Space… The Final Frontier

May the source be with you.

It’s been reported by sources that we have a problem, you know the ones, those faceless organisations who pump out facts and figures that first tell you in big attention grabbing headlines to change and change now or its going to be death doom and disaster within the week, only to quietly suggest six months later in a tiny tucked away paragraph at the bottom of the page that you should just do what you were doing before as it’s not quite turning out the way they thought it would after all. Well, those sources have calculated that London will be the fastest growing city in Europe for the next four years and maybe even longer, as long as we don’t get invaded, countries don’t default on their loan payments or the UK suffer a prolonged outbreak of man flu.

Now normally these scenarios and predictions can be taken with a pinch of salt as they are dependent on so many separate and seemingly unconnected issues that one small change in one aspect of the economy can have a massive and unforeseen affect on another, the so called chaos theory, but to be fair to these sources and in this particular case, all things staying as they are, they’re probably right.

The London economy appears to operate within its own little bubble and in spite of the turmoil currently affecting other regions and nations, marches on regardless. Now why is this a problem, it all sounds great if you’re in or intending to trade in London? Well it is, that is unless you’re in the market for office space. The amount of available work space in London is falling and falling fast and with the known volume of space identified as coming on stream within this four year period the situation is not looking good and is predicted to get worse before it gets better. London rents are rising and inducements such as rent free periods are shrinking even faster.

Now assuming the economy isn’t derailed by the continued drop in oil prices, EU fallout or the General Election, and again sources say that the evidence suggests that elections make no difference what so ever, no matter what the parties will have you believe, then with the predicted growth in GDP and ever falling levels of unemployment now is a great time for London. But and it’s a big but, a crunch is coming and businesses in London are going to find that expansion or relocation may be compromised by a lack of office space. So what are the options available to a business looking for space in London?

Well its obviously an option to wait and hope space becomes available due to an unexpected additional development or take advantage of another business relocation but unless you really need to dip into the market and the increasing rental levels and hope against hope that the space available fits your requirements absolutely, do you really want to get involved in a market where demand far outstrips supply and you sign up to what will inevitably be a long term high premium deal? And don’t be fooled by the high level of cranes on the London skyline. It’s worth noting here that a high percentage of the space currently under construction in London is already pre let.

The spaces available for multi-business occupation and the trend for co-working is getting ever stronger and makes perfect sense for certain business set ups and operations but isn’t necessarily right for all so what option does that leave for an established business?

Another option is to stay put take advantage of the existing building deal and reassess. The efficient and best utilisation of existing space will become ever more critical for continued success and it is becoming more and more important that a business takes time to review its operations and adapts its work environment to meet the demands of the workforce. This can only be done through evidence based analysis. Undertaking an occupancy survey and understanding the daily frustrations of staff will give a business a much more informed base from which to start planning. In a marketplace where it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find quality staff it’s crucial to create an environment that aids recruitment and retention and may require a business to radically rethink what constitutes a desirable workplace both for now and its future.

So what could you consider today that may ease space pressures? There are many facets and considerations but looking briefly at just three areas will give an insight into potential savings that could be gained by a business wide assessment. For instance,

1. Do you really need a dedicated reception? You may already reside in a multi tenanted building with a shared reception. There are other more friendly ways to meet and greet people other than from behind a huge barrier of an intergalactic space cruiser of a reception desk. Calculate the area you give over to this function multiple it by your yearly rental and again multiply that by the years of your lease. I guarantee it equates to a fairly scary number. Do you still want or can you justify retaining a dedicated reception?

2. Do all staff functions require an assigned workstation? Undoubtedly some operations do but undertaking a quick utilization study will identify a sea of underutilized or unoccupied desks and with business methods requiring ever more shared knowledge and collaboration is a desk the right solution? Investigate flexible furniture solutions.

3. Do you really need expensive meeting room suites? The cost of service provision to these areas and their inherent inflexible nature means that a high proportion of space and budget is allocated to an environment that may not be very space efficient or for that matter, future proof. There are many solution on the market now that will relieve pressure on structured rooms and allow for quick adaptation.

However, it’s not just about the physical space, it’s also about the environmental and psychological aspects of a workplace. According to another source 85% of people are dissatisfied with their current working environment. It’s easy to see therefore how making an investment to truly understand your business, your staff frustrations and identify flexible solutions available to you now could ultimately save huge amounts of disruption and money later. Best advice in an ever decreasing business world of space is not to wait until your options become restricted further. Pre warned is pre armed they say. May the source be with you.

#workplace #office #officedesign #spaceutilisation