Hot chocolate, twinkling grottoes, Christmas decorations, handmade local arts and craft… you can’t beat a classic Christmas market. Check out our pick of the best Oxford Christmas markets.
There’s nothing more quintessentially Christmassy than a good festive market.
Dazzling destinations are dotted all over the UK but given that Oxfordshire is the home of our Hive community and B-Hive Living coliving spaces, this month we are bringing to you our best selection of Christmas markets in Oxford.
Join us as we take you around the beautiful city of Oxford and explore our top four Christmas markets destinations that will spoil you for choice when doing your Christmas shopping or enjoying time outdoor celebrating the Christmas season with family and friends.
Blenheim Palace Christmas Market 2023
Running for a month from November 17, Blenheim Palace’s market involves wooden chalets selling craft vodka and local cheeses, as well as an illuminated trail through the palace gardens. The palace interior itself will be decorated with a ‘Sleeping Beauty’ theme. This market takes place in the Great Court of the majestic Blenheim Palace and it’s free to enter with a pre-booked ticket. You can buy your ticket here. If you’re shopping for treats and gifts the Blenheim Christmas market should be your starting point.
Oxford City Christmas Market 2023
This year, the Oxford Christmas Market runs from 30 November to 23 December 2023. It takes place on Broad Street, Oxford and you should not miss out on the festivities. You can expect to find local arts and crafts, food stalls and gifts.
If you want to sample delicious food and do some gift shopping for your loved ones, you should swing by this market. Entrance is free and the event is wheelchair accessible. The Oxford City Christmas market is also dog-friendly, so don’t hesitate to bring your furry friend. You can click here for more information.
WasteLess Wonderland
This is a Christmas market with a difference and it might be enticing if you are looking for a more sustainable Christmas market choice in Oxford. Wasteless Wonderland is focused on sustainability and if you’re environmentally conscious, then this is a Christmas market for you.
Wasteless Wonderland is a perfect place to get your hands on ‘good-for-the-planet’ gifts this Christmas in Oxford.
For the musically-inclined, The Junk Orchestra will be performing while you go about your shopping or while you taste delicious treats on offer. Treats like tasty relishes, street food dishes and mouth-watering Middle Eastern food.
Additionally, there will be free workshops on offer that you can participate in. To top it all off you can also catch ‘Friday Lates’ from 5-9 pm every Friday. Be sure to attend the ‘Recycled DJ Party’ where music is played from vinyl records sourced solely from charity shops. Wasteless Wonderland runs from 24 November -22 December.
December Christmas Market at Waterperry
The Christmas Market at Waterperry will get you in the Christmas spirit. You don’t want to miss it, so mark your calendar for 9-10 December 2023. There will be arts and crafts stalls to help you with gift ideas for family and friends. You can also treat yourself to some delicious food while you take a break from shopping.
Entrance into the Christmas market is free. You can click here for more information.
We hope our Oxford Christmas Market guide will help you get in festive spirit. The city is beautiful this time of year, so go out and explore markets and embrace the festivities.
We want to see what we have been up to, so if you follow us on Instagram – make sure to share your post or story with us!
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand developing and operating coliving spaces in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy, and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents. If you are looking for places to stay in Oxford you can apply to live with us here.
Belonging to a genuine, enduring, and captivating community plays a vital role in human existence and the overall well-being we strive for. It provides us with a profound sense of inclusion and direction, combats the pangs of isolation, and promotes mutual support and personal growth. This, in turn, has a positive impact on both our individual well-being and the overall health of society. It enables us to explore hobbies, common interests, and exchange ideas with peers, all while nurturing our unique identities. Embracing and excelling on this idea is what led B-Hive Living to win another important award in recent weeks, the Coliving Awards 2023 in the category of Best User and Community Experience.
Community building has become a new strongly sought-after value in the modern world, at the same time constituting a serious challenge. It takes not only know-how, but also purpose and diligent nurturing, application, and intuition to build a real community that is also what you should be seeking in a coliving service. Below, B-Hive Living shares a few key lessons learned from their journey to create an award-winning user and community experience. We hope they become useful tools for developing and strengthening your own community.
Do it for the right reasons
At B-Hive Living, we have made building community a core component of our purpose and mission. It is essential to make community part of your culture and be intentional about creating it. It’s by connecting with something larger than ourselves – a community – that we achieve our best life. The purpose of driving change in society by responding to the two great challenges we currently face: the shortage of affordable quality housing and loneliness, is very close to our hearts, personally and professionally.
