What Nottingham Hackspace does

Nottingham Hackspace (trading as Nottinghack) is a Nottingham-based, member-owned maker community founded in March 2010 and organized as Nottingham Hackspace Ltd, a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England & Wales. The organization operates a 4,300-square-foot shared workshop at Unit F6, Roden House, equipped with metalworking tools (Bridgeport Milling Machine, Myford lathes, welders), an A0 laser cutter, CNC router, 3D printers, woodworking and electronics test equipment. It serves individual makers, hackers, and crafters interested in electronics, robotics, crafts, prototyping, and DIY; pricing is a self-pay membership with a £5/month minimum via standing order, supplemented by donations, paid workshops (£5-12), and a RFID-enabled Snackspace vending system.

The operation is entirely volunteer-run with no paid staff and governed by a board of seven elected trustees (2-3 elected annually for two-year terms). A custom-built Hackspace Management System (HMS) handles member registration, RFID door and tool access control, tool inductions, Snackspace payments, and project/Do Not Hack labeling, integrating Stripe for payments and Eventbrite for tour bookings. Go-to-market is community-led: prospective members attend a mandatory Wednesday-evening tour before gaining 24/7 RFID space access, supported by recurring workshops and weekly Open Hack Nights.

Revenue is generated solely from member subscriptions, donations, workshop fees, and Snackspace vending—no external investors, parent company, or funding rounds are indicated. The cost to run the space is approximately £10/hour, with rent alone estimated to require ~412 members at the £5 minimum to cover, while implied total membership exceeds 650 based on AGM quorum math. The geographic footprint is a single facility in Nottingham, with no disclosed plans for additional locations.

Name

Nottingham Hackspace

Legal name

Nottingham Hackspace Ltd

Website

https://nottinghack.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Nottingham Hackspace (Nottinghack) is a member-owned, volunteer-run maker community in Nottingham, UK, providing 24/7 RFID access to a 4,300 sq ft shared workshop with metalworking, laser, CNC, woodworking, and electronics tools for individual makers, hackers, and crafters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Nottingham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Self-pay membership model where members choose their own monthly contribution via standing order. Fixed minimum of £5 per month; amounts less than this treated as donations. Members receive 24/7 access, storage box, and use of communal tools and facilities.
2. Donations: Members and supporters can make additional donations beyond membership fees. The space relies on these contributions alongside subscriptions to cover rent, electricity, and operational costs.
3. Workshop Fees: Revenue from ticketed workshops covering materials and instruction. Examples include Arduino workshops (£8-12), PCB making workshops, craft workshops, and specialty events. Open hack nights remain free.
4. Snackspace/Vending: RFID-enabled vending machine for snacks, kits, and components. Members load credit via Stripe. Also enables tool time purchases and members' box rentals (£8 for 35l box).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Nottingham Hackspace is a member-funded and volunteer-led community workshop providing 24/7 access to 4,300 sq ft of shared workspace at Roden House, Nottingham, equipped with metalworking, woodworking, CNC/laser, electronics, and 3D printing tools for hackers, makers, and crafters. Membership is self-pay with a £5/month minimum and is managed through the in-house Hackspace Management System (HMS), which handles registration, RFID access control, tool inductions, Snackspace payments, and storage box allocation. Additional offerings include ticketed workshops, free weekly Open Hack Nights, and member storage boxes.

