4 ways to beat the credit crunch with serviced office space

Search Office Space, the original global office broker, has decided to say it all about the commercial office marketplace and its opportunities during the credit crunch, to help UK businesses fight back and keep it all together through the economic crisis.

Here are 4 ways in which serviced offices can help UK Businesses through the credit crunch:

1. Short-term & Flexible rental contracts - Renting a serviced office from business centre operators such as Regus, MWB, Avanta or any of the several independent UK serviced office space firms allows companies to have their own office space without being tied up in a long term and rigid traditional lease.

SMEs and start-ups have the opportunity to operate in a professional environment and have the flexibility to take a short-term office rental deal over 3 months to 3-year.

2. Upsize or downsize as you go along - Should a new small business, having started up recently, need to increase staff numbers to meet demand, it would be impossible with a traditional lease. This could force the company to scupper its growth plan.

However, when using a flexible serviced office, businesses can easily request additional space with the operator that would include no up-front costs and would allow them easily to add more workstations to the office that they were located in. This would mean that the new desk, internet connection and phones would be ready to go straight away. When in a serviced office space, you only need to do your business, all the rest is taken care of.

If a business working from a serviced office is particularly affected by the credit crunch and needed to downsize its operation, it could easily do so by simply requesting that they no longer need desk space that they are not using. Once the short-term contract that they are working on is over, the new contract that they sign will only charge for office space used. This happens to be one of the best reasons to use a serviced office.

3. Only one bill! – When businesses rent traditional office space through a credit crunch, they take the risk to have several bills falling through their letterbox at once. Rent bills, water rates, electricity, internet and phone usage are usually an administrative nightmare.

In a serviced office there is usually only one bill. The business centre operators offer an all inclusive package and bill you the same amount every month.

4. Staffing and office furniture- Typically a small business cannot afford to have a secretary or admin assistant until it reaches more than 5 employees, so until then, phone handling duties are generally shared between the business owner and the rest of the employees.

When using a serviced office, a phone answering service is included in the contract so businesses benefit from a ready-made receptionist from the start.

A desk and chair for each employee is provided by the business centre operator, as well as photocopiers and stationery. All you generally need when moving in a serviced office space is a computer for each employee.

To summarize, it is crucial to allow businesses to find out more about the serviced office industry and to understand just how it could come to the rescue for British companies during the credit crunch.

For more information, quote or to arrange a viewing in a business centre in any UK location or worldwide, contact 0800 740 8080 or [email protected], or go to our website www.searchofficespace.com.