We believe coliving homes should not simply be a place to rest your head. It should be an experience that elevates human condition through community and wellbeing-led design and build. We endeavour to create an empowering space for residents to lead a healthier, more connected and fulfilling lifestyle, and everything we do is designed for that goal. Building a great community is top priority to achieve those goals. Meaningful relationships can only be built through genuineness.
“Living in B-Hive has transformed my life for the better. It’s not just a place to live; it’s a tight-knit family that supports, uplifts, and shares in the joys and challenges of life. The garden serves as our gathering spot, where we bond over barbecues, picnics, and heartfelt conversations, fostering a deep sense of togetherness. I’ve found a network of friends who have become my extended family.” Sophia, Interior Designer from Italy
Make it personal
We are social species, hence one of our most basic human needs is to connect with other people. That’s why we have devised a wide range of community-building tools that we use daily and that make the experience of Hivers a wholesome and authentic one.
The first of our resident’s experiences is our community members’ curation and vetting process. It makes sure a prospective resident is the right fit for our community and vice-versa. It also provides a very personal and smooth experience from first contact, through referencing, to check-in. The entire user journey through our coliving experience is a personal and engaging one, including a customised calendar of social events and even our internal celebration of members through B-Hive Living Awards.
“After being disappointed by a few shared-living spaces, I’ve been blown away by the B-Hive Living experience. They’ve such a stringent vetting process and this really pays off since I really felt I had a lot in common with my Hive mates from day one.” Iva, Store Manager from Czech republic
Set the tone from the outset
The first impression is a lasting one, and we do believe it’s important to our residents’ well-being. Our designed onboarding process helps them integrate well into our community culture, and become effective members of our community. Each newcomer is also welcomed with dinner cooked by the founder Williams Johnson. It sets the right example and culture within the Hives, and is a part of laying a strong foundation for an authentic and purposeful community.
Put community values and culture in action
When nurturing community is your purpose, you are naturally prepared to go beyond the call of duty to support your community. These efforts are reflected in its attitudes. We know that our purpose and values have become a unique culture when you see them so clearly displayed in the discretionary actions and attitudes of our team and residents. Here are a few heartwarming examples:
Testimonial from applicant on Women’s Day
“Hi Anton, thank you very much for showing me around today. What impressed me the most was your approach to the B-Hive community and your calendar of social events. I was particularly impressed with the roses you left on the girl’s doors, it shows thoughtfulness and true care for the community from B-Hive and not just thinking about the bottom line, which is amazing.” – Frankie, Resident
Have the right people
This is an area that is easily overlooked but crucial. Our carefully selected team goes the extra mile on the experience aspect of coliving, because they’re passionate about our mission, their jobs, and having an impact on people’s lives. This is emulated by the founders who constantly emphasise a culture of service via their own example of servant leadership. We are here to serve our residents and each other. Residents who volunteer as Hive ambassadors also play a crucial role in engaging and connecting our residents in the spirit of shared community values.
“Making a positive contribution to the wellness of our residents and creating meaningful experiences brings me immense fulfilment. B- Hive Living is a place where our work genuinely makes a difference.” Jon Hormaetxe, B-Hive’s Head of Experience
Elevate the experience with technology
We are also committed to exploring and using technology as a way of connecting people. For example, our custom-designed B-Hive app not only simplified the life of residents through access to support and unique membership benefits, but also allows them to be aware of each other’s professions, talents, and hobbies, encouraging bonding.
“I love the fact that anything you need is within arms reach. There’s an app where you can communicate with other tenants and get live events notifications so you know what events are going at what time and who’s going. You can also control your temperature in your room between the kitchen and you know is very easy and um it is a very good environment to be in. I find it very comforting.” Tolu, Radiographer from Nigeria
You improve what you measure
As dedicated as we are to building the incredible experience for the community, we do go beyond that as a brand. On the business side of things, B-Hive Living is also a leading operator and asset manager, and works on numbers too. Measuring our user experience metrics meticulously is the key to our business success and our ability to deliver above the average. Performance metrics such as the NPS score, occupation rates, and achieving higher rents and renewal rates are some of our most valued ones that we use to learn from the past towards an even better future.
