Office Space

How to Motivate Staff and Impress Clients

Savvy business owners with foresight realize the role of office design in enhancing productivity levels and fostering growth. Modern office spaces of ambitious and progressive entrepreneurs are versatile, innovative and exhilarating, rather than being insipid, plain and predictable.

Significance of Your Office Design

Business stalwarts gauge your approach and commitment towards achieving success with the appearance of your business premises. When your clients and employees, current or prospective ones, enter your commercial space they consciously or subconsciously notice every little aspect of your office design ranging from flooring pattern to carpet design and from availability of natural light to the extent to which things are organised.

Wouldn’t you want to cast that striking first impression on these people? It is in the first few moments that your clients or employees will form a perception of your company and your attitude towards work, based on which they will decide whether to associate themselves with your business or not.

Do Creativity and Dynamism Reflect from your Office Design?

Your office interior design is a mirror of your creativity. Being honest, in the modern day business world, there are hardly any people willing to work at a dreary place, characterized by lack of creativity or dynamism. On the contrary, staff and clients are impressed and attracted towards a business that incorporates innovation into its ideology. Infusing enthusiasm into your business makes you an interesting identity to liaise with.

The combination of various interior design features of your office and its overall appearance is a measure of your company’s creativity and dynamism. For instance, do the displayed artworks, the patterns on your office walls or decorative pieces epitomise a fresh, progressive approach? Do your floor coverings look bright and vibrant, or does that carpet in the waiting area of your office look dreary and unmaintained?

There is hardly any advantage of keeping an ugly carpet or a worn out floor covering in your office space. It is better to do away with any such piece of furnishing and stop creating a negative impression on your visitors.

There are various options in sustainable floor and wall coverings available on the market, which are designed to be fit for purpose, look great and cause least impact on the environment.

Shape Up Your Approach towards Environment

Believe it or not, your company’s attitude towards the environment has an impact on your current and future relationship with your staff and clientele. Modern day population has turned cognisant towards the human impact on the ecosystem and has started taking steps to minimize the carbon footprint. Some of these steps include curbing the use of products and materials detrimental to ecological balance, and recycling and reusing products wherever possible.

Today, businesses committed to sustainability and using reusable resources are held in high esteem across industries globally. Companies that genuinely and actively promote these values are in great demand with cream of the crop candidates and clients, and stay in good books of their stakeholders.

It is important for your company to take a positive stance in this regard and demonstrate willingness to act responsibly towards the environment. Such a genuine approach will strengthen your relationship with existing employees and clients and will ensure that more and more aware individuals and companies choose to work with you.

The level to which your office interior design is capable of motivating your employees and impressing your clients should in no way be underestimated. This aspect of your office space must be planned carefully, and the steps executed must be aimed at creating an impression of your organisation that your clients and employees are drawn to and identify with.

How to Create an Energy Efficient Workplace?

Apart from being one of the biggest challenges of current times, reducing energy usage in your office is a great opportunity to create a greener Earth, while cutting down on your operational costs. Energy experts opine that with prudent planning and appropriate practices, your business expenditure on energy usage can be trimmed down to 50% of the current amount.

How to Cut Down Energy Costs?

Let’s go over some quick and easy tips to help reduce your energy bills right away:

- Energy tariffs from various suppliers can be compared to opt for an equivalent service at a cheaper rate. Nevertheless, rather than procuring energy at lower rates, it is in your best long-term interest to cut down on energy usage.

- Utilize natural light to the fullest and avoid switching on the lights during day time, unless and until absolutely necessary. Establish a policy to switch off equipment, when not in use beyond work hours and encourage staff members to save on energy.

- Wherever feasible, go for energy-efficient equipment, systems employing insulation and draft exclusion techniques.

- Check the energy rating and the amount of heat produced before purchasing any new equipment. In case the heat produced is beyond a certain limit, it could unnecessarily use up more energy and increase your air-conditioning bills. Also, if you purchase energy efficient equipment or machinery, your business could benefit from tax allowances such as ECA.

