Price of office space in Essex?

[CherryTreeIT]

As the result of a business partnership currently going through we are going to have to get our own office space next year, ideally somewhere near basildon or Chelmsford.
My question is what sort of price should I expect for around 5000 sq ft of decent unmanaged space on a commercial park? Also who other costs should I be aware of?

Many thanks in advance

Paul

[DuaneJackson]

Hi Paul,

We have an office in Basildon, a little over 1000sq ft. I managed to get it for just under £9/sq ft. It's unmanaged, in a block of offices.

You're in a good position. Our landlord knows we're growing quckly and if offering ridiculous deals on other offices. No rent for 4 months and stuff like that.

Negotiate hard and you'll get an amazing deal. There aren't many people in the market for what you're after at the moment.

[DuaneJackson]

Sorry, just saw your comment about other costs.

The two biggies are a service charge (again, can be negotiated down) and business rates.

[CherryTreeIT]

Sorry, just saw your comment about other costs.

The two biggies are a service charge (again, can be negotiated down) and business rates.

Thanks for the info. I had budgeted around £15 so £9 is good news. Any indication what the other costs typically come in at and what duration you are committed too?

[DuaneJackson]

We got the £9 rate because someone pulled out at the last moment and they knew they'd have trouble moving the unit. I think it was meant to be £12, so you're in the right ballpark.

We took a 5 year lease, with a rolling 6 month break after 1 year.

Service charge we got capped at something like £2.5k a year.

I can't remember what the rates are off-hand, there's a thread on here about them somewhere because I was annoyed I wasn't entitled to any sall business relief on it because of the size of the unit. With 5,000 sq ft you'll be in the same boat.

If you know the area at all, then the building wer're in is Broadway Chambers, directly opposite the Pitsea Roundabout (soon to be known as the KashFlow roundabout once we finally get our signs on it!)