The community experience we design and implement is also a big secret to how we are able to achieve higher rents than peers, retain residents for longer, and have one of the highest NPS scores in the industry. It’s also one of the secrets to what coliving awards judges say about B-Hive Living as a coliving operator:
“They really go above and beyond when it comes to facilitating a strong community and creating a positive experience. They believe in actively supporting their housemate’s health and well-being through experiences, activities, technology and wellness-led design. They place a big emphasis on housemate compatibility and have a carefully curated vetting process. An incredibly solid onboarding process.” Leah Ziliak – Lead Judge for Community Experience at HMO Awards
As the first coliving operator to hold simultaneously the best community experience in the UK and in the world, we feel strong to move forward inviting more and ambitious investors to support our mission.We are happy and proud to hold awards in this particular demanding category. It is an achievement we work towards every day and an advantage we offer to partners working with us. Are you looking for a partner to help you build and manage a vibrant coliving community? Contact us today and our team is here to help.
B-Hive Living wins the prestigious Coliving Awards 2023, earning the coveted User and Community Experience Category. The announcement was made at the Coliving Awards ceremony held in Amsterdam last Friday and attended by industry leaders and real estate companies from around the world.
Coliving, a revolutionary flexible housing concept, has gained immense popularity in the UK due to its emphasis on community building and resident interaction, and access to a variety of amenity spaces beyond the habitual scape.
B-Hive Living, who had already won the accolade of best community building company in the UK at the HMO Awards last year, has been at the forefront of this movement through its mission to elevate the wellbeing of its residents through purpose-built spaces, personalised community building methodologies and tech-enhanced approaches for facilitating resident interaction and engagement.
B-Hive spacious stylish shared spaces encourage socialising, making connections, as well as productive work. Technology is used to boost connections within the community and enable efficient communication and domotic.
B-Hive Living’s journey from a modest UK-based startup to an international industry leader is a testament to its endeavour to shift the standards of the residential living sector. Despite its humble beginnings in Bicester, Oxfordshire, B-Hive Living has boldly taken on the giants of the international real estate industry through its unique dedication to residents’ wellbeing and community building in a day and age when most rental companies and landlords are most concerned about profits and their bottom-line.
B-Hive Living’s inspiring program of social and wellness activities aims to foster connections and enable a more fulfilling rental experience.
Leah Ziliak, Chief Judge of the Coliving Awards, praised B-Hive Living’s distinctive approach, stating:
“B-Hive Living is one of the most impressive residential coliving spaces I’ve come across in terms of Customer Experience. One of the things that stands out is their personal approach in everything they do. From their Hive Ambassador program to the founder personally cooking a welcome meal they prioritise creating a warm and inclusive environment. Their stringent vetting process is impressive and their commitment to curating a community of like-minded people shows up with their high retention and occupancy rates. You rarely see an independently owned coliving space with a Head of Experience which shows how much they value the user experience. Their B-Hive Living Awards are unique and I love that they recognize and appreciate community members who go above and beyond. Their app ensures ease of use and seamless communication. Additionally, their OKR system designed to track engagement ensures that they stay focused on continuous improvement. The communal spaces are designed to encourage health and wellness. 73% of their members reported an increase in well-being from living there – a testament to the positive impact of their community”
Williams Johnson, CEO and Co-founder of B-Hive Living, said: ‘We are honoured to win this international accolade and be recognised for our community-building efforts. From the outset, our mission at B-Hive Living has been to build nourishing shared living environments able to foster meaningful connections among residents and elevate their lifestyle and wellbeing We are consistent, intentional and innovative in the way we seek to deliver our community engagement strategies and it’s great to be recognised for the impact we’ve on the lives of our residents and the broader communities where we operate.”
Williams Johnson Mota, CEO at B-Hive Living on the stage of the Coliving Award Conference in Amsterdam in September 2023.
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy, and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents.
Are you considering moving to Oxford? Famous for its prestigious university and rich history, Oxford offers a unique blend of academia, culture, and picturesque landscapes. Before you pack your bags and head to this historic city, here are 10 things you should know before moving to Oxford:
Academic Haven
Oxford is renowned for its world-class university, which has been educating students for centuries. The city’s academic atmosphere is palpable, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by a vibrant intellectual community.
Cycling Paradise
Oxford is a cycling-friendly city with numerous bike lanes and paths. Many residents opt for bicycles, offering a convenient and eco-friendly way to explore the city.
