IT providers looking to maximise business opportunities, while reducing their financial risk, should seriously consider using an ëelastic buildingí advises John Spencer, Chief Executive of MWB BusinessExchange.
Whether relocating to be nearer to their client base or setting up a completely new business, the importance of being able to minimise their risk, while being able to ëright-sizeí their business to meet market demands is a key factor in the choice of office space by an increasing number of astute IT professionals across the UK.
With more and more IT consultants taking the plunge and starting their own business, many take their first steps as ëindependentsí by working from home. They do this mainly to avoid the perceived start-up costs associated with getting any new venture of the ground such as office rents, agentís fees, office furniture and equipment, telephone installation, IT equipment, not forgetting the time spent actually finding the right property and getting all the facilities arranged and equipment installed.
This can be a major headache for any business and most start-ups perceive it as a real barrier to entry, so they operate from the place that has no such barriers ñ their home. However, working from home is far from ideal as operating in isolation often means that home workers lose their creative edge, become unproductive and often become downright lonely. Unlike freelance writers or designers who feed off their interactions with people and events to create their work in seclusion, IT consultants rely on constant involvement with people.
The ideal solution is to take serviced office space within a business centre environment, which offers the flexibility to allow a business to grow and expand and yet frees the occupier from highñstart-up costs or having to make any long term financial commitments.
Getting the best fit for your business
The flexibility benefits were not lost on Vizuri, an independent IT risk management company offering dependable and objective software testing services and specialist recruitment of professional testers. The company was founded in the UK in 2001 and after initially occupying a small rented office, Vizuri found it needed to find work space that was a better fit for its requirements.
ìWe are an expanding business,î comments Brian Shea, Vizuriís chief executive officer, ìAnd we are also an opportunistic business, so it was important to find an environment which we could quickly adapt or expand to meet the demands of our clients.
ìAfter looking at a number of options we decided to relocate to the MWBEX business centre in Londonís Regent Street, as this gave as the perfect location and the right facilities. In addition, of all the premises we viewed, we found that the MWBEX team had the right attitude which gave us the confidence they would take care of all our needs, while reassuring us that we would still be in control.
ìIn addition, we needed to set up software testing ëlabsí and were confident that MWBEX had the IT infrastructure to facilitate these. We have also used the Regent Street centre to host training seminars for the international financial services community and appreciated the fact that MWBEX were able to supply all the extra IT hardware and PCs to meet these needs.
ìOverall, I believe that the MWBEX centre in Regent Street provides us with good value for money and the fact that they take care of the office infrastructure means that I donít have to employ my own office manager. In addition, MWBEX gives us the confidence to know that our clients, in turn, will be well treated when they visit us. This has a positive impact on our business.î
The flexibility to right-size your business
Businesses also find that the word flexibility can also be extended to the configuration of working space and this proved to be a major benefit to Noblestar UK, an IT professional services firm with more than 15 years of experience in helping businesses deliver complex technology solutions and increasing their return on investment in IT.
Founded in the US in 1987, the company set up its first UK operation in 1996 in Reading. It later moved to Mayfair on the back of an expansion boom. ìWe were expanding fast and so it seemed logical at the time to move to larger office space,î comments Victoria Miller, Noblestarís UK manager.
ìAt the end of our lease in 2003, we were ready to move to offices that were a better fit for our business needs and we found that the serviced offices at the MWBEX business centre in Londonís Regent Street were perfect for our requirements. After having previously been locked into a long lease the flexibility of terms provided by MWBEX means that we can always ëright sizeí for the demands of the business.
ìAs we expect to expand in the near future we have now got the flexibility to easily move into larger offices, without the hassle of relocating to another building.
ìOur previous leased space consisted of individual offices and we found that this made staff members feel isolated, which wasnít good for morale. So during the move to Regent Street we took the opportunity to move into to open plan space which has improved team morale no end.
ìAnother benefit of being in the MWBEX centre is that we are now part of a business community and we get the chance to meet and interact with other clients in the centre, while the Central London location is perfect for us as this is good for team members and clients visiting from the US.
A virtual start makes the right impression
Many start-up IT consultants find that a virtual office service, operated by a business centre, provides the most professional start to their home-based business. By providing the start-up with a mailing address at a prestigious business address and a dedicated telephone number, which is always answered professionally in the name of their business, the consultant presents a thoroughly business-like image to the outside world, even if he or she is actually working from a laptop on the kitchen table.
