7 Decisions you should make before looking for a new office

1 . What type of contract do you need?

The first decision you will have to make is what type of contract you are looking for. Do you need a short term space with maximum flexibility? Or are you looking for a long lease of between 5 – 10 years?

If you’re looking for flexibility, then a serviced office is your best bet. You can rent space in a serviced office in Soho on a contract as little as one month at a time. This is favoured by businesses who are unsure of their growth, or who can’t commit to an expensive long term agreement.

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Popular serviced office provider WeWork offer flexible contracts ranging from upwards of 1 month

Although popular amongst SME’s and start-ups more and more businesses are seeing the benefits that flexible office spaces provide. Another option for smaller business is to take a collection of co-working desks. These are a great solution for business who looking to keep costs down. Co-working is even favoured by many businesses due to its collaborative and open nature.

Leasing an office is very different from renting in a serviced office. Leases are typically longer than 3 years although sub leases and short term leases can be found.

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Traditional leases offer tenants more permanency

Working out what length of contract is suitable for your company will push you down either the serviced office route or the conventional office route, so having this decided early on can save you time.

2. What Location best suits your business?

Location is an important consideration for a bundle of reasons – your Staff, your Clients, your company image, local amenities, we could go on.

From our experience it really depends on your business as to how much your target location will change during your search. Some business come to us and have their heart set on Soho, but will end up in Shoreditch. Others will want to be in Bank and nowhere else.

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It’s up to you to decide what locations meets all of your desired criteria and if there is a particular area you need to be in. Some would argue that sector specific locations are a thing of the past, but a tech start-ups first choice of office would likely be close to Silicon Roundabout (Old Street Roundabout) whereas Hedge Funds like to stick to Mayfair and Knightsbridge.

We would advise outlining locations you are definitely willing to consider, and more importantly, locations you definitely won’t.

3. How much are you willing to spend?

Defining a clear budget will help you be realistic when looking at potential office spaces. Knowing how much you are willing to spend will narrow down your search and make it easier.

Serviced offices in Soho are paid for monthly and can range from anywhere between £400 – £1200 per desk. This price is all inclusive of bills, service charges, furniture, internet and, depending on the business centre, use of facilities such as meeting rooms and breakout areas.

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Conventional leases are priced by square footage and Soho rents are currently between £50 – £75 per sq ft. Keep in mind that traditional leases sometimes require a deposit and that rates and service charges are an addition to the rent.

Occupational cost such as fit out also have to be taken into consideration, however from our experience this capital is matched in money saved through rent free periods.

4. What style of office space do you require?

The style of office will vary greatly depending on what your business does. Media and technology companies are well known to prefer open plan floor plates with exposed features, often seeking our converted warehouses and factories. Recruitment consultants are likely to look for a more traditional office.

If you have decided you would like a serviced office then you will be looking at offices that are already fitted out. More creative providers include WeWork, WorkPad and Reflex. Corporate business centres can be found in the centres of Regus, LEO and Landmark – The Office Group managed to combined both across their portfolio.

When your take a lease you will be presented with an empty shell of on office. This gives you the chance to fit out the place in the style you want. Even though this is the case, deciding the style of building and how the space is to be arranged is equally as important.

5. How much space do you need?

Judging how much space your company needs is not as easy as it sounds. You may have a rough idea how much room your business will need, but it’s a good idea to ask yourself the following questions:

  • How many people do you currently employ?
  • Does each of those employee need an individual space or is a sharing arrangement possible?
  • Will you be adding staff within the next couple of years?
  • Will you be needing meeting rooms/breakout space?

Knowing exactly how much space you will need will depend on your amount of employees and your industry. It’s common for media firms to dedicate more space per person due to the nature of their work, whereas sales offices generally tend to use open plan layouts with workstations grouped together.

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The flexibility of a serviced offices grants you the ability to grow or downsize with ease. However serviced offices allocate less space per person (approximately 50 sq ft).

For traditional office space (not serviced) you will have to spend more time focusing on the answer to these question in order to understand exactly what you will need from your space, and more importantly, what your business growth looks like. The last thing you will want is to take 2,000 sq ft on a 10 year lease only to realise that by the 2nd year you need bigger premises (the reverse of this is as bad if not worse)

6. Who is going to take control of your relocation?

Assigning who is going to take charge of your office move will depend on the size of your company. For a small business it may be the case that one person will take charge, but if you’re looking to move a large established business then you may want to assembly a team.

Having one point of contact between your company and Landlords/agents will make your office move a whole lot smoother. You will need to find someone who is senior enough to make decisions and experienced at multitasking. They must also know your business inside out and be comfortable communicating and negotiating.

Appointing a consultancy to guide you through your move is advisable, especially if this is your first move and you’re looking for a traditional lease.

7. What is your time frame?

If you have to be out of your current office at a certain date than this is probably out of your hands. Our advice would be to get out and view some options as soon as you can. This will give you an idea of what the market looks like and give you a rough understanding of how complex your move may or may not be.

For a serviced office you will typically want to be looking at options around 6 months in advance. You will need to decide which landlord you wish to take up space with as every serviced office provider offers a different product. Once this is decided you will need to pick a building in their portfolio that meets your location and size requirements.

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The best deals are to be found at the end of the month due to sales targets

You ideally would like to have signed a deal on the new office 3 months before your move out date and be thinking about investing in your office (additional furniture/plants etc.) from then until you move in.

Traditional leases take longer to finalise, but this will all depend on the size of your requirement. You really want to be looking over 6 months in advance, but it is really case of the sooner the better for larger requirements.

Contact Us

Soho Office Space receive weekly updates on newly available office spaces in Soho. To check our availability report against your office requirements please use the details below to get in touch with a member of our team.

Email: sales@reesa.com

Telephone: 020 3434 3860