- Execute regular maintenance checks for all devices consuming electricity, so as to ensure their operation at maximum efficiency.

In addition, there are legal requirements to reduce energy consumption for commercial premises that you might need to comply with.

How to Reduce Office Waste Production?

It’s a myth that we are being energy efficient when we participate in recycling waste or using recycled or recyclable products. Generating waste is quite an expensive affair, not only in terms of the cost of the product being discarded, but also concerning the cost of disposal, and the energy, material and labor expended during recycling. If your business has proper policies in place, waste production can be minimized. Change in behavior and approach towards working can propel lesser waste production, in turn increasing your business profits and reducing impacts on the environment.

Modifying Workplace Behaviour

Today, primarily we need a major attitude shift at office to cut back waste generation.

- Office staff must be encouraged to work more cautiously, because fewer errors directly mean reduced waste and lesser energy consumption.

- Documents should be printed only when absolutely necessary and printing on both sides should be encouraged.

- Switching off energy expending devices while leaving the workplace, turning off the taps when not in use and powering off air conditioning devices when not necessary are major steps towards reducing wastage of natural resources.

- Encourage reuse of office stationery such as files, binders, envelopes, paper and pens to curb wastage.

How to Make Equipment Usage and Resource Management Better?

Adopt a systematic approach to reduce utilization of resources by executing the following steps:

- Evaluate your current energy performance, set it as a starting point and improve upon it by executing an appropriate action plan.

- Set achievable targets and assign specific responsibilities to specific people in order to track results efficiently.

- Set a benchmark, probably an organisation that you look up to for energy efficiency, and compare your performance periodically.

- Measure your performance with the aid of periodic reports, in order to learn from your shortcomings and improve continuously.

- Outdated equipment and machinery must be replaced with energy efficient devices to save on costs and energy used.

- Waste produced must be stored and managed responsibly and efficiently.

Conclusion

Hence, devising action oriented goals, pertaining to energy consumption and infusing order into your current office regimen can take you a long way in reducing utilization of resources and minimizing wastage. Not only do you rein in business expenditure by achieving this, but also establish your organisation as a conscientious company fulfilling duties towards the society and environment on the whole.

Google Campus London

March 2012 saw the opening of a new co-working office space powered by Google in the hearth of technology quarter in London.

The campus has been created in partnership with other start-ups facilities including Tech-Hub (community and workspace provider for entrepreneurs), Seedcamp (an investment mentoring in which companies compete to get investment for their company) and Central Working (a co-working club).

The Campus is situated next to the Silicon Roundabout, between Old Street and Shoreditch in East London. The location also known as Tech city, has become the home of a huge number of start-up tech companies such as TweetDeck.  With help from the the government  who is also investing heavily in these tech start-ups admitting “the huge potential of online industry and the growth it will have leading London as a centre of online businesses in Europe. “

The Google Exec Eze Vidra said “around this area two years ago there were only 200 start-ups, now there are 700”.

The goal of the Campus is to provide cheap real estate for start-ups in a city where the cost of renting is very expensive. The campus is on seven floors and provides a wide range of services to satisfy different needs including a café’, the Google space, roof top terrace open to residents on top of the building, events to strengthen the idea of community and to help members to improve their knowledge and encourage them to collaborate with each other.

It also offers a mentoring programme in which Google helps members by sharing the knowledge they have learnt by working in UK and Europe over the years.

It is the largest tech hub is Europe and its activity is just behind New York and Silicon Valley. It can host more than 100 start-ups company under the same roof coming from all over Europe.  All the events going on every day, make the Google Campus not only a busy place, but also the perfect place for a start-up to grow.

The activity of Google Campus will help the government to pursue its vision of creating the perfect European Tech Hub to host start-ups and mentor them in a contest of culture and art in the heart of East London.