Historical Gem
The city’s history is woven into its architecture, cobbled streets, and landmarks. You’ll find yourself surrounded by stunning medieval and Gothic buildings, making every stroll feel like a step back in time.
Diverse Culinary Scene
Oxford’s dining scene is as diverse as its population. From traditional pubs serving hearty British fare to international restaurants offering flavours from around the world, you’ll never run out of dining options.
Housing
Oxford’s housing landscape can be demanding on the wallet, with only London ranking higher in cost. Here’s where B-Hive Living comes into play. We offer short and long-term leases in stunning houses with all your housing costs included in one simple monthly bill. And more, you’ll have access to many unbeatable perks like access to regular events, exclusive discounts with local retailers and the safety of an internationally vetted community.
As a visionary in crafting shared living environments, B-Hive Living isn’t just about accommodation; it’s about creating homes that elevate holistic health and wellbeing. Our mission aligns with challenging conventional living spaces, fostering connections, and nurturing residents’ wellbeing, all while harmonising with Oxford’s vibrancy.
Quaint Bookstore
Book lovers, rejoice! In Oxford, the city boasts a collection of independent bookstores that are a bibliophile’s dream. These quaint shops offer a wide range of titles and a cosy atmosphere that’s perfect for getting lost in the world of words.
The Radcliffe Camera
One of Oxford’s most iconic buildings, the Radcliffe Camera, is a must-visit. This circular library with its stunning architecture is a symbol of the city’s commitment to learning and exploration.
Green Spaces Abound
Oxford offers an abundance of green spaces and parks. If you’re looking for a peaceful place to read or a spot for a leisurely picnic, you’ll find plenty of options to connect with nature.
Weather Variability
The weather in Oxford can be unpredictable. Therefore, be prepared for rain even during the summer months, and make sure to carry an umbrella and layers to stay comfortable in the ever-changing climate.
Cultural Events Galore
From Shakespearean performances at the Oxford Playhouse to art exhibitions at the Ashmolean Museum, the city is a hub of cultural events. Embrace the opportunity to immerse yourself in theatre, music, art, and literature.
Embark on your Oxford journey with these insights in mind, and consider how B-Hive Living’s innovative approach seamlessly intertwines with the city’s cultural, historical, and lifestyle facets. By embracing shared living environments that prioritise holistic health and wellbeing, you won’t just be moving to Oxford; you’ll thrive within its heart. Just remember to plan your budget wisely, keep your umbrella handy, and prepare to be charmed by this enchanting city at every turn.
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy, and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents.
As remote work becomes more popular, we are seeing a trend of equipping our home offices better and better. Apart from the technical necessity, people are also becoming aware that having a well-organised workspace is essential to our overall wellness, productivity, and mental health. A cluttered or disorganised workspace can make you stressed, distracted, and unmotivated. As experts in wellness design we’re here to tell you your home office can become a wholesome working environment. It’s not challenging to design your workspace for wellbeing if you follow a few simple rules.
Create a Dedicated Workspace
The first step to organising your workspace for wellness is to create a dedicated workspace that you can call your own. This could be a desk in your room or a shared workspace in a common area. Either way it’s important so you can mentally separate work time from relaxation time. Each of our Hives does has a dedicated working area with a lot of natural light and working light. Since the pandemic we have also added private desks to our units to cater for the increasing need for work from home and to provide a private space for sensitive work-related conversations.
Keep It Clean and Clutter-Free
A clean and clutter-free workspace is essential to your overall wellness. Clutter can be distracting and stressful, so it’s important to keep your workspace tidy. Make sure you have enough storage space to keep your belongings organised and out of sight. Desk organisers, shelves, and filing cabinets come in really handy for keeping everything in its place.
It helps to clean your workspace regularly. Don’t forget about your computer keyboard and mouse.
Bring in Some Greenery
Plants are known to have a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing. Adding a few plants to your workspace will help reduce stress and improve air quality. Plus, plants just make the space feel more inviting and pleasant! If you’re a beginner plant parent, we’d recommend you go for plants that are easy to care for and don’t require a lot of sunlight, such as snake plants or pothos.
Use Ergonomic Furniture
Ergonomic furniture is a game-changer. It is designed to support your body and help prevent injury and discomfort. Investing in an ergonomic chair and desk can make a big difference in your comfort and productivity. Look for a chair with adjustable height and lumbar support, and a desk that can be adjusted to the proper height for your body.
