None of us has a crystal ball when it comes to our business. Though it’s certainly possible to make predictions and set goals based on sales data and market predictions, these often come down to little more than educated guesses.
Upswings in the market can take us all by surprise, as can unexpectedly quiet periods, new working styles and developments in technology. All of these things can demand a change in the way we do business, so we need to be prepared to act fast.
In other words: it really is vital to be flexible when making plans for the future of your business.
Choosing office space is a huge commitment, which can be key to the future success of your business. At WorkWell, we believe that flexibility is one of the most important considerations you will make when choosing office space.
Checklist for choosing office space
Here are some things to consider when choosing office space for your business:
How much space do you have to grow
The cost of overheads, and the potential to increase or decrease as required
How your clients and potential clients perceive you, and having the right-sized high-quality office space for their expectations, as your business changes over time
The facilities you have available, and whether flexible service packages are on offer to meet your needs
The working hours you can offer your employees, and whether you can access a serviced office out of hours
How happy your employees are at work, and the desirability of your business office space
The best office venue providers will give you the option to develop your business with them over time. This may mean taking on more office space to allow for extra employees, or it could even mean having the freedom to downsize should you decide to reduce your team or switch to a remote-working-based model.
A truly flexible serviced office facility will also have additional services on offer such as meeting rooms, parking, conference facilities, IT infrastructure, meeting rooms, catering staff and administrative support. Having these services readily available is incredibly valuable, even if you don’t need them when you sign up.
Demand for flexible office space is increasing.
It’s not just us that thinks that flexible office space is the way forward. In fact, research shows that more and more business owners are seeking flexible options with demand up 24.3% nationwide. Businesses in Yorkshire are particularly keen to find workspaces that will work of them: demand for flexible office space in Leeds was 17.3% higher in 2014 than in previous years.
But it’s not just business growth and development that can benefit from flexible office space. Study after study has shown that employees prefer flexible provision too. One of the major reasons behind this is that the more flexible a business’s office space is, the more of that flexibility they’ll be able to pass onto their team.
When a business is run in a flexible environment it makes it much easier to offer benefits such as flexi-time, hot-desking and remote working.
Reduce workplace stress and increase productivity.
If your business is currently searching for a new base, make sure you take flexibility into account: both in terms of what your office provider can offer you as a changing business and what benefits it will allow you to pass on to your employees.
Is flexibility as important to you as it is to us? Take a look at our serviced office provision to see how we make this work in practice.
If you are looking for flexible office space in Leeds or Harrogate with all-inclusive office space, Leeds-based WorkWell is a cost-effective, high-quality serviced office space provider. Book a visit with us today to see what we can offer.
“Leeds is probably the best place in the UK to be working right now.” Now there’s a statement and it was one made just this time last year by BahGum, a social network for careers, companies and job seekers.
It’s no secret that in recent years more and more of Britain’s top employers have been setting up a home in Leeds. And being home to the likes of HSBC subsidiary First Direct, Yorkshire Bank, more than 200 law firms, not to mention a myriad of innovative technology companies and start-ups, it’s hardly surprising Leeds has gained a justifiable crown of being regarded as being probably the best place in the UK to work right now, where jobs are “plentiful, meaningful and successful.”
WorkWell takes a look at how and why Leeds has become widely known as the ‘London of the North’ and whether you’re starting a business in Leeds or are already well-established, seven reasons why it makes sense to do business in Leeds.
Leeds’ thriving business history
Even in the medieval times, Leeds showed entrepreneurial vision. Medieval Leeds was flourishing, with carpenters, bakers, butchers, blacksmiths and a weekly market, crafting a colourful commercial medieval landscape. Though the main industry in Leeds in medieval times was wool-weaving.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the woollen cloth industry started to flourish in Leeds, which escalated and grew more prosperous throughout the 17th century. The city began to experiment in other industries and in 1770 Leeds pottery scene began. As Local Histories writes, craftsmen such as clockmakers, booksellers, jewellers and coach makers, all set up shop in Leeds.
During the early 1900s, engineering and tailoring were amongst the many industries in Leeds prospering, with big brands like Montague Burtons and Hepworth’s making Leeds their home. By the end of the century Leeds had also become a primary hub in the UK for banking, insurance, pubs and hotels, and remains so today.
Leeds Business School
Another reason doing business in Leeds makes sense can be pinned on the presence of Leeds Business School. Leeds Business School is a faculty of the University of Leeds and is a member of the Russel Group of research-intensive universities. The School of Business and Economic Studies was established in 1997 and the Faculty of Business in 2003.
