Office space

[IH33]

Hi All

Business is going well enough for me to acquire some full time office space. I was hoping someone who could give recommendations on the best places to look. London Victoria is my preferred option

I've been speaking to some office brokers who have set up viewings with some nice serviced offices, but ideally I'm looking for an empty office I can set up in. A search on google mainly comes up with serviced office brokers, and gumtree I've not had much luck with so far

Thanks in advance...

[Spacecadet]

Serviced offices are great as you don't have to worry about all the usual crap with comes with running an office as you pay an all-in fixed monthly price
So
no utility bills
no business rates
no buildings/contents insurance (although seperate insurance is probably a good idea)
no receptionist to pay

Plenty of meeting space you can book
Phones are answered by a person who answers with your company name and can put them through to the office phone or your mobile if your out

You have access to fax machines and photocopiers, break rooms etc...

Phone and internet are usually extra and sometimes a bit over priced

Up sizing is easy

If you can get the commercial agreements sorted out then bailing out after just a few months should be easy

And don't forget to haggle like a cross bred yorkshire-scots man

[IH33]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes I agree on all your points - especially regarding IT and Telecoms. One place has quoted me £60/pp per month

The reason I ask about empty, non serviced offices is I saw an ad on gumtree recently...£99/week for a 3/4 person office, inclusive of all rates and bills. Phone/internet we supply ourselves. Pics look ok as well. I'm trying to arrange a viewing but no luck yet. Are unmanaged offices all around this price or is the place likely to be a complete dump?

Unsure as I spoke to a broker just now who said the cheapest unmanaged office she had was £1400/month + business rates at £7 psf !

[Spacecadet]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes I agree on all your points - especially regarding IT and Telecoms. One place has quoted me £60/pp per month

The reason I ask about empty, non serviced offices is I saw an ad on gumtree recently...£99/week for a 3/4 person office, inclusive of all rates and bills. Phone/internet we supply ourselves. Pics look ok as well. I'm trying to arrange a viewing but no luck yet. Are unmanaged offices all around this price or is the place likely to be a complete dump?

Unsure as I spoke to a broker just now who said the cheapest unmanaged office she had was £1400/month + business rates at £7 psf !

I gave up on the unmanaged offices.
The ones we looked at were dumps and once you factor in the extra admin overhead of having to manage the services it wasn't worth it

When it comes to the IT services, we got our own phoneline with ADSL put into the comms room of the serviced office and then routed the network up to the office.
We still relied on the reception staff answering the phones though