Minimise Distractions
Distractions can be a major challenge, especially in a shared living environment. Using noise-cancelling headphones can be useful to help you stay focused on your work. If you’re working in a shared workspace, you might consider setting boundaries with your roommates or coworkers to minimise distractions during work hours.
Personalise Your Space
Finally, don’t be afraid to personalise your workspace to make it feel more comfortable and inviting. Add a few personal touches, such as a favourite photo or a piece of artwork. Go for colours and decorations that make you feel happy and inspired.
Organising your workspace for wellbeing will do much good to you during work hours and make you more relaxed beyond. We hope these tips help you create a workspace that supports your well-being and helps you stay productive. Have fun!
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents.
The spring is here and you certainly feel like being outdoors enjoying the weather and the entertainment the area has to offer. We prepared a guide to spring festivals in Oxfordshire in 2023 for you so you don’t miss out on any of the opportunities to get out and have a great time together.
Thame Country Fair
9-10 April, Thame Showground, Thame, OX9 3JL
Enjoy a day of adventure with displays from falconry, gundogs, horse boarding and scurry driving, as well as a number of demonstrations and have a go events including fishing, falconry, airguns and archery to name a few. The Thame Country Fair incorporates its own food festival with a variety of street foods, wines and spirits from local and national producers and retailers, chef demonstrations, and background music for you to enjoy and relax too. A visit to the craft village is well worth it especially when looking for that special gift for a loved one or to treat yourself. This is accompanied by a chainsaw carving area with a dedicated speed carving arena with carvings being auctioned at the end of each event.
Henley Decor Fair
13-16 April, The Henley Showground, Marlow Road, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 3AS
No ordinary antique and salvage fair, Henley Décor Fair takes place at the stunning riverside location of the Royal Regatta Course. This lifestyle event has everything to inspire the vintage lover or interior designer in us all. It is known internationally for its array of interior stalls, and this year there will be more than 180 UK’s finest decorative antique traders, art stands, architectural salvage stalls, and of course the popular live music, bars, and gastro food tents. It also offers a chance to mingle with industry experts and well-known TV personalities from Restoration Workshop and Salvage Hunters. If that’s not enough entertainment, Saturday night is 80’s Disco Night, with bars and food stalls open!
The Folk Weekend is one of the county’s best music weekends. The exciting event includes a variety of folk music concerts, folklore dancing parades, and workshops led by local bands, as they celebrate folk culture. Whether you enjoy a concert, a ceilidh, a workshop or a bit of Morris dancing there should be something for you. All the showcase stages are in the city centre and there for you just to come along, enjoy the music and meet the musicians.
Shop SMALL and shop LOCAL in this authentic twist on the traditional craft market with a huge selection of products from illustration to vintage bric-a-brac, plants to jewellery, sustainable products to food, ceramics to candles and SO much more! This is not a typical craft fair. Stalls are handpicked based on their high quality, on-trend products.
This award-wining music and nature festival at Braziers Park which lies in the beautiful Chiltern Hills. It is run by a small group of family and friends, headed up by brothers Joe and Robin Bennet and their wives Claire and Megan. Alongside the excellent folk and indie music line up there are free workshops and locally sourced food stands. This is a truly beautiful festival which runs on 100% renewable energy, and with its packed programme it will be fun for everyone.
Artists’ Open Studios and Pop-up exhibitions across Oxfordshire
6-29 May
Oxfordshire Artweeks is the UK’s oldest and biggest artist open studios & pop-up exhibition event. This is your chance to browse and purchase stunning works of art from paintings and textiles through to woodworking, ceramics, and jewellery in some of the most historic buildings across Oxfordshire. Across three weeks venues such as pop-up galleries, studios, stunning gardens, churches, and historic barns will be opening their doors to the public with exhibitions that are completely free of charge. Oxfordshire Artweeks is also a chance to talk to artists and creatives about their work, watch demonstrations and even have a go yourself. Be inspired, entertained and delighted: browse, and even choose a treasure to take home with you.
This gastronomic weekend is held within the beautiful palace grounds with a fantastic range of stall holders, and masterclasses from brilliant chefs including Gennaro Contaldo, Andy Clark and Bake Off star Karen Wright. It is guaranteed to satisfy your taste buds and indulge your passion for great food and drink with a host of top chefs and producers.