The Google Campus is growing fast by acquiring new members and creating a solid community of digital entrepreneurs and young tech companies, boosting the activity and the importance of the Tech City in London.

 

What is a serviced office?

Serviced Offices – A Perfect Flexible Option for Short-term Business Needs

 

Every business or company has unique workplace needs. Their budget, the strength of staff, future plans of expansion, and current standing in the market are only some of the factors that determine the kind of office space they must opt for. The three major office options available are conventional office space, co-working office space and serviced offices.

 

A serviced office is the most flexible office space solution of the three; usually with short rental options, low deposit amounts and a host of business services that are included in the rent. The key features responsible for the popularity of serviced offices are flexibility and affordability. In several cases, office space can be leased ranging from 1 workstation to 100 or even more, with contract periods of as short as 1 month and up to 3 years, and generally on a rolling renewal basis.

 

A major feature that distinguishes serviced offices is that these are leased on a per workstation basis, equating to per individual basis, rather than the more conventional system of per square foot. A typical workstation constitutes of a desk and space around it, which usually amounts to approximately 75 sq ft. The exact area, however, varies from office to office.

 

The most conducive aspect of entering into a serviced office lease is its flexibility; proprietors offer short-term deals ranging from a week to a year or more, depending on your requirement. The flexibility of serviced office makes it an ideal workplace solution for SMEs and start-up businesses. Also, serviced offices offer room for change in the number of staff as per business requirements; hence, these are preferred by businesses looking forward to upsizing or downsizing.

 

Business Services

The variety of services and utilities offered in a serviced office premises might vary from one office provider to another, but certain services must be inevitably included for a particular business centre to be classified as a serviced office. More often than not, several facilities are provided as a standard; typically, shared amenities like reception area, meeting and conference rooms, and kitchen and lounge areas. Certain service office providers might also include additional services, such as office furniture, parking area, telephone connections, broadband access and video conferencing facilities.

 

Serviced offices turn out to be an excellent short-term solution for firms relocating in a short span of time, but cannot move into their new office space immediately. Such a situation could arise due to several reasons; the new premises may not be ready to move in and their existing lease has already expired, or they could be simply bursting at the seams in the old office space and there is no way they could wait for the new lease to begin. In short, for all the companies that need to move immediately but temporarily, serviced offices offer the best space solution. Hence, your company can settle down temporarily and carry on with the normal business routine until your permanent office space is ready for occupancy.

 

Office relocation can turn out to be a long drawn-out procedure because of a number of variables, like budget, area, services and transport links, which must be taken into account before finalising on your new office space. If you realise that your new office is going to take longer than estimated because of delay in processes like fit-out or refurbishment, or that you might not be able to move into your new workplace before your current lease ends, you must contact a serviced office agent without delay.

 

What are the Benefits and Shortcomings of Serviced Offices Compared to Conventional Leases?

Advantages

Flexibility of Lease – Serviced offices are usually characterised with short lease periods; and generally, signing such leases neither involves any legal costs nor does it require any references. Also, these are ready to be moved into, and can be vacated at a short notice.

Minimal Overheads – Opting for serviced offices needs nominal deposit amount, zero furnishing or dilapidation costs, and an all-inclusive fee per month, amounting to easy budgeting. Usually, IT and telecom services are the only ones that you need to spend extra for.

Ease of Growth and Cutback – Companies occupying serviced office premises can undergo fast and easy expansion without the need of changing their trading address, and even reduce unutilised space, avoiding waste of resources on maintaining idle space.

Business Support – Serviced business centres can make provisions for reception and admin personnel, and meeting and conferencing facilities on a need basis.

Image Building at No Extra Cost – Rest assured that serviced business centres are very well-maintained, ensuring that your business always projects a professional image. Cleaning the interiors is accounted for within the cost of a work terminal. 

 

Disadvantages

Expensive Proposition for Longer Durations – Even though a serviced office is an economical short-term option, it turns out to be a costly affair if rented for a long span of time.