This ‘triple accredited’ Business School is placed in the top one percent of business schools across the globe and according to the findings of the Research Excellence Framework 2014, Leeds Business School is a top ten UK business and management research institution.
Each year, Leeds Business School sees undergraduates, Masters, MBA, PhD and executive education level students from over 80 countries graduating with great qualifications. Some of its most notable alumni include Peter Jackson, former Kingfisher plc CEO and Chairman, Stephan Daintith, Chief Financial Officer of the Daily Mail and general Trust, and John Hirst, former CEO of the Met Office, amongst many more.
Fantastic networking scene
Being such a business-centred city, Leeds is awash with opportunities for networking. In fact barely a day goes by without some kind of business networking event going on.
If you’re looking for business networking in Leeds, look no further than the Yorkshire Mafia. Putting on numerous networking events, the Yorkshire Mafia encourages executives and stakeholders from the Yorkshire business community to network, meet, greet, share experiences, learn, build and do business.
The Yorkshire Mafia was founded in November 2008 and is built around the LinkedIn community. It provides a fantastic opportunity for small business to acquire the necessary skills to take their business further from established entrepreneurs.
Leeds is home to great A-level results
If you’re looking for exceptionally bright new recruits brimming with ideas and innovation, then you’ll be pleased to know that Leeds tends to nurture great A-Level results. Or if you are looking for a college to assist you in getting good A-Level results, Leeds has a lot to offer.
For example, Leeds City College has a reputation for achieving good A-Level results. In 2014 Leeds City College garnered a 98% overall A-Level pass rate, with two thirds of A-Level programmes achieving 100% pass rates.
Great travel links to and from Leeds
Another reason it makes sense to do business in Leeds is due to the fact the city enjoys a comprehensive travel network.
As we wrote in our blog about city centre offices versus those located on the outskirts of town, with major motorways leading into Leeds, a major railway network and with a myriad of bus routes taking travellers in and out of the city centre, travel to and around Leeds is easy.
Visit Leeds states the merits of Leeds’s travel links, saying:
“Getting to Leeds is incredibly easy. Located in the heart of the UK, Leeds is one of the country’s most accessible cities.”
Reap the benefits of a city centre
We also love to do business in Leeds due to the fact you can enjoy all the benefits of conducting business in a vibrant, busy and pioneering city. What’s more, Leeds is a happy city. A recent poll, by The Sun we hesitantly admit, voted Leeds as the second happiest place to live in Britain.
As the Guardian writes in its report titled ‘Living here in Leeds to happiness’:
“Leeds is big but small, a city but green, Yorkshire but every bit as diverse as London.”
And we all know what a happy workforce nurtures…. A more loyal and productive workforce – that’s definitely good business!
Business parks in Leeds
The final reason we love to do business in Leeds is because of the many quality, well-facilitated, well-located and professional business parks dotted in and around the city.
If you’re looking for a business centre in Leeds, you never have to travel far until you find a first-rate business park designed to help a company do what they do best – carry out their business.
One such place is WorkWell, where you’ll find premium serviced offices and meeting rooms on the outskirts of Leeds. We provide first-rate services in our offices and meeting rooms, with easy access to the M1, M62 and City Centre.
Download our travel and meeting rooms guide for more information about WorkWell.
Rolling out of bed at 8.50am. Blearily making yourself a coffee and starting work at 9.00am still in your pyjamas! Sounds heavenly doesn’t it? But is the lure of homeworking as productive, convenient and appealing as it seems? Let us answer the question: Do I need office Space?
Whilst more and more employers are beginning to recognise the multitude of benefits that go hand in hand with flexible office space and flexible working arrangements, there is always going to be a few flexible working sceptics.
There are certain benefits to running a start-up business from home – the most obvious being cost savings. However, if your business is doing well, there is likely to come a time when home working becomes more of a hindrance than a convenient, money-saving solution. But when should you move into an office – is there ever a right time to take the plunge?
Many freelancers, sole traders and start-ups eventually come up against the same problems, which are the key signs that it’s time to look for another solution. For example:
You’re ready to start hiring employees, but there is nowhere for them to work.
You’re concerned about professionalism – without proper meeting space, you end up meeting clients in noisy coffee shops or in your cluttered living room, neither of which gives your business a professional image.
Your work-life balance is off-kilter – with no opportunity to leave work at work, it’s very difficult to switch off and enjoy a family and social life.
Productivity is dropping – enthusiasm for launching your own business may have driven you in the early days, but your focus might be slipping now that you’ve been working at home for some time.