The fact that the dedicated telephone number is always answered by a receptionist means that the consultant never misses a call or an opportunity. When they do need to meet with clients or candidates they can rent an appropriate sized boardroom or meeting room at the business centre, at nominal cost, and this presents all parties with a thoroughly professional image.
As one of the UKís largest operators of business centres, MWB BusinessExchange has spent many years developing and refining products and services for expanding recruitment businesses. Recently it took the bold step of introducing a new stepping stone product between its BusinessConnect virtual office service, (which costs 150 per month in Central London) and its fully serviced office product.
This new service is known as BusinessBase and has been designed to act as the next step for IT consultants that want something more than a virtual office, but are perhaps not ready to make a commitment to a full time office. For 299 per month, clients get the use of a real desk in a real office for up to 100 hours per month.
This time allotment can be shared by up to three other colleagues, making it ideal for consultants who spread their working life between quality office time and off-site visits to clients and candidates. Users of this service also get their own storage cabinet so that they keep files in the ëofficeí and when they need desktime they can just sit down and plug in their laptop.
While both the virtual and part-time offices provide a high level of elasticity in terms of allowing a fledgling business to stretch to its full potential, there comes a time when most IT consultancies reach a size where the volume of business demands that they need a full time office. However, while traditional office space acquisition methods, such as rent, lease or even purchase, require a business to make a long term commitment to a fixed size and location, the ëelastic officeí available at business centres allows any IT firm to stay ëright sizedí to meet its current market and business needs.
Not only can workspace in business centres be configured and equipped to meet any design or personal requirement, a business located there always has the freedom to upsize or downsize, almost at will to ensure that space is efficiently utilised and that costs are always optimised. And thereís no need to relocate to another address to achieve it.
Can you afford an empty desk?
Recent research shows that, for instance, 70% of businesses have a minimum of one empty desk at any given time, which means that a company employing around ten people will have at least one empty desk for the equivalent of a whole year. And with a single desk costing as much as 18,000* per year to fit out and equip, in expensive areas such as Central London, it is easy to see how wasted space can have a direct effect on the bottom line. The elastic office means that consultancies can easily eliminate unused space and associated costs.
By comparison, the cost of maintaining unused workstations on a conventional property lease can be quite considerable. Taking into account heating, lighting, maintenance, depreciating equipment and, of course, rent and rates the average cost of running a desk in the UK is 35 per day.
As can be seen the ëelastic officeí can provide savings on all fronts. In addition to providing worthwhile savings against the expense of under-utilised office space, managed workspace can provide proven savings of up to 50% on the total occupancy costs, when compared with the traditional office space acquisition methods.
And with the savings in time from not having to deal with multiple invoices from various suppliers each month and their associated paper trail, the elastic office could be the perfect way to put some bounce back into the fortunes of IT consultancies of all sizes across the UK.
The ëelastic officeí can help IT providers
s-t-r-e-t-c-h- their resources
IT providers looking to maximise business opportunities, while reducing their financial risk, should seriously consider using an ëelastic buildingí advises John Spencer, Chief Executive of MWB BusinessExchange.
Whether relocating to be nearer to their client base or setting up a completely new business, the importance of being able to minimise their risk, while being able to ëright-sizeí their business to meet market demands is a key factor in the choice of office space by an increasing number of astute IT professionals across the UK.
With more and more IT consultants taking the plunge and starting their own business, many take their first steps as ëindependentsí by working from home. They do this mainly to avoid the perceived start-up costs associated with getting any new venture of the ground such as office rents, agentís fees, office furniture and equipment, telephone installation, IT equipment, not forgetting the time spent actually finding the right property and getting all the facilities arranged and equipment installed.
This can be a major headache for any business and most start-ups perceive it as a real barrier to entry, so they operate from the place that has no such barriers ñ their home. However, working from home is far from ideal as operating in isolation often means that home workers lose their creative edge, become unproductive and often become downright lonely. Unlike freelance writers or designers who feed off their interactions with people and events to create their work in seclusion, IT consultants rely on constant involvement with people.
The ideal solution is to take serviced office space within a business centre environment, which offers the flexibility to allow a business to grow and expand and yet frees the occupier from highñstart-up costs or having to make any long term financial commitments.
Getting the best fit for your business
The flexibility benefits were not lost on Vizuri, an independent IT risk management company offering dependable and objective software testing services and specialist recruitment of professional testers. The company was founded in the UK in 2001 and after initially occupying a small rented office, Vizuri found it needed to find work space that was a better fit for its requirements.
