Businesses looking for a small home
He got his local politician involved and gathered hundreds of signatures of support. He was allowed to reopen, but the question hasn’t been settled.
The daily fee is about £17, local councillor Jonathan Simpson said. “Officers are now working with the kiosk holder to ensure the correct licence is issued to allow trading to take place on the street,” he said.
Ben Spier is also waiting to figure out what the local council says. He says it will affect his business selling hearty salads out of a booth in the Holborn neighbourhood of central London. His menu features a rotation of five salads, plus chicken or salmon.
Spier had been selling salads at local food markets for a few years, and the phone box gave him the opportunity to get his own spot without paying prohibitively expensive rent.
He built a pod inside the booth and set up shelves that hang from the door. “That was the beginning of May, and it’s kind of working out,” he said, sounding a bit surprised himself.
Two phone boxes in southeast London are run as honour-system libraries, one for adults and the other for children. There are plans for a third, and they’re open 24 hours a day.
A third of Britain’s 46,000 payphones, including about 8000 red phone boxes, are used just once a month or not at all, according to BT, which has operated nearly all payphones in the UK since phone services were privatised in the early 80s.
Perhaps the most poignant use of the booths — as smartphone repair and charging stations, and mobile office spaces — has the most massmarket potential.
New York City-based Bar Works plans to open tiny offices inside the boxes, starting with nine next month and expanding to 18 by the end of the year. For about £20 a month, people will have access to a mini work station with wifi, power outlets, a printer and scanner, and other office utilities.
Lovefone, an electronics repair shop, plans to open seven smartphone-repair shops in phone boxes nationwide.
“I was amazed at how spacious it was and thought it perfect for fitting a single technician inside,” Lovefone chief executive Rob Kerr said.
“We already send technicians across the city on bikes performing repairs at home and work with a briefcase of parts and tools, so you don’t need a lot of space,” he said.