A Paradise Mobile initiative will foster small business development that will bring new ideas to market.

It is part of a rethink of upstairs offices that the company now sees as event space at its 24 Reid Street flagship store.

The Heritage Month Art Showcase has just ended which featured 22 local artists celebrating the For de Culture theme and drew exceptional community support throughout May, the company said.

Paradise said: “The pop-up gallery achieved over $5,000 in sales, with the majority of the featured artists selling pieces and 100 per cent of the proceeds going directly to them.

“The public also engaged heavily with the exhibition, casting more than 200 votes for the ‘Paradise People’s Choice Award’ via Paradise Mobile’s website.

The voting results included first place Styles Byy Re (winning $500 Paradise credit); second Place Kyla Philpott (winning $300 Paradise credit); and, third Place Lisa Joseph (winning $200 Paradise credit).

“We are profoundly grateful to the local artists and collaborators who brought such vibrant energy to our store this past month,” said Brett Corday, chief revenue officer at Paradise Mobile.

“As a company, we believe that true forward-thinking goes far beyond mobile networks and technology. It thrives when we champion fresh perspectives and give our home-grown talent the platform to express their unique vision. Our immense thanks also go to our curator, Claire Peverelli, whose exceptional leadership brought this entire exhibition to life.”

For those still looking to buy one of the pieces, enquiries are still open at www.paradisemobile.bm/localart and will be directed to the artists directly.

Meanwhile, Paradise Mobile chief technology officer, Zlatko Zahirović, said in an interview with The Royal Gazette that the company is developing other fresh, community-driven ideas for the former office space.

He said: “Our intent is to make this an event space, and frankly a community space. One of the things we have been doing is working with the community to try to bring people forward and give them a limelight, so to speak.”

He said that while not limiting the idea potential for the space, the company has already decided that one of the uses will be educational.

He said: “We’re going to do webinars and tech demonstrations for the community up here shortly, as well.”