This is probably the fastest growing and most exciting sector of the european and global property market today. The rate of growth of the Serviced Office industry has been nothing less than explosive over the past few years, although the global recession has steadied this growth over the past two years.
Serviced Offices are a total solution in the sense that they are fully fitted and furnished, ready for immediate occupation. The Serviced Office Operator takes responsibility for all of the services to the building, and in addition provides a range of business services including reception and telephone answering services, secretarial support, conference and meeting facilities, video conferencing, networking and high speed internet access.
Whilst costs may look high initially, the rent that you pay includes almost all of the costs that you would normally expect to pay on top of rent in a conventional office. There are no additional costs for business rates, heating/air conditioning, lighting & power, security, cleaning, building & plant maintenance, elevators, insurance etc. The only additional costs, on top of rent, are for telephone/internet usage (which are normally charged at standard or even discounted rates) and meeting rooms if you use them, charged by the hour. In fact there are a number of operators now offering unlimited telephone calls and internet usage within the rent.
Neither are there any charges for furniture which is normally the latest workstations with chairs, filing systems and tables for meeting rooms. This is usually a significant cost for any occupier and is included in the serviced office rent. Almost all serviced offices are fully fitted with Category 5 or 6 wiring for computer networking.
A major difference between serviced offices and traditional offices, which is one of the main reasons for deciding to use them, is the length of the lease. A serviced office lease may be as short as 3 months, or more typically 6, 9 or 12 months. This is very different from the long lease normally associated with a traditional office and gives many organisations the much needed flexibility to shrink or expand as their business dictates.