2 August 2024
The rise of the Managed Space!
Business Space, Commercial, Offices, SHW News
Following the Covid pandemic, many occupiers started taking the view that they wanted to be back in the office. Some who were in serviced offices decided they wanted to have more control over their demise and areas that were typically shared, such as meeting rooms and kitchens.
The solution was the rapidly emerging and evolving managed office. This article aims to shed light on the questions - what is a managed office?
A managed office provides the occupier with its own front door, demised kitchen and meeting room facilities as with a conventional office. The difference is it is often taken from a third-party provider who will provide a service which includes items such as cleaning, managing broadband provision and an ongoing customer service.
The installation of broadband to the office by the provider is hugely helpful to the occupier as:
- it removes the need for wayleave agreements, which can be costly and take time to agree
- removes the time and effort needed to have a broadband provider install the broadband on your behalf. This can take as long as 12 weeks!
Unlike the traditional model all outgoings are included into one monthly bill. Most operators will now fix this bill for the duration of the contract. Dilapidations are often included within the contract price, or the operator may agree the settlement at the start of the contract, thereby making the end of the lease an easier process for both parties. It is important that, as an occupier, you have a schedule of condition and furniture inventory provided at the start of the contract to ensure you are not unfairly penalised at the end of the term.
As with serviced offices most managed offices are ‘let’ on short-term contracts, often for a term shorter than three years. The contracts themselves are also much shorter than most leases, reducing the time it takes for an agreement to be reached.
Managed offices are often styled to meet the expectations of traditional occupiers in a certain location. As an example, if you wanted a managed office in Mayfair it would most likely be styled for a financial company to take occupation. If you were looking for a managed office in Farringdon it would feel more media in style.
It is not an exaggeration to state that managed offices are here to stay. Whilst they might be more costly for a landlord to set up at the outset, the speed and desirability of the services are highly sought by many occupiers and this reduces the marketing void and transaction time to completion.
If you’re thinking of an office move and are interested in a managed solution then please do not hesitate to get in touch with SHW.
