We all know that there are lots of big businesses in Nottingham, including Boots, Experian, Eon and CapitalOne. What is less well-known is that the area has a growing reputation in the technology and creative sectors, and there are hundreds and hundreds of thriving smaller businesses and consultancies here too.

Being so well-placed, a few minutes from the city centre, close to the station, and with excellent schools and leisure facilities, West Bridgford is home to many up-and-coming companies. So as well as our offering of one- and two-bedroom serviced apartments, West Bridgford is home to a range of serviced offices to suit all businesses – from soloprenuers up to much larger organisations. 

If you're relocating here or setting up a new business in the area, here's a handy guide to serviced offices in and around West Bridgford.

Bridgford Business Centre: www.bridgfordbusiness.co.uk
29 Bridgford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6AU

Just one minute's walk from Central Avenue, with Caffe Nero, Costa, Pizza Express, escabeche and numerous other places to while away your breaks, is Bridgford Business Centre. They provide serviced and virtual offices for businesses with between 1 and 20 people on a flexible monthly rental basis.

Included in your rental: gas, water & electricity, office furniture, fast WiFi, 24/7 access, regular cleaning, car parking nearby, kitchen facilities, and you also have access to a meeting room.

Step Enterprise: www.stepenterprisehouse.co.uk
Step Enterprise House, 14-16 Bridgford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6AB

​Step Enterprise is ideal for start-ups and small businesses, and has a lovely location on Bridgford Road opposite the cricket ground – which is a couple of minutes' walk from the centre of West Bridgford, and a few minutes from Trent Bridge if you head in the opposite direction. Plenty of buses stop outside and it's close to the taxi rank further along Bridgford Road. Step Enterprise Ltd also supports companies, and connects students and graduates with growing businesses, check out their website for more information.

Included in your rental: what you've come to expect – utilities, fast broadband, office furniture, flexible plans, serviced offices, cleaning, 24/7 access, security and on-site parking – plus free use of their meeting rooms with first-class training and presentation equipment. 

Whether you're setting up a business on your own or taking up a job as part of a growing company there are lots of brilliant serviced office options here in West Bridgford, with all our wonderful transport links if you need to head into town or go further afield.

Feel free to get in touch with us if you're visiting for work or pleasure, we'd love to help you find everything you need for a perfect stay.

I can't believe we're into the third week of January already (where does the time go?!). Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Year? We hope you had a great Christmas and have a brilliant 2017. We've got an exciting year ahead, we've taken on a number of new luxury apartments – soon to be featured on our blog – and we're set for another year of growth and lots of happy guests.

If you've gone back to work and you're already a little underwhelmed by the same old routine maybe it's time to think about a change? Our guests come from all four corners of the world, taking up new and exciting opportunities in Nottingham and the East Midlands. I know we're biased but there are some seriously good reasons to join them. Here are the top 5...

1. Business is Booming
​No one seemed quite sure what would happen after the Brexit vote last year but so far the economy is doing just fine. We talked about Reuters setting up a new subediting office in Nottingham last June, bringing new jobs and opportunities with them. And they're not the only ones. Romero insurance brokers have expanded their operations into the Midlands and chose Nottingham as the perfect place to set up shop, and we've seen scores of new restaurants arrive in the city in the last 12 months, keen to be part of the thriving local scene.

2. Local Schools
Whatever age your children and whether they go to a state school or a private one, you'll find the perfect place for them to study locally. Nottingham and wider Nottinghamshire are home to every type of school, college and academy you could possibly want. The area is well-known for having very good state primary and secondary schools (which is one reason why house prices are so buoyant in West Bridgford). For more info about private/independent schools pop over here and you can research local state schools via this link.

3. Sports Facilities
West Bridgford is not only home to Nottingham Trent Cricket Club, we also have Nottingham Forest and Nottingham City grounds right on our doorstep, the river Trent (perfect for rowing, dragon-boating, walking and cycling), the National Water Sports Centre with its choice of fun activities down the road at Holmepierre Pont, numerous gyms and tennis courts, and for keen walkers the Peak District is only 30 miles away. There's a never-ending list of sports and activities you can get involved in, it's easy to see why West Bridgford was named England's Home of Sport.

4. The Social Scene
You may have picked up that we're *quite* keen on going out (!). We're HUGE fans of Nottingham Playhouse and the arts in general, and who doesn't love going out for drinks and dinner?! So it's lucky really that Nottingham and West Bridgford have so much to offer. As well as Nottingham Playhouse, if the theatre is your thing there's the Theatre Royal, Lace Market Theatre and Nottingham Arts Theatre, which are all different and show a wide range of productions. When it comes to art galleries there's Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham Lakeside Arts and the Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery. And we've got four cinemas to choose from too (independent and arty Broadway, cheap tickets at the Savoy, luxury seating at the Showcase and IMAX at Cineworld). 

We've talked about going out for cocktails and dinner before so here are a few useful links to help you plan the perfect night out:

• ​The Best Cocktails in West Bridgford & Nottingham
• The Humour Behind Local Pub Names
• Our Favourite Nottingham Eateries
• Where to Go for Live Music​

​There's also a bi-weekly Farmer's Market on the Croquet Lawn on Central Avenue, West Bridgford – with either a plants or crafts fair the alternate Saturdays – which is perfect for picking up delicious locally sourced food. We have a wonderful park just off Central Avenue where you'll find Bridgford Hall and a great big children's playground to take your kids to after you've treated yourself at the Farmer's Market and got yourself a coffee from Al Fresco!

5. All the other brilliant things that don't fit into one neat category!
​We're very proud of all the awards the area wins. West Bridgford has been named England's Home of Sport, and the 8th top performing suburb in the UK, Nottinghamshire hosts two of the best golf courses in the country, and Larwood & Voce pub serves the best Sunday lunches in the UK!

