Downsizing Your Business Premises? Here's Some Food For Thought

More than a third of companies are looking for smaller offices according to a recent study. Almost two-thirds of them have said that flexible working is a factor as they move towards a ‘hybrid’ working model where office-based days will be rotated amongst colleagues ...

Businesses can benefit by reducing the amount of corporate office space they need with up to half of their employees working remotely; on average, office space is being cut by around 20% and many say that downsizing their premises is part of a cost-cutting plan, which might also include some redundancies.

The sudden availability of office space is leading to reduced prices. Some owners of office space are offering incentives such as rent-free periods and flexible start dates. The average price for desk space across the UK fell by more than 7% between January 2020 and January 2021. But this is only part of the story.

The environmental and economic benefits of working remotely have been promoted for decades, but the uptake has been slow. The pandemic has accelerated the pace of change and supporting technology has now been thoroughly tested and proven.

According to a Gartner survey, more than eight out of 10 company leaders are now planning to allow employees to work remotely for at least part of the time. As a result, locations outside of city centres are expected to see a significant increase in demand.

However, as large organisations reduce the size of their headquarters and perhaps distribute their business across multiple locations, the question becomes What are we remote from? Is it the office, the business, or our colleagues?

With smaller teams spending less time together and working at different locations, some employees might start to question where they ‘belong’. For top professionals, one of their priorities is often their working environment. To avoid losing valued employees, the change needs to be a positive one.

The choice of office location, type and permanence will become important. Where businesses might not take over a whole building or a complete floor, but perhaps just a few offices on short-term leases, identity could become diluted.

Supporting employees in their personal lives to improve their overall performance is also becoming a priority for many businesses. Proactive employers can increase the number of high performers in their organisation and will also see improved mental and physical health amongst their employees.

Taking a view of the whole workplace experience will provide benefits for the business.

Flexible workspaces are the key!

Choosing modern, high-quality workspaces rather than simply looking for new, smaller offices will give you the right environment for a post-pandemic workplace. You will also have the scope to flex and change in a new fast-paced business environment.

At Bucks Biz, we have fully refurbished our sites to provide a wide mix of multi-use units including offices, storage spaces and light manufacturing units. We work sympathetically with all our clients to support their business needs.

We offer full virtual office facilities that include ‘own name’ telephone answering and a full range of secretarial services. With fast broadband connections in all our units, your business can stay connected reliably and professionally.

We want to hear about your business ideas, so please get in touch to discuss your downsizing requirements.