Sample delicious products from artisan bakers, craft brewers and international cuisine, plus treat yourself to some irresistible handmade sweets and ice cream.
Tip: Until 1st April 2023, use the code FOOD10 for early bird discount.
Which of the events will you attend? Remember you can run your ideas past your vibrant community in our community app and gather your friends for unforgettable moments in together at the spring festivals in Oxfordshire.
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents.
As soon as winter sets in around Oxford, this beautiful city turns into a wintery wonderland with Christmas lights and decorated trees, Christmas markets, and pop-up winter events. Whether you’re spending Christmas in Oxford as a local, visitor, or expat having trouble going back home for the Holidays in the hectic post-pandemic reality, here are some ideas for you to make the best of the local Christmas festivities and get yourself in the cosy Holiday spirit we all love right in the city.
Explore the Oxford Christmas Market
The Oxford Christmas Market returns to Broad Street this year. Until 18 December, the heart of the city is filled with the atmosphere of carolling, performances of local bands and choirs, including the Oxford Gospel Choir, Kidlington Concert Brass, and the Rock Choir, traditional crafts, and smell of mulled wine and cinnamon. It is the number one go-to festivity in the city of Oxford. Take your friends with you to wander around the market, soak in the magical atmosphere, and shop for gifts for loved ones.
Image: licenced by Canva.com
Go for a wintery walk
It’s not just the events in Oxford that make the time feel festive. Its architecture is magical all year round, and especially so in wintertime. The streets adorned with Christmas light fixtures are a beautiful setting for a romantic walk. But don’t forget about the plenty of green spaces and scenic spots to enjoy. Port Meadow is one that is mostly missed by tourists. With river Thames flowing through the heart of it, it offers lots of space and beautiful views to take in. Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum is an attractive alternative, offering a break from winter weather in the Rainforest House among other things.
Image: licenced by Canva.com
Check out Oxford Castle and Prison
The castle and prison site are a classic Christmas staple in Oxford. The millennium-old site offers towers to climb, panoramic views of the city, and candle-lit crypts to explore. In the run up to Christmas, you can take an atmospheric lantern-led tour there.
Image: licenced by Canva.com
Spend an evening at Waddesdon Manor or Blenheim Palace
Although not strictly in Oxford, the historic sites offer a spectacular Christmas full of garden light installations and illuminations, displays and decorations in and out of the Manors, topped with Christmas fairs. Spend an evening discovering the glittering gardens, looking for Father Christmas along the way, and warming yourself up with great street food, mulled wine, and hot chocolate.
Image: The Oxford Magazine
Join in on Christmas Carolling
Christmas carolling is a big affair in Oxford, not only in the streets. It’s probably best experienced listening to the choir in the famous beautiful setting of the Christ Church Cathedral.
Image: Christ Church Cathedral
Create family vibe
Staying at home can be festive too. After all, the Holiday atmosphere also comes from within and is easy to create around us. Especially if you can enjoy a vetted coliving community that becomes your family whenever you’re there. If you’ve stayed at one of our Hives, you’ll know that special feeling of togetherness. Light some candles, decorate a Christmas tree, bake cinnamon cookies, perhaps wear an ugly sweater and join in on one of the social events like a quiz night, or just gather together around the dining table with a cup of hot cocoa. You have all the best conditions here to create beautiful memories for life by bonding with incredible people. Enjoy.
Image: B-Hive Living
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents.
In the current times of uncertainty and huge loss of symbols of stability in society, we do crave the comfort of a home we call our own. The passion of B-Hive Living is to provide our Residents with the comfort of that very feeling – of daily wellbeing.
The comforts of the Hives of B-Hive Living are yours as long as you stay there. And when you decide to purchase a property for life, we hope for you to keep a memory that one of the Residents in that situation shared with us. And for your new home to reflect the care for your personal wellness, and the elevated lifestyle you led with us.
“I’d like to thank you all for the amount of work you have put into making all of us in the house feel so welcome and a part of a community, particularly during the last couple of years through lockdowns when anxieties were high for all of us. I have made close friends living as a part of the B-Hive and have really cherished living with such a fantastic crowd of individuals from such diverse backgrounds. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled across what is easily the highest quality and most enjoyable accommodation within Bicester. Your hard efforts don’t go unnoticed.
Wishing you all the very best with B-Hive, what you are all building is unique and brilliant.”
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents.