Uniform Offices – Types of serviced business centres range from redeveloped buildings to the ones designed for a specific purpose. Some offer traditional features, while others offer unique space solutions. However, some built-for-purpose business centres might undesirably feature offices that are exactly the same.

Branding – Some serviced business centres are completely branded, which means that they propagate their brand name via their signage or logos on the exteriors and interiors. This is bound to make it obvious that the occupant companies are sharing hired offices. Some business centres, on the other hand, do offer the renters an option of branding, so that they can project an impression of possessing an office space.

Serviced offices are a preferred choice of larger firms that need a satellite office or commercial space for a project. Today, there are thousands of serviced offices across the UK. Several of these are business centres, situated in some of the most prominent locations throughout the country, run by large and established companies such as Regus, MWB, Orega and Avanta.

 

The short-term nature of service office sector and the range of options available imply that most prospective clients find a suitable workplace solution to suit their needs. Serviced offices range from basic, unfitted spaces to high-spec, fully outfitted suites in preferred locations. Whatever your business needs, you are sure to find a fitting interim solution to your space conundrum.

What is a coworking space?

Co-working Office Spaces – A Feasible Alternative for Small Businesses and Freelancers

As self-explanatory as the phrase is, a co-working office space refers to sharing office space, and is a viable alternative to conventional, serviced or home offices for independently working individuals or small business owners. A co-working space offers office environment for such people where they can work collaboratively in a shared area.

 

 

Co-working space owners provide a work environment and generally, office equipment and services characteristic of a typical workplace. The features of such an office space typically include the following:

• Shared space to work
• 24/7 access to work place
• Conference and board rooms that can be reserved or rented on need basis
• Wi-Fi
• Shared printing, copying, faxing and/or scanning facilities
• PBX equipment
• Common kitchens, restrooms and/or lounges
  

Normally, the lessees have to shell out flat-rate membership fees; the fee structure is either based on number of visits on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis or per single visit. Rates are generally all-inclusive, providing complete access to all office areas, and helping them focus on the most important aspect of business, growth.

Co-working facilities offer a variety of options suitable to individual needs. For instance, certain co-working space providers offer access to multiple locations for ease of members. Generally, there is no deposit that you need to pay and no concept of minimum stay period.

UK has recently seen a massive growth in the number of co-working office spaces, with their prominent presence in all the big cities like London, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham. Among these, London has become a hub of co-working spaces, not only in terms of large number of such spaces it offers, but also for the variety of services these offer to cater to different needs.

London houses around 20 co-working office spaces across the city in areas including Westminster, Soho, and North and East London. Apart from fundamental services such as a work-desk and a chair, various facilities like storage, stationery, meeting areas, café and lounge areas, fitness and sports centre, library access, flexibility in contracts, and mailing addresses are offered too.

One of the largest and trendiest co-working office space opened in London about a year ago, is the Google Campus. It consists of seven floors of office space for freelancers and new companies, built right at the heart of the Tech City in East of London. It offers a gamut of services in a hip working environment that boasts of modern digital features such as a garden with plants that tweet about their water needs.

The growth in the number of such co-working spaces has been fostered primarily due to a rising number of online start-up firms and freelancers, who require office space and services to expand their business without paying massive amounts in rent and bearing other expenses needed to set up a conventional office.

The key idea behind offering co-working spaces is not only to aid start-up ventures to grow, but also to bring professionals working from home together, and build an intellectual community that can share ideas and knowledge, and in turn grow together. Also, small businesses can enjoy all the facilities of an actual office space without owning one.

What is a leased office?

Is Conventional Lease Right for Your Business?

 

If you are a business owner looking for an appropriate business space, it is important for you to know the difference between various types of offices that you could start or move your business in. A leased office is also referred to as a conventional or traditional office, and is let to a business owner by its landlord for a certain period of time.