These are all signs that home working may not be the best fit for your business anymore, but what’s the solution? There are three main options available to you: leasing office space on a long-term contract, or the more flexible option of renting a serviced office. You can also use a co-working space, which, as one of our blogs describes, is particularly great for freelancers or employees of larger organisations who don’t work close to their main office.
As we explored in our blog about renting a serviced office compared to leasing office space, to determine which is the best option for your start-up company, both now and in the future, there are important questions you need to be asking yourself.
What can you afford to do?
You should only start exploring office space solutions when your business has the funds to do so, whilst still maintaining a financial safety net. To choose between leasing office space and renting a serviced office, consider set-up costs. You may be able to afford a long-term lease on office space in a good location, but have you considered office supplies, computer and printing equipment, furniture, heating, electricity, transportation, phone, internet and reception services, to name but a few? So many business owners miscalculate the true cost of setting up a new office from scratch, which can be disastrous for a start-up that is not yet established.
A serviced office can be the ideal stepping stone for start-ups, as it has none of the initial setup costs of leasing an office. At Carrwood Park, for example, serviced offices are rented on both short and long-term leases, giving companies greater flexibility, and there are no hidden costs at all. You ask for the services you need, and these are all included in the upfront cost of your package, from reception and call answering services to printing, meeting and conferencing. This allows you to accurately calculate how much it will cost you to move into your new office space.
In our ’11 Myths about Serviced Office Space: Busted’ blog, we talked about one of the common misconceptions about serviced offices is that they are expensive. However, if you actually did a comparison between what you actually get from a serviced office package and the setup costs of a leased office, you’d find that serviced offices would often turn out to be the most cost-effective.
Where will your company be in 5 years’ time?
This is the second crucial question to ask yourself before deciding between leasing premises and renting a serviced office. If you commit to a long-term lease when the future growth of your business is far from guaranteed, you may not be able to afford such hefty costs. Your business may not grow at the speed you hope it will, so you might end up with office space that is far larger (and more expensive) than you’ll ever need. It’s really difficult to anticipate the future needs of your business. As we mentioned in an earlier blog, the flexibility that serviced offices provide is one of the key benefits of this type of office.
Serviced offices can be rented for short or long periods, and at a facility like Carrwood Park where there are many different sizes of offices available, you can simply move into a larger space if and when you need it. Download our size guide to find out more about how to decide what size office you need.
With countless amenities on your doorstep, convenient transportation and a buoyant hustle and bustle that gets you ‘in the mood’ for work, the benefits of city centre working have long been established and exploited. But did you know more and more firms and working professionals are now seeking office space on the outskirts of a city?
According to a report in Property Wire, office take-up across the six biggest regional office markets in the UK, including Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol, increased by at least 30% in 2014.
As demand for office markets outside London looks set to continue, where is more beneficial for modern firms and professional workers to conduct their working day – is it better to have an office in the city centre or the outskirts?
Transportation
With bus routes, train stations, and tram stops around every corner, city centres are easy to get to and manoeuvre about in, hence their appeal to a broader workforce. However, we cannot ignore the fact that the vast majority of people in England and Wales still use their cars to get to work.
An RAC report released in 2013 found that seven out of 10 people in rural areas get to work by car rather than the train or bus.
We’ve all been there, anxiously ‘clock watching’ as we’re ground to a sickening halt in a queue in city centre traffic as an important impending meeting draws worryingly closer.
In short, offices located on the edge of town eliminate the problem of being stuck in city centre traffic.
With the majority of workers in Britain still using their cars to get to and from work and to meetings, an office that is close to major road networks but avoids congested city centres is an ultra-convenient and desirable option.
Of course we also cannot ignore the fact that many do choose public transport to get to work. As we wrote in an earlier blog about choosing the location of your office space, an office that is close to major roads and is also not far from public transport, such as bus stops and rail links, will mean workers traveling on public transport are able to reach the office with ease.
Good for clients
Not only are these convenient ‘out of the city centre’ offices great for workers but they also mean clients will be able to reach the venue without having the stress of wrestling with city centres – a valuable business asset.
Take Carrwood Park as an example. Here at Carrwood Park we are just two minutes from the M1 and 15 minutes from Leeds city centre, clients and potential clients will be able to locate the office with ease and feel fresh and optimistic when arriving to a business meeting.
On-site parking
Which brings us on to the issue of parking.
As most of us have experienced, parking in a city centre is not only painfully expensive, it can be nigh impossible.
City centre offices that do have on-site parking are a rarity and it is likely that these valuable spaces are snapped up by company directors or by long-standing workers.
By contrast, offices located on the outskirts of cities usually have room for everyone.
Talking about some of the benefits of renting office space on the outskirts of town, the popular entrepreneur website Evan Carmichael speaks of how “poor parking situations” can result in a “financial and personal concern for employees.”
