Far from the hippy connotations of communal living comes communal working, thankfully a much more sanitised and workable concept. Those who know the corporate property market have named this increasingly common trend the business centre, but the idea itself is simple.

A tight sense of community develops when several small businesses share the load by taking a floor in an office building together. Within these niches of likeminded people, property companies are now starting to encourage the informal associations to develop into professional networks.

Primeproperty House, just off Lambton Quay, is one of the first in Wellington to do this by offering tenants business and marketing mentoring and encouraging networking by sponsoring social drinks.

With hordes of small businesses attempting to reduce costs by working from home, many are now bucking the trend and going down the business centre route. 55 small and medium sized kiwi businesses currently call Primeproperty House their home base. Property Manager Ruosi He takes pleasure in helping small companies develop networks and take the next step with their business.

“It’s always very exciting to help new people set up and see the spark in their eyes. That look that says ‘I’m going to do great and this is my starting point.’”

Ex MP and Minister of Commerce Paul Swain and business partner Prashanta Mukherjee have that spark.

They have been running their new venture India Horizonz from level seven Primepropterty House since late 2008.

India Horizonz helps New Zealand companies of all sizes do business in India, using the networks and expertise of its founders. Mr Swain says the positive atmosphere of the building is clearly evident.

“Other people have said that it is a nice atmosphere and I think it is because you get lots of small businesses all together and everyone is passionate about what they are doing.” Mr Swain feels strongly that because of the nature of their company, a professional face is needed for them to be taken seriously.

“If you’ve got a business like ours where you are working with other businesses and dealing with serious issues then it needs to have a professional feel about it. We came to the point where we needed to go up that professional ladder and to look more professional and have a base.”

Like many, the pair initially worked from home and the decision to get office space was a validation of what their company had achieved.

“We started off exploring and getting the feel. What happened was the people coming through the door validated what we were doing and so therefore we needed to go up a notch and this was coming up a notch.”

Mr Swain says he finds it interesting to have a diverse range of other businesses in the building and enjoys bumping into people.

“You tend to see each other at the lift or getting a cup of tea…people look out for each other and just keep an eye on the place and really it is just a nice atmosphere.”

Mr Mukherjee is still slightly dubious about the tanning salon located on one of the lower floors but is reassured he can send Mr Swain for a massage if the stress gets too much.

“We haven’t got to that level of stress yet but I know that we will. I’ll say, ‘sorry Paul, just go have a massage.’”

The old adage of the bigger they are the harder they fall is particularly true in the current economic climate, and it means that the struggles of small companies are increasingly overlooked. Ms He says that because small businesses need to remain agile, a company can move into Primeproperty house within days with just a laptop and are not bound to long term contracts.

“They all need some help when they are starting; it has to be a little bit flexible for them. They can’t just move in somewhere and without any certainty sign up for three or six years, especially in this economy.”

While Ms He says the majority of Primeproperty tenants stay on average one or two years there is a fair share of old hats. Samdog Design is a graphic and web design business which started with just two people working from home and now has six employees. Managing Director Nick Lloyd says in his five years at Primeproperty House his business has been on practically every floor in the building.

As the company has grown there has been a range of different sized offices with good light and views that have met their needs. Mr Lloyd says while his business keeps him more than busy enough, it has been useful to have both a database and a copyright business within an elevator ride.

They say great minds think alike, and indeed this new trend of flocking together promises to be an interesting new development for kiwi small business.