Best Places to Work Remotely in Heaton

Heaton is full of people who work from home: freelancers, hybrid commuters, students writing up dissertations and anyone whose spare room has started to feel like a cell. The good news is that you do not have to go far for a change of scene. Chillingham Road and Heaton Park Road have cafes where a laptop is a familiar sight, the top of the Ouseburn has genuine co-working desks by the day, and High Heaton Library offers free WiFi with no obligation to buy anything at all.

Here is our local guide to where to set up, and what each place is best for.

Neighbourhood Coffee

If you only try one cafe, make it Neighbourhood Coffee at 214 Chillingham Road. It has a reputation as a favourite with students and remote workers, largely thanks to its two floors of comfortable seating, with room to spread out notes and a laptop. The upstairs area, complete with a small book nook, is the quieter of the two and the place regulars head when they want to get their heads down for an hour or two.

The coffee is speciality-grade and the bakes (brownies and cruffins in particular) are a good excuse for a mid-morning break. Its most recent listing shows it opening from 8am Monday to Saturday and 9am on Sundays, which makes it one of the better early options on the street. Chillingham Road Metro is a couple of minutes' walk away.

Best for: Best for a focused morning session upstairs, close to the Metro.

Heaton Perk

Heaton Perk on Heaton Park Road is less a productivity machine and more a comfortable second living room. A neighbourhood fixture for more than fifteen years, it has vintage decor, second-hand books, board games and an all-day brunch menu with plenty of vegetarian and vegan choice. Students have long used it for study sessions, with a game of something in between.

It is better suited to lighter work (emails, reading, planning) than to back-to-back video calls, and it can get busy at brunch time. It is closed on Sundays, so check before you set out.

Best for: Best for unhurried reading and admin with a proper lunch to hand.

Martha and Mary's

A short walk along Chillingham Road at number 212, Martha and Mary's is a community cafe and meeting space that also operates as one of Newcastle's Wellbeing Hubs. That means hot drinks, free WiFi and somewhere to charge your devices, plus information and advice if you need it. There is also a meeting room with WiFi, computer access and printing.

Opening is limited to set daytime sessions through the week (longer on Wednesdays and Thursdays), so treat it as a handy, low-cost option for a few hours rather than an all-day base, and check current times by phone before going.

Best for: Best for a quiet, low-cost few hours with free WiFi and charging.

Ernest

Down at the top of the Ouseburn on Boyd Street, Ernest is an independent cafe, bar and restaurant that has been part of the valley's creative scene since 2012. WiFi is available, the daytime atmosphere is relaxed and it opens from 10am every day, with a brunch menu that will carry you through to the afternoon. As evening comes on, the music goes up and it becomes much more of a bar, so it works best as a morning or early-afternoon spot.

Best for: Best for a creative change of scene with brunch, before the evening crowd arrives.

Cobalt Studios co-working

When a cafe table is not enough, Cobalt Studios, a few doors along Boyd Street, runs a proper co-working space for freelancers and small businesses. Hot desks start from £11.50 a day on a pay-as-you-go basis, with bundles of five days for £100 or ten days for £180, and arts practitioners get a 20% discount. Meeting room hire starts from £19 an hour.

The facilities are a genuine step up: shared gigabit internet, soundproofed phone booths, a "Quiet Carriage" workspace, standing desk provision, USB sockets throughout, printing, and an AV-equipped meeting room for up to ten people. Free tea and water are included, with barista coffee and a bar on site. It is not-for-profit and run as a Community Interest Company, which helps explain the friendly prices. The nearest Metro station is Manors. For more on local workspace and business help, see our guide to business support in Heaton.

Best for: Best for a full working day, calls and client meetings at a fair day rate.

High Heaton Library

For completely free working space, High Heaton Library on Newton Place is the answer. There is free WiFi, free public computers (up to three hours a day), printing, photocopying and scanning, and as a Wellbeing Hub it also offers hot and cold drinks and device charging.

The catch is the opening pattern. The library is open on Tuesdays (10am to 5pm), Thursdays (10am to 6pm) and Saturday mornings (10am to 2pm), with a half-hour lunch closure on weekdays, and it is closed on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Plan your library days around that and it is hard to beat for cost.

Best for: Best for free, quiet working on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings.

Making a day of it

A good Heaton working day might start upstairs at Neighbourhood Coffee for an 8am flat white, move to a hot desk at Cobalt for calls and the afternoon, and finish with a drink at Ernest next door once the laptop is shut. If coffee is your main concern, our round-up of coffee shops in Heaton has more options. Newcastle city centre and Jesmond have their own guides on their sister sites if you are heading that way.

Know another laptop-friendly spot in Heaton or the Ouseburn? Let us know via our contact page.