Work to create a major coworking space in Chatham’s Pentagon Centre has reached completion.

Medway Council has transformed almost half of the first floor of the shopping centre into Ascend, a space dedicated to small businesses, entrepreneurs and freelancers.

The 14,325 sq ft premises offers a range of coworking and private offices, meeting rooms and communal facilities.

Businesses located in the new space will also benefit from high-speed broadband, specialised support, events and networking opportunities.

The council expects 242 new jobs to be created within three of years of opening, as well as boosting the Pentagon’s footfall by an extra 1,000 visitors monthly.

To celebrate the completion a preview event was hosted last Friday (1 November), attended by council representatives, local media, the designers and those involved in the construction work.

The new offices were officially opened by Cllr Marian Nestorov, Mayor of Medway, and tours were also given to attendees.

Speaking at the event Cllr Vince Maple, leader of Medway Council, said: “Our community here in Medway has been through a number of challenges and we’re on the rise.

“I genuinely believe that the hopes and dreams of individuals and small businesses will be built, made and expanded in this new place.

“I want to thank those council officers, cabinet members and the brilliant team who made this happen from a practical perspective, working right up until the wire.”

Lauren Edwards, MP for Rochester and Strood, added: “This is going to have a big economic boost in Chatham.

“We’ll have a fantastic entrepreneurial community here, [and] lots of people who are going to be having exciting conversations, starting businesses and the hope is that they will be spending money in the shops that are already here.”

Ascend will be managed on a day-to-day basis by Edgility, in partnership with Kiln, who secured a 10-year lease on the space.

Building work started in April and was completed by Form Fit Out.

The scheme had an allocated budget of £3,811,366.

This comprised of £1.7 million from the government’s Future High Streets Fund, £1,811,366 from Medway Council and a £300,000 grant from the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP).

Further information about bookings can be found on Ascend’s website here.