SET

Name

SET

Legal name

SET

Website

https://setspace.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts and Cultural Workspace

NAICS

Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Museums (71211), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises (BPAGALAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH), Live Music Clubs & Venues (MPAGAIAB)

Keywords

• Affordable artist studios
• Creative workspace
• Community arts venues
• Ceramics studio
• Film festival programming

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices15 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Artist Studio Rentals: SET offers genuinely affordable artist studios priced from approximately £1.30-£1.60 per sq ft PCM across various London locations. All studio fees are reinvested directly into covering the cost of spaces and supporting wider community projects.
2. SET Social Bar and Café: SET Social operates a not-for-profit arts and social club with a café (open Wed-Fri 10am-6pm, weekends 2pm-6pm) and bar (open daily at 6pm), generating revenue from food, drinks, and membership access.
3. SET Social Membership: Annual membership at £12 per year (free for SE15 neighbours), providing access to the venue, events, and late nights. Membership helps sustain operations and supports SET's wider charitable projects.
4. Venue and Space Hire: SET venues are available for hire for private events, with all events and bookings hand-selected. Revenue supports programming and community initiatives.
5. Ceramics Courses and Workshops: SET Ceramics offers courses (4-8 week programmes), studio memberships, private classes, team workshops, and kiln hire, priced affordably with discounts for SET Studio Members and City of London residents.
6. Donations and Fundraising: As a registered charity (№ 1170903), SET relies on donations and fundraising campaigns (e.g., GoFundMe for SET Social recovery), with Gift Aid eligibility adding 25% to contributions.
7. Property Partner Income: SET partners with property owners to manage vacant buildings, generating income while providing social value, business rates relief, and property maintenance for landlords.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

SET transforms vacant and underused buildings across London into affordable artist studios, gallery spaces, and community venues under a registered-charity meanwhile-use model. It operates a network of studios (12+ London centres spanning 140,000+ sq ft), SET Social (arts and social club with café and bar in Peckham), SET 91 (gallery in Old Street), SET Ceramics (community pottery studio), and an annual SET Film Festival, plus podcasts, courses, workshops, and venue hire.

Product overview

SET is a London-based contemporary arts organisation and registered charity that operates as a multi-venue platform offering genuinely affordable artist studios, community spaces, and arts programming. The core offerings include SET Studios (affordable workspace across 12+ London locations), SET Social (arts and social club in Peckham with café, bar, and garden), SET 91 (non-profit gallery in Old Street), and SET Ceramics (community pottery studio). Supporting programming includes the SET Film Festival (annual film festival), All Purpose Filla podcast (artist conversations), and the Film Festival Accelerator Programme. The organisation transforms vacant buildings into creative spaces, reinvesting all revenue from studios into operations and community programming.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Associate Members Programme: Programme offering studio members access to project spaces, workshops, exhibitions, and the wider SET community
• SET Radio
• SET Film Festival Accelerator Programme

