The 12,000 sq ft space, which has been named Hub Westminster, claims to be the largest start-up incubation lab in the capital and is a joint venture between Westminster City Council and design firm Architecture00.

Membership to Hub Westminster costs from £20 a month. Located in New Zealand House, 80 Haymarket, London, the centre opened on Monday following months of planning by the council, which contributed £660,000 to the project.

Westminster councillor Brian Connell, cabinet member for enterprise and volunteering comments, ‘This is a fantastic place to inspire and provide a next generation of start-up companies.’

‘We hope that by providing affordable membership we can give budding entrepreneurs a real chance to succeed and to help kick start our economy. We have designed the space to provide all the tools for innovation and invention to support a start-up’s daily workspace needs. Who knows we might help the next Steve Jobs or Sir James Dyson.’

To be located in Hub Westminster will be Hub Venture Labs (HVL), a partnership between Hub Westminster and private equity firm Merism Capital that aims to be an incubator for social entrepreneurs.

Merism Capital takes equity in for-profit social businesses in return for funding of between £50,000 and £150,000. HVL will deliver programmes, support and workshops for start-ups, and it will also run multiple incubator programs from four to 12 weeks, some with investment prizes for participants.

London already has a number of shared-office spaces for start-ups and entrepreneurs including one of the most prominent providers TechHub near Old Street, East London. Internet giant Google appears to also be keen to launch an incubator after leasing a seven-floor building in East London for an unannounced new initiative.

The US firm announced last year that they had backed the government-led Tech City project that aims to develop East London into one of the world’s great technological centres, rivalling the likes of Silicon Valley.