ìWe are an expanding business,î comments Brian Shea, Vizuriís chief executive officer, ìAnd we are also an opportunistic business, so it was important to find an environment which we could quickly adapt or expand to meet the demands of our clients.
ìAfter looking at a number of options we decided to relocate to the MWBEX business centre in Londonís Regent Street, as this gave as the perfect location and the right facilities. In addition, of all the premises we viewed, we found that the MWBEX team had the right attitude which gave us the confidence they would take care of all our needs, while reassuring us that we would still be in control.
ìIn addition, we needed to set up software testing ëlabsí and were confident that MWBEX had the IT infrastructure to facilitate these. We have also used the Regent Street centre to host training seminars for the international financial services community and appreciated the fact that MWBEX were able to supply all the extra IT hardware and PCs to meet these needs.
ìOverall, I believe that the MWBEX centre in Regent Street provides us with good value for money and the fact that they take care of the office infrastructure means that I donít have to employ my own office manager. In addition, MWBEX gives us the confidence to know that our clients, in turn, will be well treated when they visit us. This has a positive impact on our business.î
The flexibility to right-size your business
Businesses also find that the word flexibility can also be extended to the configuration of working space and this proved to be a major benefit to Noblestar UK, an IT professional services firm with more than 15 years of experience in helping businesses deliver complex technology solutions and increasing their return on investment in IT.
Founded in the US in 1987, the company set up its first UK operation in 1996 in Reading. It later moved to Mayfair on the back of an expansion boom. ìWe were expanding fast and so it seemed logical at the time to move to larger office space,î comments Victoria Miller, Noblestarís UK manager.
ìAt the end of our lease in 2003, we were ready to move to offices that were a better fit for our business needs and we found that the serviced offices at the MWBEX business centre in Londonís Regent Street were perfect for our requirements. After having previously been locked into a long lease the flexibility of terms provided by MWBEX means that we can always ëright sizeí for the demands of the business.
ìAs we expect to expand in the near future we have now got the flexibility to easily move into larger offices, without the hassle of relocating to another building.
ìOur previous leased space consisted of individual offices and we found that this made staff members feel isolated, which wasnít good for morale. So during the move to Regent Street we took the opportunity to move into to open plan space which has improved team morale no end.
ìAnother benefit of being in the MWBEX centre is that we are now part of a business community and we get the chance to meet and interact with other clients in the centre, while the Central London location is perfect for us as this is good for team members and clients visiting from the US.
A virtual start makes the right impression
Many start-up IT consultants find that a virtual office service, operated by a business centre, provides the most professional start to their home-based business. By providing the start-up with a mailing address at a prestigious business address and a dedicated telephone number, which is always answered professionally in the name of their business, the consultant presents a thoroughly business-like image to the outside world, even if he or she is actually working from a laptop on the kitchen table.
The fact that the dedicated telephone number is always answered by a receptionist means that the consultant never misses a call or an opportunity. When they do need to meet with clients or candidates they can rent an appropriate sized boardroom or meeting room at the business centre, at nominal cost, and this presents all parties with a thoroughly professional image.
As one of the UKís largest operators of business centres, MWB BusinessExchange has spent many years developing and refining products and services for expanding recruitment businesses. Recently it took the bold step of introducing a new stepping stone product between its BusinessConnect virtual office service, (which costs 150 per month in Central London) and its fully serviced office product.
This new service is known as BusinessBase and has been designed to act as the next step for IT consultants that want something more than a virtual office, but are perhaps not ready to make a commitment to a full time office. For 299 per month, clients get the use of a real desk in a real office for up to 100 hours per month.
This time allotment can be shared by up to three other colleagues, making it ideal for consultants who spread their working life between quality office time and off-site visits to clients and candidates. Users of this service also get their own storage cabinet so that they keep files in the ëofficeí and when they need desktime they can just sit down and plug in their laptop.
While both the virtual and part-time offices provide a high level of elasticity in terms of allowing a fledgling business to stretch to its full potential, there comes a time when most IT consultancies reach a size where the volume of business demands that they need a full time office. However, while traditional office space acquisition methods, such as rent, lease or even purchase, require a business to make a long term commitment to a fixed size and location, the ëelastic officeí available at business centres allows any IT firm to stay ëright sizedí to meet its current market and business needs.
