In November of 2017 Deloitte Real Estate London Office Crane Survey reported a decline in new office construction in London, covering the central office markets: City, West End, Docklands, King’s Cross, Midtown, Paddington and Southbank, and emerging sub-markets: Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea, Stratford and White City, saying “Construction activity now totals 12.6 million sq ft, a 9% drop since the previous survey (six months ago).” Established more than 20 years ago, the London Office Crane Survey monitors the supply of new office developments in the main central London markets and emerging sub-markets.
Shaun Dawson, head of insight at Deloitte Real Estate, said: “We have seen slowdown in development activity with the last two crane surveys recording a fall.” The report shows the lowest amount of new space started in over three years and 21% below the crane survey average. Dawson added: “It is this reduced volume of new space starting that could indicate a slowdown and suggests a cautionary approach by developers over the past year.”
While new office construction in London is slowing down, office refurbishment schemes appear to be on the rise, accounting for 70% of the total amount of projects.
Speculation as to why there has been an office construction slowdown in the last six to eight months and a rise in London office refurbishment points towards the uncertain economic climate, increasing costs, and the potential changes to the market due to Brexit. As a consequence companies are considering their options closely opting for a refurbishment rather than look to new office development as the answer to their requirements.
Office Refurbishment vs. New Office Construction?
With the Deloitte survey in mind this article is looking at the question of office refurbishment vs. office relocation and why businesses choose one over the other.
Moving a business is not easy, deciding whether to relocate or refurbish your office can be a big decision for any company. There are numerous things to think about, including cost, likely office disruption, the best location for your business, accessibility for staff and clients, staff preferences, available space as well as future growth.
Office refurbishment, over moving location to a new building/office space has always been an attractive proposition for many companies. Being able to stay where you are rather than having to pack up and move premises can be a far more affordable option and is far less likely to be as cause disturbance and distractions. It can also take far less time than starting from scratch.
So Which Option Is Right For Your company?
As a refurbishment company we are often called upon to discuss the options available to businesses who are in the process of considering the option of refurbishing or relocating. This decision often comes to a head when the company feels they are staring to outgrow the available office space and feel that there only solution is to find bigger premises and move away from their current offices.
When Refurbishing Is Best
If perceived lack of space is the major concern then there are often very effective and easy to implement solutions to use the current space more efficiently and effectively. By looking at the current way the office is laid out and what storage systems are in place, better use of the space can be achieved, freeing up the current space needed for expansion, new staff members and additional storage requirements etc.
JBH Refurbishments use CAD to deliver office design and layout solutions and to allow you to view your options so that you can see exactly how space can be freed up, what your new office layout will look like and how storage can be built into the design, giving you complete confidence that your current office space can meet your current and future workspace requirements.
If you’re happy with your current office location and just want to see if you can make better use of the space then contact us to discuss refurbishment options.
When Relocating Is Best
If it’s the case that your current location no longer works for you, you’ve identified a much better location or you’ve undergone a rapid expansion which requires you to take on more staff then a refurbishment probably isn’t going to meet your needs. In this case relocating to new office space is probably your best choice.
A major advantage of relocating is that as a business you have the opportunity to fit out your new office space to your exact specifications before you move in. This gives you full control over the way your office will look and feel and you can make sure that all of your office requirements both current and future are fully met, without having to make any compromises.
In this case the first step is to sit down with your office refurbishment company and discuss your requirements in full. It’s also worth talking through what you like about your current workspace (what works) and what elements are causing you to make the move to new office space (what doesn’t work) as well as looking at how your new office space can help you make the most efficient use of the available space to enable you company to expand and grow in the future.
At JBH Refurbishments we go that step further and offer an office relocation service program to businesses across London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex. As part of this service we like to get involved in your office relocation plans as soon as you’ve identified potential sites for your new offices. Of the options available we will advise on the most suitable office for your business needs based on your brief taking into account your current and the future business growth.
Once the final office space is chosen we will work with you to put together a design including the layout, office space, meeting room or conference space; break out areas and other facilities, furniture, lighting, décor, electrical and air conditioning etc. Once agreed we will schedule the fit-out of your new office space. We will also work with you to ensure that once complete your relocation to your new offices goes as smoothly as possible.
Contact our team to help you make the right decision for your business.