Our well-fitted luxury apartments are in the centre of West Bridgford, with excellent travel links into Nottingham city centre and the station (about 5 mins), to East Midlands airport (an easy 20-minute drive), the wonderful public transport networks (excellent tram and bus services, plus it's only 1 hour 45 minutes by train to London). What's not to love about living here?!

If you're thinking of relocating to Nottingham or West Bridgford and would like any more information about the area feel free to get in touch, we LOVE talking about all the reasons to move here!

Set in the heart of West Bridgford on Bridgford Road, The Parlour harks back to the good old days of drinking, it's open throughout the day and caters for all manner of gatherings and events. Recently they have started doing a very good line in vegan and vegetarian food, which is worth trying while you're there. They offer a range of Parlour, Classic and Prosecco cocktails so why not get in touch and book a table, you can even enjoy cocktails for £5 a piece during Happy Hour if you can get out of work early! And it's only a five-minute walk back to our apartments at the end of the evening!

Just down the road from the Parlour, Copper is arguably one of the main social hubs of West Bridgford and it's easy to see why – basically, it's got it all. You could spend the day there enjoying breakfast, lunch and dinner and everything in between. The staff are friendly and it has a great atmosphere in the evening, as well as a fantastic house cocktail list, making it the perfect place for a chilled catch-up. You can now find Copper in three locations – West Bridgford, Mapperley Top and in the city – but ours was the first (and best!). If you're looking for company you'll often see members of the Nook & Cranny collective enjoying the atmosphere, and we definitely won't say no to any offers of a drink!

​Probably our favourite bar in Bridgford is Mudcrab. Like its competitors it offers great food and an excellent vibe but the cocktail menu is simply stunning. Be sure to try the Motox, a cocktail so good that it almost single handedly emptied my bank account in one evening! Paul, the manager, and his team are fabulous and cannot do enough for you to make you feel like you're their favourite customer. Check them out on Twitter @mudcrab_wb where they often share quirky discount deals. More than one of our American guests have said that the burgers at Mudcrab are the most like they are back home in the U S of A too.

​As we head into Nottingham city centre the first port of call should almost certainly be the Orange Tree, or The Tree to the locals. It's a friendly, open and relaxing bar full of antique furniture and quirky lighting, and boasts Nottingham's biggest range of cocktails. The 2-for-1 Happy Hour means you can enjoy a whole range without breaking the bank. Try the Very Berry Mojito or the French Martini and you'll never look back.
Apparently there's a great Quiz Night on Sundays too where the Question Master is our very own guest blogger Alex Noble of "local band, soon to be international" April Towers fame.

​Tilt is perhaps the most scenic of all the cocktail joints in the area, a highly unusual layout across a number of floors takes you outside the urban confines of the city centre into another era. Regular blues and jazz nights coupled with expertly made and imaginative cocktails will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. Be wary of coming in large groups though as the tiny building may well collapse (not really!). But do arrive early as it gets really busy.

Part of the well known Revolution brand, the beautiful decor of Revolucion de Cuba will transport you to the hustle and bustle of Havana. They serve cocktails in all shapes and sizes, including my favourite, one that arrives in a plastic elephant! The Passion Fruit Caiprinia is absolutely sensational and be sure to check out the upstairs area if not to simply admire the grand staircase that makes the Titanic look like a budget ferry! 

You might think from our blog that we like going out... and you'd be right! West Bridgford and Nottingham just get better and better for places to drink and eat. In case you missed it here's our guide to the best eateries in Nottingham and if you fancy visiting some of our brilliant boozers we've done a bit of homework to explain what some of the quirkier local pub names mean. Let us know if we've missed your favourites and we'll include them next time we put a guide together (after doing some research in person of course!).

Have a brilliant week before Christmas. We'll be back soon with a write-up of our trip to the panto at the Playhouse (oh yes we will!!). If you want to get in touch in the meantime and tell us about any great venues or to ask about staying in one of our luxury properties feel free to get in touch.

English pub names that work best are those that strike a memorable chord with the people who use them. A long-standing tradition has been for some of the names to contain an element of humour, which may not always be clear to people who are new to the area. Nick Molyneux provides an unofficial guide to some of Nottingham’s pub names which are intended to raise a smile for those in the know – and give our guests some insider knowledge!

Bear & Lace – 28 Maid Marian Way
A fairly recent name, the owner was quoted in the Nottingham Post (8th July 2015) suggesting that it was created to recognise Nottingham being in a forest and the fame of the city’s lace industry. That may be the official version but this is a classic case of a pub name with an amusing bit of wordplay and double entendre. Read the name as “Bare and Lace” and a certain high-class sauciness enters into the equation, which can hardly be accidental.

Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem – Brewhouse Yard
Although billed as a pub where knights of old would gather for a final flagon of Nottingham ale before heading to crusade for the Holy Land, it seems the Trip is a late eighteenth century name for a pub previously called the Pilgrim. Although the origin of the current name is unknown, it has been suggested that it pokes fun at some of those eighteenth century gentlemen with an overly serious fervour for their religion but who were equally happy to enter the pub and participate in more secular vices. Hypocrisy has always been lampooned by the English sense of humour and with a degree of irony such individuals in a pub might be considered by some to be on a Trip to Jerusalem.

​A massive THANK YOU to Nick for writing this brilliant blog for us. Despite knowing all of the pubs he mentions (and having frequented most of them!) we certainly didn't know the background behind their names!

​Feel free to let us know which other humorously named pubs you find and enjoy visiting the pubs in Nick's blog. If you need any other suggestions for going out in West Bridgford or Nottingham, as always, do get in touch.