Not only can workspace in business centres be configured and equipped to meet any design or personal requirement, a business located there always has the freedom to upsize or downsize, almost at will to ensure that space is efficiently utilised and that costs are always optimised. And thereís no need to relocate to another address to achieve it.
Can you afford an empty desk?
Recent research shows that, for instance, 70% of businesses have a minimum of one empty desk at any given time, which means that a company employing around ten people will have at least one empty desk for the equivalent of a whole year. And with a single desk costing as much as 18,000* per year to fit out and equip, in expensive areas such as Central London, it is easy to see how wasted space can have a direct effect on the bottom line. The elastic office means that consultancies can easily eliminate unused space and associated costs.
By comparison, the cost of maintaining unused workstations on a conventional property lease can be quite considerable. Taking into account heating, lighting, maintenance, depreciating equipment and, of course, rent and rates the average cost of running a desk in the UK is 35 per day.
As can be seen the ëelastic officeí can provide savings on all fronts. In addition to providing worthwhile savings against the expense of under-utilised office space, managed workspace can provide proven savings of up to 50% on the total occupancy costs, when compared with the traditional office space acquisition methods.
And with the savings in time from not having to deal with multiple invoices from various suppliers each month and their associated paper trail, the elastic office could be the perfect way to put some bounce back into the fortunes of IT consultancies of all sizes across the UK.
The ëelastic officeí can help IT providers
s-t-r-e-t-c-h- their resources
IT providers looking to maximise business opportunities, while reducing their financial risk, should seriously consider using an ëelastic buildingí advises John Spencer, Chief Executive of MWB BusinessExchange.
Whether relocating to be nearer to their client base or setting up a completely new business, the importance of being able to minimise their risk, while being able to ëright-sizeí their business to meet market demands is a key factor in the choice of office space by an increasing number of astute IT professionals across the UK.
With more and more IT consultants taking the plunge and starting their own business, many take their first steps as ëindependentsí by working from home. They do this mainly to avoid the perceived start-up costs associated with getting any new venture of the ground such as office rents, agentís fees, office furniture and equipment, telephone installation, IT equipment, not forgetting the time spent actually finding the right property and getting all the facilities arranged and equipment installed.
This can be a major headache for any business and most start-ups perceive it as a real barrier to entry, so they operate from the place that has no such barriers ñ their home. However, working from home is far from ideal as operating in isolation often means that home workers lose their creative edge, become unproductive and often become downright lonely. Unlike freelance writers or designers who feed off their interactions with people and events to create their work in seclusion, IT consultants rely on constant involvement with people.
The ideal solution is to take serviced office space within a business centre environment, which offers the flexibility to allow a business to grow and expand and yet frees the occupier from highñstart-up costs or having to make any long term financial commitments.
Getting the best fit for your business
The flexibility benefits were not lost on Vizuri, an independent IT risk management company offering dependable and objective software testing services and specialist recruitment of professional testers. The company was founded in the UK in 2001 and after initially occupying a small rented office, Vizuri found it needed to find work space that was a better fit for its requirements.
ìWe are an expanding business,î comments Brian Shea, Vizuriís chief executive officer, ìAnd we are also an opportunistic business, so it was important to find an environment which we could quickly adapt or expand to meet the demands of our clients.
ìAfter looking at a number of options we decided to relocate to the MWBEX business centre in Londonís Regent Street, as this gave as the perfect location and the right facilities. In addition, of all the premises we viewed, we found that the MWBEX team had the right attitude which gave us the confidence they would take care of all our needs, while reassuring us that we would still be in control.
ìIn addition, we needed to set up software testing ëlabsí and were confident that MWBEX had the IT infrastructure to facilitate these. We have also used the Regent Street centre to host training seminars for the international financial services community and appreciated the fact that MWBEX were able to supply all the extra IT hardware and PCs to meet these needs.
ìOverall, I believe that the MWBEX centre in Regent Street provides us with good value for money and the fact that they take care of the office infrastructure means that I donít have to employ my own office manager. In addition, MWBEX gives us the confidence to know that our clients, in turn, will be well treated when they visit us. This has a positive impact on our business.î
The flexibility to right-size your business
Businesses also find that the word flexibility can also be extended to the configuration of working space and this proved to be a major benefit to Noblestar UK, an IT professional services firm with more than 15 years of experience in helping businesses deliver complex technology solutions and increasing their return on investment in IT.
