Low cost office solutions

[mascotmike]

At the moment we work from the house - however in the future (near hopefully) if things go to plan we want to start hiring more staff and at that point a proper office will become essential.

How do you go about looking for an office, basically all we need is a small office for 5 -6 people - furniture not required - just needs the usual power and ability to get telecoms installed / activated and car parking for a car or two.

so how do you find the cheap ones (not too cheap lol) in manchester most seem to be quite expensive but the prices range hugely found 60 pounds a week up to 450 pounds a week for an "average" office.

One thing to note the office does not need to be fancy for visitors - just functional

[Ozzy]

One place to look at would be the chamber of commerce, as they sometimes have business centres that offer sub'd rent charges. Simon Read on these forums may also be able to offer some pointers on this subject.

[mascotmike]

Will try them - just planning for the future atm and checking on costs *fingers crossed this is the next hurdle we need to cross to get growing again.

[MikeH]

Hello again Mike. We moved offices a while ago and yes the prices can vary. At the top end are the offices in the technology parks and new business centres. These guys charge a fortune as people want prestigious office space. At the other end are agents that really should look at what they are providing. Small run down offices that seriously need updating. We are in a similar position to you. We get visistors but not that many that we feel the need for really slick offices. However, we did not want to work in a small untidy office.

What is important to you. You state parking, so that will add some limitations. Is location important? We are based in the city centre, this was not top of our priorities but we felt that we should have a central presence if possible. The office size is important. We moved to an office that as you highlighted is suitable for taking on more employees in the future if required. At the same time the rent is managable so that if we do not grow rapidly or we suffered a down turn we would be OK. Fortunately things are going great :)

The local council should have lists of agents and properties. As Richard discussed there are some properties that are earmarked for new companies/startups. However, these tend to be a little expensive for what they are and may require that you move on after an initial period.

Get on the mailing lists and keep annoying the agents. Do not rush into a decision unless you really like the place. When you do find somewhere expect the agents to require a kick in the a*** every now and then to get things moving.

Mike.

[simonread]

We run an incubator and have space available in the West End (Shaftesbury Avenue) and in South West London.

Prices start from around £350 per desk per month, including a dedicated business advisor and access to our infrastructure, business helpdesk and events.

www.innovationcentres.co.uk

Regards,
Simon