Being part of an authentic, stable, and engaging community is crucial to the human experience and high quality of life. It gives us a sense of belonging and purpose, battles the feeling of loneliness, and promotes mutual support and personal growth, contributing to our individual and collective health and wellbeing of our society. Participating in a community bonded by common attitudes, values, and goals is an essential ingredient to enjoying a fulfilling life, allowing us to explore hobbies, shared interests, and ideas with other peers while fostering our own sense of individuality.
In the post-pandemic landscape, this is especially evident. People are searching for meaning in every aspect of life now more than ever. Especially millennials and Gen Z seek greater sense of belonging while missing their friends, network, and increasingly frequently working from home. Due to the decline in connectedness, loneliness, and FOMO (fear of missing out), mental health issues are on the rise. Businesses are also facing the need to learn how to build and manage communities remotely, both among their staff and customers.
Community building has therefore become a new strongly sought after value in the modern world, at the same time constituting a serious challenge. It takes not only know-how, but also purpose and diligent nurturing, application, and intuition to build a real community. Below, B-Hive Living shares a few key lessons learned from their journey to create an award-winningcommunity experience. We hope they become useful tools for developing and strengthen your own community.
Do it for the right reasons
At B-Hive Living, we have made building community a core component of our purpose and mission. It is essential to make community part of your culture and be intentional about creating it. Otherwise the community aspect will come across as fake and backfire, like criticism of greenwashing in the case of talking about environmental issues solely for publicity.
The purpose of driving change in society by responding to the two great challenges we currently face: affordable housing and loneliness, is very close to our hearts, personally and professionally. Both our founders were born in cultures rooted in vibrant family and social life, celebrating living well through music, food, fitness and culture. Those early experiences shaped their belief that a life well lived starts at home and the secret sauce is the people that surround you. It is by connecting with something larger than ourselves – a community – that we achieve our best life.
We believe coliving homes should not simply be a place to rest your head. It should be an experience that elevates human condition through community and wellbeing-led design and build. We endeavour to create an empowering space for residents to lead a healthier, more connected and fulfilling lifestyle, and everything we do is designed for that goal. Building a great community is top priority to achieve those goals. Meaningful relationships can only be built through genuineness.
Nurture connection every step of the way
We are a social species, hence one of our most basic human needs is to connect with other people. That’s why at B-Hive Living we never miss a chance to create opportunities and deliver strategies to bring people together.
On a daily basis, the shared spaces in the Hives invite togetherness through their design: comfortable kitchens for multiple users, fitness facilities for group activities, garden firepit for encouraging bonding and storytelling are just examples of such solutions.
Different Hives benefit from an even larger social network through our programme of monthly events that encourage residents to get to know one another in an informal way. The rich calendar of social experiences co-created with our Hive Ambassadors inspires fun, connection, and a healthier way of living. Such a co-creative approach allows for adapting our event calendar to the needs and mood of our community.
Find your niche and get to know your audience
Great communities don’t just develop overnight – they take time, concentrated effort, positivity, and planning. It’s important to have a clear view of who your members are and how to engage them so that you can put the right plan in place.
Over the years, we’ve developed a robust understanding of the resident profile that best fits our community, and developed relevant matching criteria implemented in our stringent vetting process. While diversity is key to stimulate learning and avoid apathy, bringing like-minded people together helps them to find commonalities more quickly. Our two-way curation process is designed to determine whether the prospective resident is the right fit for our community and vice-versa.
We’ve also designed a series of touch points to ensure we remain in close contact with our residents while allowing for quiet enjoyment of their homes and community. This helps us get to know our residents more closely. Newcomers are provided with a welcoming and smooth experience from the outset, from their introduction to the community before check-in, through a personal welcome by our community manager on site, including receiving information on their rights as a tenant in the UK alongside a welcome gift, to being introduced to their property Hive Ambassador who is another resident, and an invitation to a welcome dinner. The same personal touch and support is given to the offboarding process upon giving notice.
Be prepared to go beyond what’s normal
When nurturing community is your purpose, you are naturally prepared to go beyond the call of duty to support your community. Our team work during the pandemic was a testament of that. In those difficult times we implemented a number of solutions to make the lives of our residents easier and more comfortable, such as access and personal guidance from a wellness team composed of life, nutrition, and fitness coaches, as well as access to a dedicated series of “Wellness Hacks” content. They were simple and practical bite size strategies for our residents to enhance and optimise their health, wellbeing, and productivity during those difficult times.