Founded in the US in 1987, the company set up its first UK operation in 1996 in Reading. It later moved to Mayfair on the back of an expansion boom. ìWe were expanding fast and so it seemed logical at the time to move to larger office space,î comments Victoria Miller, Noblestarís UK manager.
ìAt the end of our lease in 2003, we were ready to move to offices that were a better fit for our business needs and we found that the serviced offices at the MWBEX business centre in Londonís Regent Street were perfect for our requirements. After having previously been locked into a long lease the flexibility of terms provided by MWBEX means that we can always ëright sizeí for the demands of the business.
ìAs we expect to expand in the near future we have now got the flexibility to easily move into larger offices, without the hassle of relocating to another building.
ìOur previous leased space consisted of individual offices and we found that this made staff members feel isolated, which wasnít good for morale. So during the move to Regent Street we took the opportunity to move into to open plan space which has improved team morale no end.
ìAnother benefit of being in the MWBEX centre is that we are now part of a business community and we get the chance to meet and interact with other clients in the centre, while the Central London location is perfect for us as this is good for team members and clients visiting from the US.
A virtual start makes the right impression
Many start-up IT consultants find that a virtual office service, operated by a business centre, provides the most professional start to their home-based business. By providing the start-up with a mailing address at a prestigious business address and a dedicated telephone number, which is always answered professionally in the name of their business, the consultant presents a thoroughly business-like image to the outside world, even if he or she is actually working from a laptop on the kitchen table.
The fact that the dedicated telephone number is always answered by a receptionist means that the consultant never misses a call or an opportunity. When they do need to meet with clients or candidates they can rent an appropriate sized boardroom or meeting room at the business centre, at nominal cost, and this presents all parties with a thoroughly professional image.
As one of the UKís largest operators of business centres, MWB BusinessExchange has spent many years developing and refining products and services for expanding recruitment businesses. Recently it took the bold step of introducing a new stepping stone product between its BusinessConnect virtual office service, (which costs 150 per month in Central London) and its fully serviced office product.
This new service is known as BusinessBase and has been designed to act as the next step for IT consultants that want something more than a virtual office, but are perhaps not ready to make a commitment to a full time office. For 299 per month, clients get the use of a real desk in a real office for up to 100 hours per month.
This time allotment can be shared by up to three other colleagues, making it ideal for consultants who spread their working life between quality office time and off-site visits to clients and candidates. Users of this service also get their own storage cabinet so that they keep files in the ëofficeí and when they need desktime they can just sit down and plug in their laptop.
While both the virtual and part-time offices provide a high level of elasticity in terms of allowing a fledgling business to stretch to its full potential, there comes a time when most IT consultancies reach a size where the volume of business demands that they need a full time office. However, while traditional office space acquisition methods, such as rent, lease or even purchase, require a business to make a long term commitment to a fixed size and location, the ëelastic officeí available at business centres allows any IT firm to stay ëright sizedí to meet its current market and business needs.
Not only can workspace in business centres be configured and equipped to meet any design or personal requirement, a business located there always has the freedom to upsize or downsize, almost at will to ensure that space is efficiently utilised and that costs are always optimised. And thereís no need to relocate to another address to achieve it.
Can you afford an empty desk?
Recent research shows that, for instance, 70% of businesses have a minimum of one empty desk at any given time, which means that a company employing around ten people will have at least one empty desk for the equivalent of a whole year. And with a single desk costing as much as 18,000* per year to fit out and equip, in expensive areas such as Central London, it is easy to see how wasted space can have a direct effect on the bottom line. The elastic office means that consultancies can easily eliminate unused space and associated costs.
By comparison, the cost of maintaining unused workstations on a conventional property lease can be quite considerable. Taking into account heating, lighting, maintenance, depreciating equipment and, of course, rent and rates the average cost of running a desk in the UK is 35 per day.
As can be seen the ëelastic officeí can provide savings on all fronts. In addition to providing worthwhile savings against the expense of under-utilised office space, managed workspace can provide proven savings of up to 50% on the total occupancy costs, when compared with the traditional office space acquisition methods.
And with the savings in time from not having to deal with multiple invoices from various suppliers each month and their associated paper trail, the elastic office could be the perfect way to put some bounce back into the fortunes of IT consultancies of all sizes across the UK.
The ëelastic officeí can help IT providers s-t-r-e-t-c-h- their resources
IT providers should seriously consider using an ëelastic buildingí advises John Spencer
