An interview with Jamie Langton, Entrepreneur in Training at 1 Mill Street

In the heart of Leamington Spa, 1 Mill Street has established itself as more than just a co-working space—it's a thriving community hub where entrepreneurs, freelancers, and businesses come together to connect and grow. We recently spoke with Jamie Langton about how they've leveraged technology to strengthen their community and launch innovative programs like the BOSS Business Accelerator.

Background & Vision

Tell us about the story of 1 Mill Street and the community you serve.

"1 Mill Street is a co-working space in the heart of Leamington Spa. It's also a thriving hub where creativity, collaboration, and community come together. Designed for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and businesses of all sizes, it offers beautifully curated workspaces, state-of-the-art meeting rooms, cutting-edge podcast and production studios, and a dynamic events calendar. With a buzzing coffeehouse at its heart and a culture that champions connection, 1 Mill Street is where ideas spark, businesses grow, and people do their best work."

What role does your app play within the business?

"The 1 Mill Street app, powered by Disciple, plays a vital role in keeping our community connected. We've leveraged the platform to list events, maintain an active member feed, keep an up-to-date directory, share valuable resources, and more. At 1 Mill Street, we pride ourselves on being connectors, bringing good people together. The app makes this faster and easier than ever. One of our favorite features, 'Does anyone know a...', allows members to instantly tap into the community for recommendations, support, and expertise."

Platform Selection & Onboarding

What challenges did you face before creating your app?

"We struggled to efficiently communicate with our entire community. While support was available in person and through Slack, key information was still being missed. We knew a dedicated community app was the solution, ensuring our members felt valued and gained the full benefit of their membership."

Why did you choose Disciple for your digital platform needs?

"We chose Disciple for our digital platform needs because we needed a flexible, customisable solution to better connect our community. We wanted a platform that could adapt to the unique needs of 1 Mill Street and help us strengthen our member relationships. Disciple stood out because of its incredible customisability, allowing us to create an experience tailored to our goals. Beyond that, the kind, helpful, and friendly nature of the Disciple team made the decision even easier - they've been incredibly responsive, ensuring the platform evolves with us and truly enhances the 1 Mill Street experience."

How was your experience with the onboarding process and the support provided?

"The onboarding process was smooth and efficient. The Disciple team took the time to understand our needs and provided personalised support to ensure we got the most out of the platform from day one. Their responsiveness and hands-on approach made the transition effortless, allowing us to quickly integrate the platform into our community's daily operations."

Platform Customisation & Launch

Why and how did you approach redesigning your platform's homepage?

"We wanted to redesign the application for two main reasons. First, we felt it was time for a refresh. At 1 Mill Street, we're always striving to innovate and improve, and after some time with the same app structure, we felt it was necessary to rearrange sections and introduce new ones to enhance the user experience. Secondly, the redesign came hand-in-hand with the launch of our BOSS Business Accelerator. In September 2024, we introduced a personalised accelerator toolkit for freelancers and entrepreneurs. A redesign was necessary to ensure that accelerator participants had a platform to communicate with their peers and find resources easily.

We approached this task by reaching out to Disciple's customer success team, specifically Haig Ferguson-Lesko. Haig was instrumental in guiding us on how to efficiently make changes in the app's back-end, allowing us to work privately and launch on a specific date. He also introduced us to the Disciple community platform, where we could learn from other businesses using the app. This entire process was made incredibly easy thanks to Haig's prompt and detailed responses, and he was always available for calls to address any questions or issues."

Tell us about the BOSS Toolkit - the background, the launch, and how you're using the app to deliver it.

"The BOSS toolkit was created for several reasons. At 1 Mill Street, we understand how isolating life as an entrepreneur can be. Setting up and running a business can often feel overwhelming. We also believe many accelerator programmes fall short of their promises, being too rigid and formal to truly support the realities of entrepreneurial life. We saw an opportunity to build something that addresses both of these challenges.

The BOSS Accelerator begins with a diagnostic tool featuring 25 simple questions, which assess participants across four key business areas: Leadership, Branding, Operations, and Growth. Upon completion, participants receive a detailed report covering these areas. Based on their results, they can then choose how they'd like to engage with our three levels of offerings: access to the 1 Mill Street app (and its extensive resource library), mentor connections with industry-specific experts, and masterclass sessions.

The app has made it easier to connect with BOSS participants through a dedicated BOSS tab and activity feed. It also provided a seamless way to list masterclass sessions, allowing participants to book with ease. For those new to the 1 Mill Street community, the app served as the perfect introduction, giving them a chance to explore the Business Hub and get a real sense of what we offer."

Community Engagement & Impact

Which features of the platform have been most helpful for you?

"We absolutely love the activity feed, and this is something that our members engage with daily. The ability to post questions, comments or even post photos in specific channels in the activity feed is brilliant for fostering collaboration, sparking conversations, and creating a real sense of community among our members. Also, we have found it so helpful being able to link tabs to external URLs. For example, our technical support section now sends the user straight to a direct messaging channel to our team."

Have you noticed any changes or improvements since launching the platform?

"Yes, we've noticed a great improvement in the Disciple platform! One key change was the ability to display multiple options on the homepage, rather than just separate tabs. Now, when users open the app, they can instantly see upcoming events and recent activity feed posts. We've received fantastic feedback on how this has helped members stay engaged and connected with the community."

Future Plans

What are your future plans for the platform?

"We're focused on making the platform even more useful and engaging for our community. That means refining the experience so members can easily find the content, events, and resources that matter most to them. We also want to build out the BOSS section, adding more tools and connections to support entrepreneurs. Overall, the goal is to make the app a go-to space for collaboration, learning, and growth at 1 Mill Street."

Is there anything else you'd like to share about your experience with Disciple?

"No, I don't think so! Disciple have been absolutely brilliant in helping us to grow and engage our great community here at 1 Mill Street. We have nothing but praise for how we have been onboarded and supported throughout the process."

1 Mill Street continues to innovate in how they support their community of entrepreneurs and businesses. Through their partnership with Disciple, they've created a digital platform that amplifies their mission of connection, collaboration, and growth.