PropList Blog
Your office space will speak volumes about your company and as we all know, first impressions count. This can make looking for new office space a bit overwhelming – not to mention costly if you make the wrong decision. To help you find the ideal home for your business, here are five top tips to help focus the search and save time.
S|H Studio, City Road, Peterborough
Serviced or Standard
If you’re looking for office space for just yourself, or a small team of up to 10 people, I would recommend serviced offices every time. Serviced offices give you maximum flexibility and take the hassle out of running an office. You shouldn’t have to make a long-term commitment, you can expand into it if necessary and all of your IT needs and meeting spaces are taken care of.
However, if you have more than 10 employees who will need office space, you are probably better suited to a more standard space of your own – which can still be serviced if you prefer, but this can be expensive. When deciding on the space needed from a standard office, our advice is to base your search on 100sqft (10ft x 10ft) per person which allows for desk space, additional storage, space around the desk and a reasonable amount of shared space.
Bridge House, Addlestone Road, Weybridge
Location
Location will be one of the first considerations when embarking on the search as there are a lot of people to take into account – is it convenient for your employees to get to? Will customers and clients be visiting regularly? You will need to think about how much parking you will need, how close you need to be to public transport, whether there is a good selection of food outlets nearby and also, whether there are any competitors nearby – you won’t want your customers to get side-tracked!
If you’re looking to grow and attract the best talent, you may also want to consider what other amenities are nearby, such as gyms, green spaces, childcare, bars, restaurants and supermarkets.
80 Old Street, Old Street, London
Room for growth
Moving offices is a costly process so you may want to know that there is space to expand as the team grows. Flexibility is essential here, so search for space where there is potential to expand or reconfigure the existing space should you need to.
Alternatively, go for a shorter lease or one that will allow you to move on when the time comes. 4
Design
The design of the building and more crucially, the interior design contribute to that all important first impression. Thought will need to be given to what space will best represent your company and the people who work there.
We’ve come across office space with all manner of unusual break-out spaces, from artificial grass and bean bags to full height climbing walls and slides. Admittedly, there is a risk of these becoming gimmicky but areas where employees can take a break and recharge are important – and can double up as a way to represent your company’s personality.
Oozells Building, Brindley Place, Birmingham
Facilities
Your team will need certain essential facilities such as plenty of toilets – you’d be surprised how often these are overlooked. Will you need more female toilets than male, or will you go for unisex toilets?
Likewise, what kind of technology do you need? Most commercial office spaces now have the infrastructure to support fast internet as well as WiFi in shared and public areas of the building – but it’s better to check this is the case.
Kitchen areas are also a key consideration, especially if there are no food outlets nearby. Employees will need somewhere to make a hot drink as well as somewhere to store and prepare their food if they are bringing lunch in.
You will already know roughly how many meeting rooms you need and what sort of size but if you are looking to cut costs, consider a building that offers shared meeting spaces with another tenant which can help by reducing the amount of overall space you need. In addition, shared meeting spaces usually come with the latest tech and staff to help greet visitors, manage technology and organise catering.
Once you know what you are looking for, the search can begin. To get an idea of what’s available in your chosen location, use the ‘Advanced Search’ function on our home page: www.proplist.com where you can enter your search criteria, view the available office spaces – and contact the agent to arrange viewings.
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