“As long as your office space is still in a location served well by public transport, the major road networks will provide a relatively clear and simple route to the office, not forgetting, still keeping you as a business within easy reach of the central region,” writes Evan Carmichael.
Lower costs
And then there is the cost to consider. Statistics show that you can enjoy offices on the outskirts of town of exactly the same quality as their city centre rivals for cheaper. When working on tight budgets, renting office space just minutes from a city centre can make a significant difference to monthly overheads and ultimately company profit.
An asset to your branding
When the convenience, cost-effectiveness and ease of an out-of-town office is considered, opting for an office location on the outskirts of a city is likely to positively affect your branding.
As Carrwood Park wrote in a blog titled ‘How the look and location of your office can affect your branding’, without the headache of wresting city centre traffic, without having to pay elevated parking costs and with the convenience of being able to swing off the motorway into large, purpose-built grounds, employees, colleagues, clients and contractors are likely to show up to the office feeling relaxed, refreshed and ready to do business – a definite brand-enhancer!
For more information about WorkWell’s convenient, quality and friendly offices and meeting rooms on the outskirts of Leeds or Harrogate, download our guide to serviced offices.
There’s no doubt that the serviced office market is a vibrant and dynamic one. But is there really a clear picture in anyone’s mind as to where the industry is going?
In an interview with Carrwood’s own Oliver Corrigan, we explore not only the current state of the serviced office market, but also the future of serviced offices and other issues surrounding the industry as a whole.
1. In the years you’ve been in the serviced office industry, what are some of the most significant ways you’ve seen the industry change?
Firstly, I would say that it has matured as an industry. In the beginning, it was more like a stopgap solution for start-up companies and other small businesses, but now a lot of blue chip and large companies use it as an effective way to keep overheads low and flexible. So essentially what we’ve seen is the industry shift from being dominated by owner-managed enterprises to now being shared between these and corporate structures.
Another key area of development is the addition of value-added workspace. The product offered by serviced office enterprises has become much more complex than just a simple desk area or meeting room. Innovations in furnishing and space have given rise to break-out areas, brainstorming areas, informal meeting spaces and much more. Serviced offices are now about providing a fully comprehensive space in which to work, meet, discuss and develop business.
2. Since 2008, the British economy has seen a decline in the majority of sectors. Despite this, serviced offices continue to prosper and grow – why do you suppose this is? Can this growth be maintained?
Before the recession hit, the truth is that a lot of companies never really had to consider “value for money” as a factor in choosing a workspace. More often than not, companies just went with the most obvious solution before them, regardless of long-term cost considerations or real value for money.
The recession hit and it exposed not only financial weakness in some companies but also their inability to flexibly react to market changes. In serviced offices, people are renting more than just a bit of office space. They are also getting the flexibility to expand and contract as market strength and size dictate. In the post-recession climate, all companies are now being forced to see this huge difference and see that demand isn’t static and therefore they will need to be flexible to react to shifting demand.
Another factor to consider is the trend of manufacturing operations being shifted overseas, which is freeing up a lot of space that used to be factories, warehouses etc. This empty space would still need to be managed and maintained, which increases the burdens on the companies running them. This makes the serviced office sector all the more appealing, as all aspects of building management and maintenance are hired by the host enterprise. It’s no wonder then why many more companies are opting for serviced offices, prompting industry growth.
Companies save on costs and boost flexibility, but without sacrificing prestige and image. Despite what some may have previously thought about serviced offices, it is not a step backwards for a company to take one. In being able to focus entirely on their work operations, companies free up time and resources to attract more talent. You could compare it to the tablet PC, which while having a bigger price tag despite fewer parts, gives users vastly more flexibility through its portability and multifunctional nature, thus giving it incredible value. Serviced offices have the same advantages over regular office space or leased space.
Can industry growth be maintained? I certainly think it can be. Property prices are on the up, and therefore rents are also going up. We are entering a world of globalisation, populated by a more highly educated workforce that is split into small dynamic teams. The serviced office product is there and designed to meet these changes. As long as the industry can stay current, it will grow.
One more factor that helps maintain the growth of the industry is IT infrastructure. IT demands are growing massively, and becoming more complex. At Carrwood, we’re running 60,000 square feet of office space, but individual companies are getting smaller. We have invested tens of thousands of pounds in IT systems for our business park – a financial burden a lot of individual businesses do not want to shoulder alone due to the lower number of staff employed in one area. It gives companies yet another reason to choose serviced offices, as it allows them access to the IT infrastructure viable for hundreds or thousands of staff in a remote 6-person sales office. In fact we have a lot of MDs saying that their IT solutions in their branch office at Carrwood are better than their head office down in London.