 

Most conventional leases in London stretch to a duration of either 5 or 10 years, depending on the discretion of the property-owner and the needs of the prospective leaseholder. Often, it is possible to settle upon a break clause at the 3^rd or 5^th year respectively.

 

The Features of a Conventional Office Space

A conventional office space is leased at a cost per square foot of area on a yearly basis and the lessee is required to pay the associated rent, rates and service charges. Usually, the interiors can be utilised in their entirety as per the requirements of the lessee, barring certain instances where landlord’s consent might be necessary. The renter is expected to manage and maintain all facilities including planning of space, installing furniture and fit out, cleaning, setting up IT and telephone network, paying utility bills and service expenses.

 

Most traditional offices are offered as open plan spaces, unfurnished and minus IT and telecom facilities. Common restrooms and kitchen areas either exist within the building or the renter might need to build these within the rented space. On the other hand, some conventional offices might come already fitted out.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Conventional Office

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of a leased office space as against serviced or co-working office spaces:

Benefits:

- One of the major benefits of a conventional office is the opportunity to build your Brand Identity through signage at the entrance or façade of the building, and at the entrance of your workplace. Hence, it offers a greater scope to project your business image.

- It provides greater control over using and managing your office space.

- You can opt for longer terms of lease if your business is an established one.

- You end up incurring significantly lower costs as compared to equivalent serviced and co-working office spaces.

Dissadvantages:

- Deal finalisation usually takes a lot longer compared to serviced and co-working office spaces.

- Usually, a renter typically needs to bear the expenditure of office fit-out or renovation, and needs to purchase or lease own furniture.

- The lessee needs to shoulder the responsibility of annual service charges, utility costs and other similar charges.

- A conventional lease usually includes complete repairing and insurance terms and no internal services are generally included.

- At the end of the lease term, usually, the fit-out needs to be removed by the tenant and the rented space must be returned in the condition exactly when the lease was finalised.

 

You must weigh all the options and judge their respective pros and cons carefully before finalising on your business location. Opt for a conventional office only if you are looking for a permanent business location to build your own business space, by investing sufficient time and resources. If you are considering housing a substantial number of employees and need plenty of additional space for storage or display, then a conventional office is the best bet for your business.

Advantages of Employing Professionals to Find Offices in Farringdon and Paddington

If you are thinking of relocating your company office or open new ones, then it is best to consult a professional for the process. There are a number of important factors and variables to consider before finding the perfect offices in Farringdon or Paddington. The task of choosing an ideal office premises for a company is a very expensive and complicated one. It requires an extensive amount of industry knowledge and professional negotiation skills to find the best offices in Paddington for your company.

There are a number of benefits of employing a professional company to carry out the whole procedure of finding an office space for your business.

Professional Expertise

Companies with years of experience in the industry have professional expertise to find suitable office premises for a company, according to its specific needs. Their vast experience assists them in performing the whole complicated procedure quickly and efficiently.

Thorough Market Knowledge

Professional companies have thorough market knowledge about the available office spaces in the city. They have extensive knowhow about the different business neighborhoods in the city, and give advice to firms about different locations to consider for their business offices in Paddington.

Negotiation Services

Professional companies have a team of highly qualified experts who provide efficient negotiation services to client companies. They negotiate deals on behalf of their clients and try to procure the best office premises in the area.

The whole complicated procedure is handled by professionals and they help you strike a good deal for your company offices in Farringdon or other areas in the city.

Detailed Planning

Companies which provide services for finding suitable office premises for businesses have professional teams which discuss the client’s preferences and requirements in detail. They discuss the client’s business needs, staffing requirements, future expansion plans and overall organizational structure. This helps them to clearly identify the client’s needs and find suitable offices in Farringdon for their business.

Relocation Services

Some good companies also provide relocating services to their clients to assist them in the difficult process of relocating to offices in Farringdon or Paddington. They provide professional consultancy and industry contacts for making the relocation process easy for the client.

Best Services within Budget

The most important advantage of employing professionals for finding suitable offices in Paddington for your company is that they provide quality services at an affordable price. You can avail high quality services and be hassle free.

