Office rents in the City of London have increased by almost 12 per cent over the last three months. This statistic reflects the increased demand from corporate occupiers on the one hand, and a lack of good quality office alternatives on the other. The increase ended almost two and a half years of rental falls across the market, and reflects the shortage of new offices following the credit crisis. The credit crisis halted most new developments, leaving prospective tenants with limited choices. Therefore as the economy starts to pick up there will be a limited availability of satisfactory office space, creating the perfect conditions for a spike in rent. As James Gillett, director of City offices at NB Real Estate, puts it :

“Often the harder a market falls, the stronger it bounces back. Rents fell off a cliff post Lehman Brothers. We are now seeing them rebound strongly as demand from occupiers recovers and the supply of prime office space dries up.”

Therefore it seems clear that many small businesses and entrepreneurs will have to seek creative alternatives to meet their office space requirements. One innovative solution may be the virtual office – a relatively new way of doing commerce that has the potential of saving cash for both business owners and their clients. Essentially a virtual office is a combination of off-site live communication and address services that allow users to reduce traditional office costs while maintaining business professionalism. This seems the ideal solution for those who are struggling to find suitable office space at a reasonable price, and yet require a presence to drive their business forward.

In this Podcast Angus McIntosh uses his ‘three concepts of energy use’ to explain and calculate the true sustainability of buildings and the King Sturge Sustainability Assessment Tool.

Below are the full results from the Servcorp International Business Cost Cutting Survey which was conducted in mid 2009 over a period of two weeks. The survey was commissioned to understand the areas where businesses were looking to save money in the economic downturn. The UK is ranked 3rd in office cutbacks globally.

As part of the survey, Servcorp asked 7,500 international businesspeople from more than 24 nations to identify which countries they believe are surviving the crisis the best.

Office and Administration Cutbacks
The countries which have made the most cutbacks to their combined office lease and office admin costs (ranked form most to least)

Areas where the most cutbacks have been made:

Areas of International Cutbacks
The areas where businesses have had to make the most cutbacks averaged across the globe

Small Business VS. Big Business
What areas have small businesses made cutbacks compared to larger businesses?

[ Article Source: ServCorp ]

eOffice provides serviced Office Space across the UK and 30 other countries. Our cost effective serviced offices are designed to offer you the benefits of big business at an affordable price. Located in eye-catching city center locations, the flexible working space can easily expand or contract with your business. With state-of-the-art meeting rooms and video conferencing available on a pay-as-you-use basis, you’ll be able to impress your clients with a highly professional working environment too. To find out more about our Office and hotdesking solutions visit eOffice.net

Business centers in London have seen a steady increase in executive suites enquiries and occupancies this year as companies look to cut costs and enjoy greater flexibility and business support. Other areas in the United Kingdom are picking up business, as well.

Diane Partington from Caswell Science & Technology Park explained their clientele, saying “What we’re seeing is a growth in start-ups, sometimes funded by redundancy packages, and the rise of outsourced companies, which lowers the employment costs of larger companies.”

The high popularity of the flexible office option offered in this location is a good indicator of the growing interest in serviced offices throughout the country, not just in the larger cities, but in the more remote areas as well. Businesses in all regions are finding that executive suites and virtual offices are a highly viable solution for cutting costs and improving employees’ work-life balance.

eOffice provides serviced Office Space across the UK and 30 other countries. Our cost effective serviced offices are designed to offer you the benefits of big business at an affordable price. Located in eye-catching city center locations, the flexible working space can easily expand or contract with your business. With state-of-the-art meeting rooms and video conferencing available on a pay-as-you-use basis, you’ll be able to impress your clients with a highly professional working environment too. To find out more about our Office and hotdesking solutions visit eOffice.net

Tim Skinner, Operations Director at Cisco shares his view on the investments that organisations need to make now and in the future to support sustainable work practices.

eOffice provides serviced Office Space across the UK and 30 other countries. Our cost effective serviced offices are designed to offer you the benefits of big business at an affordable price. Located in eye-catching city center locations, the flexible working space can easily expand or contract with your business. With state-of-the-art meeting rooms and video conferencing available on a pay-as-you-use basis, you’ll be able to impress your clients with a highly professional working environment too. To find out more about our Office and hotdesking solutions visit eOffice.net

Are you ready to grow your business? Want to take on staff but need more space? Why not take control today and WIN free office space for up to 3 people for 1 year!

Grow your business – risk free. 12 months without overhead costs.

If you’re fed up of working from the kitchen table or finding it hard to grow your business from home then take control today by entering our competition to win free office space for a whole year in one of four regional locations; Birmingham, Bristol, London and Manchester.

What does having free serviced office space include?

We are offering one lucky winner 12 months free serviced office space for up to three people to include access to broadband and telephone services, registered address and access to the eOffice networks PLUS a three page website and access to business support workshops, networks and mentors.

For your chance to win, just tell us why you need office space for your small business and how it would help your business grow.

In addition to this great competition, one winner in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and London will also win 12 months of virtual office space worth £5,000 including 40 hours of hot desking per month, four hour meeting rooms per month, a registered address for one year and a dedicated phone service within an eOffice location.

How do I enter?

Complete the online application form and tell us how having office space or virtual office space will help grow your business. It’s that simple.

Enter now!

Read our competition terms and conditions

Don’t delay

The first 100 people to apply for office space in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, London win one year’s free eOffice membership, worth £100 and providing priority access to a worldwide network of exclusive business centres.

Brought to you by Enterprise UK, which aims to increase levels of entrepreneurship in the UK, and eOffice, the serviced office space provider.

Supported by The British Library Business and IP Centre, PATLIB in Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester and Swoopmedia.

30th November 2009 Closing dates for entries

2nd December 2009 Judging panel select national (x1) and regional (x4) winners
11 December 2009 All Winners announced
4 January 2010 Regional winners begin trading at an eOffice Virtual work space
4 January 2010 Office winner begins trading at an eOffice work space

Looking for inspiration?

We have some great advice from a number of entrepreneurs and business experts to help your business grow, including top tips from the wonderful Pier Mucelli,  founder of e-Office

Check out Pier’s top tips
Get advice from our partners

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