The tech industry is the fastest-growing sector in the UK. It has been reported that the industry is growing faster than the UK economy, and the number of tech jobs has grown at more than twice the rate of jobs in other sectors.

This is great news for digital businesses and the wider business scene as a whole. Industry growth means that many digital companies are naturally growing, bringing with them the challenges that come with expansion.

One of the key challenges to consider here is how to choose the right office space. After all, the more employees a company recruits, the more space it will need to house them all.

But does the tech industry need traditional office space?

The growing tech industry has brought with it a whole host of exciting tools and platforms that have revolutionised the way we do business. Video conferencing software, online collaboration tools and cloud-based software have all made it easier than ever for employees to work flexibly from home.

So if this is the case, couldn’t all employees just work from home, eliminating the need for traditional office space?

Though this is certainly an interesting proposal in some ways, we believe that office space is still a vital part of running a successful business, no matter what industry you’re in. A growing number of businesses now even choose to have a traditional workplace, whilst also offering flexible working options to get the best of both worlds.

Why is office space still so important?

High-quality office space is important for companies for a number of reasons. This includes:

• Productivity – Different employees work best in different environments, and many employees do their best work within an office with their colleagues around them.
• Creativity and innovation – The tech industry is very creative. In order to maintain this innovation, it is important for employers to foster the type of environment where ideas can flow. If you’re having trouble with employee creativity, these are some ways to get the creative juices flowing in your workplace.
• Collaboration – Teamwork is a vital part of the working process in all businesses. Collaborative working tends to be most successful when it is done face to face, as things can often get lost in translation via other methods of communication.
• Prestige – Office space can also be an effective way to improve the image of your business. An executive office suite can attract new talent, add weight to client pitches and impress industry leaders.
• Security – When working with sensitive data, it’s important to be able to limit access to the server. This is easier to do when you can limit access to a single office IP address rather than trying to account for employees working from home.
• Sociability – The best working relationships are formed over time when employees work together face to face in an office environment. You’ll be able to form a much closer team, which will only have a positive effect on your business.

Why choose an office space in Leeds?

Leeds is lucky to be part of the northern tech powerhouse. These clusters of digital companies span across Leeds, Hull, Manchester, Sheffield/Rotherham, Liverpool, Sunderland, and the Newcastle/Durham area. Together they employ approximately 283,500 people and produce an estimated £9.9billion.

Want to rent an office suite right in the heart of this powerhouse? We’d love to show you what we have to offer at WorkWell. Our Leeds and Harrogate office spaces are both flexible and impressive. Why not book a viewing to see for yourself?

5 essential productivity tools to keep your business running over Christmas

When it comes to the festive period, preparation really is key. Instead of letting your employees switch off in the run-up to Christmas, losing vital productivity, why not use this time to get ahead on work?

Some effective productivity-boosting techniques include encouraging healthy eating, introducing some competition and reviewing your office environment. But with the rise of digital technology, an endless list of time-saving tools has been created, some of which we’ve talked about before.

Combine the productivity-boosting techniques we mentioned above with these 5 essential tools and you’ll be able to truly sit back and relax over the Christmas break.

1. Mailchimp

This email marketing software is a great tool to keep your customers engaged over Christmas. You can use Mailchimp to create a range of exciting email campaigns with anything from New Year promotional offers to a festive message from the team. The great thing about this free tool is that it’s really easy to use. You can choose from various ready-made templates and then drag and drop different segments to customise the email to match your brand. Mailchimp even allows you to schedule your emails in advance – why not schedule a ‘Merry Christmas’ email to go out to your customers on Christmas Day with a special deal or promotion?

2. Buffer

With over 65 million businesses using Facebook, you may be one of the many people checking your company’s social media accounts over the Christmas break. You can use this easy tool to schedule posts across a wide range of social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Your marketing department could write some posts to keep you going over the festive period and then use Buffer to schedule them. This means you won’t have the unnecessary pressure to constantly check your social media over Christmas, so you can all take the break you deserve. Of course, if you do end up checking your Twitter timeline, you can still live-post too!

3. Google Docs

As a business leader, it’s only realistic that we’ll end up doing some work over the Christmas period no matter how hard we try. Google Docs can be a fantastic tool for collaborating on work remotely. This means that if you want to stay at home and relax by the fire with a warm cup of mulled wine whilst doing some work, you can! It’s really easy to use and you can also share documents with other people. Google Docs allows you to work on a document at the same time as your team, and you can even see each other’s changes as they happen.

4. Twilert

Use this insightful tool to keep track of any brand mentions on Twitter over the festive period. You don’t want to be constantly checking notifications across your break, so you can get real-time email alerts from Twilert any time that your brand is mentioned. You can even customise your search results to exclude certain keywords and only show tweets from certain locations. Use this great tool along with Buffer to keep your Twitter followers engaged over Christmas.

5. Virtual office

With a virtual office, you won’t need to worry about answering your phone over the Christmas break. Of course, you could always record an out of office voicemail, but does that promote the professional image that your customers are looking for? It’s essential for your business to be presented as professional and reliable. With a business phone number at Carrwood Park all of your calls will be answered within just three rings by a friendly, experienced receptionist. Now that’s the kind of service your customers deserve…

Using a combination of these tools and other tools we’ve mentioned before, you’ll have the freedom to take some well-deserved time off this Christmas. For more business advice, why not subscribe to WorkWell?

A virtual office at WorkWellcan be a great way to establish and build the credibility of your brand, from our Virtual Leadership Package to our Reception Answering Service & DDI Membership. Call our friendly team today on 0113 385 4480 to find out more about our virtual office packages.

Over the last decade or so, the office has seen some massive advances. With the increase in cloud services, wireless computing, remote working, and so on, it seems that things are only going to keep on changing – although maybe not as much as some people predict (not just yet anyway).

Read More about The future of office furniture pt. 1