Professional companies which provide services of finding suitable office premises for your company offer a variety of expert services at affordable price and rid you of the tiring procedure.  

Things to Consider When Relocating Business to Hammersmith or Kings Cross Offices

Are you thinking of relocating your company offices to Hammersmith or Kings Cross?

If you are, then you need to take some essential points into consideration before going through the whole process. The neighborhoods of Kings Cross and Hammersmith are ideal for a company’s offices. These areas are the centre of business activity and offer great opportunities and possibilities for the business growth of a company.

If you have compared the pros and cons of such a procedure and are willing to go with it for the success of the company, then you might want to consider employing a professional for the process.

Get Professional Services

It is advisable to get professional help while thinking of relocating to Kings Cross offices or Hammersmith area. There are certain companies which provide services for finding suitable office premises in Hammersmith and Kings Cross offices.

These companies provide efficient professional services for finding the most appropriate office spaces for the business of a company. These companies have a team of highly experienced professionals who discuss the client company’s business and staffing requirements in order to find the best Hammersmith offices for the firm.

Choose the Best Location

You can discuss with the professional company to choose a location for your company office which is situated in the centre of the business neighborhood. Make sure that the offices premises are within easy proximity to the area’s underground stations or other transport for staff and customer convenience.

Employ a Relocation Service Providing Company

Some companies after finding the perfect offices also provide relocating services for the convenience of their clients. The relocating process is a very difficult and complicated procedure which requires a large amount of planning.

The relocation procedure needs to be handled very carefully and efficiently, as it incorporates a large amount of the company’s budget which should be utilized effectively. Professional companies provide consultancy and different relocation services to make the whole process easy for their clients.

Some professional companies also recommend industry experts for different relocation services like efficient office space designing and planning, and installation of effective communication systems within a space.

Hiring professionals provides a wide range of high quality services and ease, while finding and relocating your business to suitable Kings Cross offices and Hammersmith offices. You get to enjoy the ease and comfort of getting a suitable office space, which presents possibilities for future business growth.  

Tips To Find the Best Office Spaces in Noho

If you are looking for the best office spaces in Noho or Waterloo for your business, then there are a number of great options available in the market. But, it is important to consider a few essential factors before making a final decision.

The selection of an ideal company office is vital for the successful business operations of a company. The location, space, ease of access, nearby transport facility and neighborhood environment are important factors which should be kept in mind while looking for suitable office spaces in Noho or Waterloo.

Ideal Location

A company office should be located in the centre of the city, or in the midst of a busy economic hub. This provides the company the advantage of being situated in an ideal position for easy customer access and business operations. The proximity of underground stations to an office space makes it a convenient spot for the employees.

Having offices in a busy business neighborhood helps in attracting new customers and creating professional contacts with neighboring businesses. It does wonders for a business, as their client base and business exposure increases. You should definitely do a thorough market research to find the most ideal location for your Waterloo offices and select the best office spaces in Noho.

Organizational Requirements

Carefully consider the organizational structure and requirements of your business before you start to look for an office premises in the area. If your company has certain specific business requirements, then it is essential to keep them in mind before choosing an office space.

Analyze the staffing requirements and space required for different business activities of the company. If you require a large office to accommodate your employees and hold client meetings, then make it your first priority. Also keep in mind the future expansion plans of the company. Being an important and highly expensive business transaction, it is important to consider all organizational variables before making a decision.

Consult a Professional

The whole process of finding a suitable company office for your business is very tiring and complex. It requires extensive market knowledge and professional negotiation skills to purchase an appropriate office space Noho.

Companies which provide professional services for finding offices also help in the negotiation of the property deals. Their professional capability makes them experts in handling the whole procedure of finding suitable Waterloo offices.

Professionals find the best office premises for a company keeping in mind their specific business requirements and budget. You can benefit from their market insight and find the most suitable office location for your business.