Deciphering workspace jargon to find the perfect office

There has been an explosion in different styles and types of workplaces over recent years with an array of new spaces now available. These evolving spaces have brought with them a whole new vocabulary that can be hard to get to grips with if you are a business looking for a new home.

How do you know what workplace option is best for you if you don’t understand the difference between serviced offices, managed offices and leased offices, for instance? Things are moving so fast when it comes to modern working practices that it’s difficult to keep up; so, here’s a quick guide to what’s behind the lingo…

At your service

A serviced office is a ‘plug and play’ fully equipped, enabled workspace that provides businesses with everything they need, incorporated into one monthly bill.

With serviced space, rent, heating, maintenance, internet, cleaning and furniture is all included - which can make it a particularly effective solution and one that facilitates easy-budgeting. As part of the serviced office package, businesses also benefit from on-site reception staff who can take care of greeting visitors and handling mail; removing the risk of resource stretch.

Serviced space can be a great option for local entrepreneurial businesses, but it can also work for businesses established elsewhere wanting to set up a new satellite office or to house project teams for larger enterprises. For growing ventures, serviced space allows for maximum flexibility and readily available office space. Our serviced offices, available in landmark buildings across the North West, Leeds and Birmingham are offered on a pay per desk basis and customers can sign-up for as little as one month.

Customers can expect a lot from a serviced space. Businesses based in a Bruntwood serviced office benefit from access to a range of high-quality amenities and communal areas. Take 111 Piccadilly in Manchester city centre, for example. Comprising a variety of different workspaces it provides all customers with access to a communal lounge, kitchen area and refreshments as well as managed programme of events and activities as standard. It’s a great way of stimulating collaboration and helping businesses to network with their neighbours.

Time to move to managed?

If a business has evolved to the point that it wants to invest in a more permanent space and is looking to influence the design and fit-out, while not yet being at the point of committing to a fully bespoke leased office a managed office could be the answer.

Our new ‘Made & Managed’ offices are the bridge between a serviced office and a leased office. They are perfect if businesses want someone to take away the hassle of running an office, but also want the ability to influence their own space.

With managed space, businesses get their own office, on a flexible lease, but it will be expertly designed and managed by an office provider who will work in conjunction with them to achieve the desired look and feel. They can pick and choose what they’d like to handle themselves, and which services they want to be handled for them as part of one monthly fee.

It’s something we’re helping customers to do throughout our portfolio giving all businesses from start-ups and established small/medium businesses to larger firms setting up a satellite office the chance to put their creative stamp on their surrounds without having to put down any upfront investment.

The leased space lowdown

A leased office space is the perfect choice for organisations wanting to be fully in control. With a longer-term lease attached, this type of space suits companies that want to design and manage their own unique office space.

Leased space comes with the freedom for businesses to have total sway over the brand, look and feel, and culture of their workplaces.

Traditionally, the leased space option was seen as the realm of larger, more established companies but, due to increased demand for flexibility, minimum lease terms have reduced significantly over recent years making leased office space more accessible to the SME market. At Bruntwood we offer flexible leases and can refer businesses to a trusted selection of third party suppliers should they want to outsource any operational items, such as utilities provision, internet/telephone services, cleaning services and utilities management.

Virtual offices, co-working and beyond

For those with smaller-scale office needs, like freelancers and start-ups, an array of options exists, ranging from a virtual office presence that provides a recognised business address with the opportunity to have inbound mail and calls handled on their behalf, to dedicated workstation or hot-desk rental in co-working spaces; otherwise known as shared offices. Coworking office space comes with a range of benefits and can be very cost-effective. Bruntwood co-working space starts at £100 per month and, for that, small businesses get to be part of vibrant, collaborative communities in prime commercial locations across the North West and Leeds, with access to superfast internet, discounted meeting rooms and communal lounges and kitchens as standard.

Businesses now have greater choice and flexibility available to them than ever when selecting office space. The rigidity of the old days is gone, and organisations can shape a solution to fit their exact requirements, as long as they understand what’s on offer. In the meantime, the way we work will continue to evolve and, no doubt, there will be soon be a whole new range of workplace terms and trends to get familiar with.