3. Can you summarise in one sentence, what you believe is the primary function of the modern office?
To provide a good, central work location where people can focus, collaborate and develop.
4. Sustainability seems to be one of the most prominent focuses now in serviced offices. How important do you think it is to the industry overall? What steps have you implemented to generate sustainability?
Sustainability is certainly something that frequently appears in people’s enquiries when looking for new office space. My family has always been involved in farming, which as a highly mature industry thoroughly understands the importance of long-term sustainability and eliminating waste. Carrwood’s competitors often cite all the ways they make their buildings eco-friendly – a green place for people to work in. But in my opinion, they’re looking at the issue the wrong way around. At Carrwood, we take the user’s perspective as the primary focus, not the building itself. It’s fine to put in green systems, but if you don’t have the in-house know-how of how to run and maintain them yourself, then the benefits are minimized.
For example, where many offices will turn their heating systems off over the weekend to “save energy”, Carrwood would keep them running at a steady low constant. If the heating had been off all weekend, and an employee cranks it up to 24 degrees as soon as they arrive on Monday morning, then the system will run inefficiently and wastefully as it fires up. We at Carrwood would keep the temperature at a steady 18 degrees all weekend, so that when the user comes in they might only need to put it up to 20, and in the long-term a greater saving is made.
5. What’s more important currently in offices, location or quality? Do you think that this will change in future?
The adage “location, location, location” is massively dependent on the industry – I would suggest that quality is ever-increasing in importance, but one can’t ever deny the importance of location. It’s hard to gauge the tipping point between the two. Productivity of staff is more important – so the location must be tailored to maximise this. But location is diminishing in importance somewhat, as technology allows more and more locations to become viable.
Quality is not just a question of fixtures and fittings, but also about layout and know-how. Without the know-how, logic and experience to make a good set-up, then quality doesn’t enhance productivity. To enhance productivity, Carrwood uses workspace, meeting space and the all-important “third space”, such as our atrium, break-out areas and other spaces. These are all designed to give a wow factor and provide a productive environment.
6. Turning to location specifically, there are those who argue that major cities like London, Manchester, Glasgow etc. will always be the office ‘hotspots’, do you agree with that view?
Leeds is a very dynamic and forward-thinking city and has frequently ranked in the top 5 UK for growth rate, best city for business and more. In 2009 it was awarded “One of Europe’s Top 25 Cities for Business”. It’s fair to assume that the top several UK cities will always be top, but HS2 and improving airport links might help shift the dynamic slightly. Technology will also help remove barriers and open up new areas for development. Also, those top cities will only ever remain “hotspots” if they also remain highly liveable. Without liveability, companies can’t hope to attract the best talent for their business.
7. For many years now, technology has been a cornerstone of the productive office, and its importance and influence have only grown. In the coming years, what do you see as, say, the 3 most important technologies that no office can do without?
First, super-high-speed Internet connectivity. The world is using less bandwidth per device but the number of connections is increasing. Serviced offices need to be there to meet the changes. The increasing prevalence of HD and other technological developments will increase demand on capacity, and so faster Internet will definitely be totally indispensable.
Second, Wi-Fi. It needs to be as secure and reliable as hard-wired Internet, and Carrwood is currently investing in new networks to be just that. At any one time, we can have over 170 wireless devices connecting to the network in just one building, with around 120 permanent customers. This is a radical change from 5 years ago when there was only about 25-30% of that connection rate. Providing basic Wi-Fi isn’t good enough. It needs to be sophisticated enough to manage multiple connections and allow our customers the ability to tailor their own company policy despite there being others sharing the space. In 2014 we plan a big shake-up of exactly how we deal with this, allowing customer privacy and simplicity while at the same time flexibility and security.
Third, software allows collaboration and interaction by creating a new “digital space”. The integration of social and collaborative tools will go hand in hand with this, such as moving a monitor feed to a projector feed quickly and simply.
Finally, cloud technology is an extension of the serviced office. Part of our recent IT investment is designed to increase the efficiency of cloud computing in our spaces because people are carrying multiple devices now and cloud computing is what gives seamless integration of data and other information.
8. Can you offer some kind of summarizing ‘prognosis’ regarding the future of the serviced office? What’s going to be the single most important direction that we’re going to see?
The industry is still young but has matured rapidly in recent years. It will continue to mature with more products coming out and will adapt to how businesses want to work. The way I see it, the sector will only grow. It allows customers to increase their space in a dynamic way that gives flexibility to meet new market/customer demand.