Products and services

• SET Studios Affordable artist studio spaces across London offering workspace for visual artists, performers, writers, musicians, and creative practitioners. Studios are priced from £1.30-£1.60 per sq ft PCM with all-inclusive pricing covering utilities, 24/7 access, maintenance, refuse, cleaning, compliance, and access to shared facilities. Studio holders automatically join the Associate Members Programme.
• SET Social Not-for-profit arts and social club in Peckham featuring a café (Wed-Fri 10am-6pm, weekends 2pm-6pm), bar (daily from 6pm), library, and community garden. Operates under Club Premises Certificate with an annual membership (£12/year, free for SE15 neighbours) providing access to events, workshops, exhibitions, live music, and ability to bring guests.
• SET 91 SET's in-house contemporary arts gallery at 91 Tabernacle Street, Old Street, providing a non-profit platform for early-career and underrepresented artists. Operates six-month curated exhibition cycles and is open Thursday-Sunday 13:00-18:00.
• SET Ceramics Community pottery studio at 35 Crutched Friars near Fenchurch Street Station offering studio memberships with dedicated benches and kiln use, 4-week and 8-week courses in wheel throwing and hand building (small classes of 4-6 students), private classes, team workshops for 4-10 people, and flexible kiln hire for outside artists. Discounts available for SET Studio Members and City of London residents.
• SET Film Festival Annual grassroots film festival held at SET Social in Peckham, featuring weekly film nights, short film programmes, and feature presentations for contemporary, artist, and archival film outside conventional exhibition contexts. The festival has attracted thousands of submissions and supported over 100 independent filmmakers across editions.
• All Purpose Filla Podcast Podcast series featuring conversations between artists in their studios, where each artist invites the next, creating organic portraits of SET's artistic communities. Available on Spotify, Acast, and other podcast platforms as part of SET Radio.
• SET Venue and Space Hire Private venue and space hire across SET's centres for events, filming, and photoshoots. All events and bookings are hand-selected, with revenue supporting SET's programming and community initiatives. Subsidised and free hire is provided to charities and grassroots community organisations.
• Meanwhile Use Property Services B2B service for property owners, local authorities, institutional landlords, housing associations, developers, and estates with vacant buildings. SET provides charitable occupation as a legal alternative to property guardianship, delivering vacant property management, 80-100% business rates relief, risk management, property maintenance, and social value generation. SET deals directly with landlords with no agents, fees, or subletting.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 artists supported since founding in 2016
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (UAL)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 April 2026SET partnered with Central Saint Martins on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership supported by Innovate UK to explore new ways of identifying and adapting vacant buildings into affordable artist studios. This partnership aims to develop a new approach to affordable artist workspace provision.
• London Affordable Artist Studio Network (LAASN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSET is a member of LAASN, working with other affordable artist studio providers to advocate for equitable access to workspace and responsible meanwhile use across London. SET participates in network activities and initiatives to safeguard affordable space and widen access to the arts.
• Mayor of LondoncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSET receives support from the Mayor of London as part of its funding and recognition. The Mayor of London's 2021 London Plan (Policy E3) encourages developers to provide affordable workspace for artists at below-market rent, aligning with SET's mission.
• Southwark CouncilcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Pride Edition Community Day and Market is supported by Southwark Council's Pride Funding, demonstrating local government partnership for community arts programming.
• DSDHA ArchitectsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDSDHA is a collaborator on the Take Your Pleasure Seriously project at SET Vauxhall, which aims to co-design prototypes for a new temporary structure in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. DSDHA brings expertise in urban strategies and innovative buildings.
• House of NEONminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHouse of NEON collaborates on the Take Your Pleasure Seriously project, envisioning a future where creative talent is never limited by background, income or access to space. NEON's cultural hub is at SET Vauxhall.
• Live + BreatheminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLive + Breathe is a South London campaign working to achieve clean air, climate and social justice. They collaborate on Take Your Pleasure Seriously project led by musician and artist Love Ssega.
• Vauxhall One BIDminorGTM or Marketing Partner
• Vauxhall City FarmminorGTM or Marketing PartnerVauxhall City Farm partners on the Take Your Pleasure Seriously project, bringing community and environmental focus to the initiative at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.
• RAZE CollectivecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerRAZE Collective partners on the Pride Edition Community Day and Market at SET Social, bringing kids' rave and scratch performance programming. RAZE Collective supports LGBTQ+ and underrepresented artists.
• Flash FolkminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFlash Folk partners on the Pride Edition event, bringing Queering the Tradition open practice and live performance to the programme.
• TRIBE CICminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTRIBE CIC partners on the Pride Edition event, contributing Intergenerational Poetry Workshop for all ages featuring Black Queer elder Poets.
• Arts for DementiaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSET Social regularly partners with Arts for Dementia to run sessions for their cohort, demonstrating commitment to accessible arts programming.
• KeyRingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerKeyRing members have become a vital addition to SET Social's weekly community garden sessions, where volunteers grow vegetables and cook communal meals. SET provides subsidized venue access for KeyRing's work.
• ESEA Green LionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerESEA Green Lions leads a new project in the SET Social library corner space, continuing initiatives for community engagement and cultural programming.
• Looking ForwardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLooking Forward is the curator of the Soft Ground textile wellbeing workshop series, working internationally across contemporary art, design, and socially engaged practices. Founded in 2019, they bring artists and communities together through long-term projects.
• Eastern City LondonminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSET Ceramics is supported by Eastern City London, demonstrating partnership with City of London business development initiatives.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Create London: London-based non-profit supporting artists and creative communities through residencies, commissions and workspace initiatives. Broader portfolio than SET (policy advocacy, commissions, programmes) but overlapping arts-and-community mission and funder base.
• Southbank Centre: UK's largest arts centre operating theatres, galleries and festivals on the South Bank. Relevant incumbent comparison for SET's programming ambition (film festivals, exhibitions, performance), though at materially larger scale and with permanent venues.

Direct peers

• SPACE Studios: UK-wide affordable artist and creative-industries workspace provider with significant London footprint. Competes with SET for the same landlord partnerships and tenant pool of artists priced out of commercial rents.
• ASC Studios: London artist studio collective providing affordable workspace to artists, members and visiting creatives. Operates a similar charitable/community model over multi-site London estates, making it a direct peer for occupancy and pricing comparisons.
• Bow Arts: East London affordable artist studios and creative community operator running multiple buildings under a charitable model. Closely comparable in mission, funding mix (rates relief, rents, grants) and creative-placemaking approach.
• Acme Studios: London-based provider of affordable artist studios and creative workspace, founded as a charity. Direct competitor in the meanwhile-use, affordable-studio segment that SET operates in, sharing LAASN affiliation and similar rate-relief mechanics.
• Cubitt Artists: Artist-led cooperative in Islington providing studios, gallery space and education programmes. Comparable as a London non-profit providing below-market studio and exhibition space via meanwhile-use arrangements.

Regional players

• Roundhouse: Camden-based charitable performance venue and creative development programme for young creatives. Overlaps with SET Social's live-music, club and event programming as well as support for emerging artists, but anchored in a single permanent venue.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/setsetsetsetsetset
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/setsetsetsetsetset

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries5 records

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 SET