These efforts were reflected in the attitudes of the residents. For example, we had a few NHS doctors working on the pandemic front line working long hours treating Covid patients. Over many weeks, their fellow residents took turns to cook meals for them to alleviate their burden. It is most rewarding when your passion for making others’ lives better is shared within the community you support.
Leverage technology to deliver a consistent and smooth experience
The community of B-Hive Living is also strung together by technology to make communication as smooth as possible. All residents are connected and made accessible to each other through our recently launched community engagement app.
Each resident has their profile with a mini-biography describing their skills, passions and activities they’d like to be contacted for. In the app, residents can communicate with each other, create sub-groups by property, interests, or hobbies, sign up for events, access discounts at local affiliated outlets, and much more.
Don’t do it alone
Our Hive Ambassadors among residents play a crucial role in building bridges and maintaining a positive vibe between our Hive communities. Ambassadors are there to engage, connect, educate and facilitate the commitment of residents to the shared values of our community. They among other things help the B-Hive team create relevant events, share information on upcoming events with fellow Hivers, and support the onboarding of new residents. They also share key messages and learnings from in-house dynamics and past events with the B-Hive team to suggest improvements on the overall experience. We do take that feedback seriously and do what we can to constantly adjust the experience to the current needs.
Keep experimenting
The needs of the community are organic and ever-changing. Hence it is important for our founders to seek to be present and engaged with its members. After 6 years of activity, we still personally get involved in the onboarding of residents, and often cook their first meal ourselves. Staying in close touch with the community in a variety of ways is the key to successful experimentation and trying out new solutions based on first-hand feedback. This allows for thinking out of the box, ease of innovation, and picking up trends as they arise to be on top of things at all times.
Nurturing positive and healthy communities is needed more than ever in the modern society. Community is essential for our potential as individuals and society to flourish. At B-Hive Living, we’re doing a part, and we hope you leverage some of those ideas to follow suit and create your own approach to building a thriving community and a better world to live in.
B-Hive Living is a wellness-focused coliving brand operating properties in Oxford and Bicester, UK, and now expanding internationally. We drive social change by exploring and promoting the concept of living well. We place it at the heart of our coliving design for a more connected, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle for our residents.
Contact: Silvia Grattieri, COO B-Hive Living The Home of Wellness Living UK: +44 (0) 780 950 1651 I Portugal: +351 (0) 936 836 632 www.b-hiveliving.com
The HMO Awards aims to bring people across the HMO property supply chain who are helping to shape the current and future shared living landscape across the UK, together to network, learn, celebrate and grow.
This year’s Best Community Experience award goes to coliving developer and operator B-Hive Living. They aim to shift industry standards and make a tangible and long-lasting difference to the lives of their residents through their vision of wellness living.
The official Award Ceremony with more than 400 delegates was held on 30 September 2022 at the beautiful historical venue of Stowe House in Buckingham, UK. B-Hive Living was announced as the winner of the Best Community Experience in the UK, among other champions of the UK real estate market. The award looks to recognise those who are creating thriving communities and providing a solid customer experience within their build-to-rent portfolio.
B-Hive Living lives up to its tagline The Home of Wellness Living. “We’re not here to simply provide a roof over people’s heads, but to empower a new and growing generation of renters to lead a more connected, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle”, says Williams Johnson, CEO of the Residential Coliving Brand.
Judge Leah Ziliak said, “They really go above and beyond when it comes to facilitating a strong community and creating a positive experience. They believe in actively supporting their housemates health and wellbeing through experiences, activities, technology and wellness-led design. They place a big emphasis on housemate compatibility, and have a carefully curated vetting process. An incredibly solid onboarding process.”
B-Hive Living is one of the pioneers and a model example of the new wellness real estate movement. The lifestyle component of their rental solution seeks to elevate the daily wellbeing of their residents through design, technology and community experience.
The company currently runs five operating assets in Oxfordshire, UK, and is now expanding internationally starting in Portugal. Building thriving communities is a core part of the brand’s mission, supported by a number of dedicated solutions, from community-building spaces and facilities, to community and event management, to the use of the brand’s community app for residents.
###
B-Hive Living Ltd, Company No. 10514752 Address: Finsgate, 5-7 Cranwood Street, London EC1V 9EE, UK
