Phil Sugden, director at flexible workspace solutions provider, Portal Group, discusses how the Managed Office Solutions concept has reduced the risk of capital expenditure for fastgrowing companies when relocating offices.
In a rapidly evolving market place, businesses are often growing at an entirely unpredictable rate. While growth is one of the most highly valued characteristics of any successful organisation, it often causes logistical and financial challenges when relocating to a larger workspace under the traditional office lease and the serviced model.
Powerful economic and behavioural shifts are driving the change in demand away from traditional to managed office space. Businesses today are far less attracted to the financial burden and inflexibility of a lengthy traditional lease and more drawn to offices that can facilitate their future growth plans.
The unprecedented growth of creative and technological organisations also triggered a change in working styles and office culture. According to research, 50% of the UK workforce are expected to work remotely by 2021.
The upsurge in remote working at companies operating in even the most traditional industries means that tenants’ space requirements
are decreasing. In the modern workforce, which is significantly populated by millennials, flexible working is now viewed as the new standard, with 67% of employees looking to be offered flexible working. Since flexible workspaces are becoming an expectation among prospective employees, businesses can no longer commit to investing substantial capital expenditure in workstations that are not being used. In addition to these particular changes affecting the way we work, the geography of UK office demand is also fluctuating due to demographic, economic and technological changes.
Due to high rental costs in capital cities, more small to medium sized businesses are choosing to relocate their operations out of city centres.