Product overview

Nottingham Hackspace is a member-owned community maker space offering access to approximately 4300 square feet of workshop facilities including woodworking, metalworking, CNC/laser cutting, electronics, crafts, and 3D printing areas. The core offering is physical access to shared tools and equipment, supported by the Hackspace Management System (HMS) for membership management, RFID access control, and tool bookings. Additional services include workshops and training programs, Snackspace payment system for vending and tool time, and weekly Open Hack Nights for community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nottingham Hackspace Member Workshop Access 24/7 member-funded access to a 4,300 sq ft shared workshop at Unit F6, Roden House, Nottingham, with metalworking, woodworking, CNC/laser, electronics, craft, and 3D printing areas, plus WiFi, kitchen, and bathroom facilities. Available to self-pay members (£5/month minimum) after a mandatory Wednesday evening tour.
• HMS (Hackspace Management System) Web-based management system used by members to register, book tools, complete inductions, manage RFID access, and process Snackspace payments. Internal platform rather than a commercially sold product.
• Maker Skills Workshops Educational workshops covering electronics, Arduino, PCB manufacturing, soldering, robotics, crafts, and various maker skills, delivered in person at the hackspace. Examples include Arduino workshops (~£8-12), PCB making (£8), and solar engine workshop (£5); open hack nights are offered free.
• Snackspace RFID Vending and Tool-Time System On-site RFID-enabled vending machine and payment system letting members load credit via Stripe and purchase snacks, kits (Sugru, TV-B-Gone, Flashy badge, AVR kits), components, tool time, and member storage box rentals (£8 for a 35L box).
• Open Hack Nights Free weekly Wednesday evening open sessions (tours and project participation) running from 6:30-8:30 pm, used as the mandatory prospective-member tour and as a community engagement activity.

Quantifiable outcome

• One of the largest Hackspaces in the UK since 2010
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• LVL1 Hackerspace (Louisville, Kentucky, USA)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Participated together in the Global Hackerspace Cupcake Challenge. Nottinghack sent Earl Grey and Pimms-based cupcakes to LVL1 in Louisville, Kentucky. The challenge involved mailing cakes under $50 that would arrive in pristine condition from a hackspace 1000+ miles away. The partnership fostered cross-Atlantic hacker community connections.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• London Hackspace: UK membership-funded community workshop offering 24/7 access to shared tools, electronics, and fabrication equipment. Operates an analogous volunteer-led, RFID-access-controlled model with workshops and inductions, making it the closest comparable hackspace in terms of scale and operating model.
• Makespace Cambridge: Cambridge community workshop offering member access to fabrication, electronics, and woodworking tools under a subscription model. Comparable in being a UK city-level maker space with a workshop and training program.
• Bristol Hackspace: Member-funded maker community in Bristol offering shared workshop access for electronics, woodworking, and digital fabrication. Highly comparable operating model, member-led governance, and community workshop program.
• Manchester Hackspace (Hac-Man): Manchester-based community maker space running a self-pay membership model with 24/7 access to metalworking, woodworking, electronics, and CNC tools. Directly comparable as a UK regional hackspace with a similar volunteer-run structure and tool-access proposition.
• Edinburgh Hacklab: Edinburgh-based volunteer-run maker space providing shared tools, electronics, and 3D printing facilities to members. Comparable community-run, member-funded operating model with shared workshop access.
• Leeds Hackspace: Community workshop in Leeds providing member access to 3D printers, laser cutters, and electronics equipment. Comparable as a Northern UK hackspace with subscription-based access and tool induction workflows.
• Birmingham Hackspace: Midlands-located member-funded maker space offering shared workshop facilities and tool access. Geographic and model peer of Nottingham Hackspace within the same UK maker-space network.
• Southampton Makerspace: Southern UK community maker space with member subscriptions and shared access to fabrication tools. Comparable as another UK regional hackspace with a workshop and tool-access proposition.

Regional players

• NYC Resistor: New York-based member-funded hacker collective offering shared workshop access, classes, and equipment inductions. Conceptually parallel community-run maker space operating under a similar subscription + workshop + induction model in a different geography.
• Noisebridge: San Francisco volunteer-run hackerspace providing shared workshop and electronics facilities to members and visitors. Directly analogous volunteer-driven maker space model, serving as a US-based reference point for Nottingham Hackspace's community structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HSNOTTS
• GitHubgithub.com/NottingHack
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/nottinghack
• Facebookfacebook.com/nottinghack
• Instagraminstagram.com/nottinghack
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nottinghamhackspace

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nottingham Hackspace