processes we have built up over 14 years means every school gets a smooth lettings experience. Our team has tripled in four years. We have always been passionate about providing jobs and put a huge amount of effort into our community connectors as they are the people on the ground representing School Space and our values.

We are always looking for new schools to partner with. In the next five years, we would love to have made £50 million for the education sector and supported as many schools and community groups as possible and provided as many jobs as possible.

The feedback we get every day makes my job the absolute best thing. When we see a school being used to its full potential, taking the strain off their school staff and benefiting its reputation, it is truly transformative. Ofsted ratings come and go, but connecting with the community is something all the schools that join us really care about.

Having launched a business while still students, the School Space pair have learned a lot along the way.

Jemma said:

To young entrepreneurs, James and I always say, get as much feedback and advice as you can and don’t be afraid to ask for help. I am still asking even after 14 years. There are many different paths into social entrepreneurship. Even if you are much further along in your career but starting a business for the first time, you are never going to know everything.

External input from sources that have the same values as you and want to support you to succeed is so valuable. We are currently applying for UnLtd and Big Issue Invest’s Growth Impact Fund, a social impact investment fund, and it is great to still be able to go back and speak to UnLtd and I still look to the other social entrepreneurs we were with on UnLtd’s Big Venture Challenge for inspiration.

For more information visit UnLtd’s Awards and School Space.