Capital Space’s Matt Roberts nominated for National Award 

Milton Keynes’ Centre Manager Matt Roberts has been shortlisted in the SME National Business Awards 2024 and named as one of just 40 potential business leaders of the year. Matt was nominated by an anonymous member of the community and the award is open to public vote, so we thought we would highlight all the work Matt has done for the businesses he supports. 

It’s quick and easy to vote for Matt Roberts in the National SME Business Awards business leader of the year category. Follow the link and find his name in the dropdown box. Voting closes at the end of September for the winner/s who are announced at the grand final on 6th December at Wembley Stadium. 

The tables have turned 

Matt Roberts is no stranger to awards ceremonies, but usually he is the one handing out the honours. Five years ago, Matt was asked to be on the panel for the SME Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire awards; two years after that, he was asked to judge the national awards. 

But none of this could have prepared him for finding out that he himself had been nominated as a national business leader of the year: “I was contacted about a month ago and told there was a new award category that has been created for this year: a national business leaders award. Then they told me that I had been nominated for one. They do not tell you who. It’s anonymous,” Matt states. He is modest about his nomination, and could not believe he had been selected. At Capital Space, however, we are not surprised at all. 

Creating a buzzing business hive 

Central to Matt’s ethos of work is community. He believes we are better together, and there is no better way to see this than by stepping inside Milton Keynes Business Centre. As centre manager, Matt has fostered an environment of positive cooperation and collaboration amongst clients and staff. 

He explains, “We’ve put a lot of time and effort into building an active business community here at the centre, where we try to get customers to interact and support each other as well as us providing them with support. So, I think it’s a positive that we’ve got a very lively centre, with businesses that work with each other. Though it’s down to us to create that between them, it has a knock-on effect of supporting us all.” 

Matt’s work across Milton Keynes 

And Matt’s community does not end at the gates of the business centre. He has also gone above and beyond in integrating Capital Space into the fabric of Milton Keynes society. 

It is sometimes easy to become insulated in a business park bubble, but Matt has been central in supporting the success of all local businesses, not just his customers’. He says, “A lot of the time when small business owners don’t know where to turn, they turn to us. I think that’s because as a company we have actively invested in supporting local businesses, and celebrated success in our local area.” 

Volunteering for the future  

Matt also spends his free time looking after the business makers and leaders of tomorrow. He is an active supporter of WorkTree, an organisation which empowers young people in their first interactions with the workforce, helping them to follow the career path they want. Matt often spends time in local schools, advising teens and young people on their first steps into the working world, sharing lessons he’s learned from his experience and conducting mock interviews: 

“You know, it’s always good having a pretend interview with your schoolteacher or friend, but you know them, they know you. Then, suddenly you go for your first interview, and you’re interviewed by someone who’s 20 or 30 years older. Quite a different thing.” 

But, Matt says, it’s not just the kids doing the learning: “Actually, I personally found it remarkably interesting. I would talk to the students about what, when they enter the world of work, they expect their office to be like.” 

Matt argues that learning from the future workforce will be the key to businesses ensuring their success overall, in accordance with changing attitudes: “There’s a big generational change. People in their forties and fifties want to just sit down at their desk, get their work done and go. Whereas the younger people want a pool table and an Xbox and whatever else. But it is important for us as a company to understand, actually, no matter how bizarre it might seem to us, that is the direction things are going in and we need to be able to plan for that going forward,” 

Matt is an absolutely invaluable member of, not only the Capital Space family, but the Milton Keynes community. So we are very pleased he is getting the recognition he deserves. If you’d like to support Matt by voting in the SME Business awards, and search for Matt Roberts in the dropdown menu. 

If you are a SME looking for a flexible, serviced workspace, get in touch.