As a commercial real estate consultancy, DeVono advises businesses on their workplace solutions – this covers a wide variety of spaces and types of leases and licences. While we understand our industry’s working jargon, we appreciate that many of these terminologies might not be clear to everyone. So, in order to help you better understand all of the different types of offices, leases, licences and workspaces available to your business, we’ve come up with a simple overview of the main office space types. So what are the different types of office buildings? And what type of office is best for your needs? Read below.
Flexible Workplace Solutions
Serviced Offices
This type of office is intended to be a flexible, hassle-free, and cost-effective private workspace with in-built services for businesses. The ready-to-go office model allows your business to turn up and plug-in with no start-up costs (or at least limited costs). The rent, business rates, utilities, furnishings, reception staff, IT support, building maintenance and more are included in one monthly licence fee.
Why do serviced offices work this way? To enable you to budget with ease. You can take anything from one to 1,000+ desks, with on-site operations and facilities management teams taking care of the day-to-day – allowing you to focus on your business.
Managed Offices
These types of office spaces offer up a hybrid solution between serviced and traditional office leasing. Managed offices provide a blank canvas, allowing tenants to personalise the space in terms of its interior refurbishment – but delivered either by the building’s landlord or by a third-party operator.
These office types are ideal for businesses that require their own individually designed and branded workspace, but don’t have the resources, time, or budget. They provide a cost-certain and are a typically flexible (in lease length) solution for larger teams wishing to occupy an entire floor. The monthly all-inclusive fee, similar to serviced offices, includes all of the property, as well as many of the operational costs – with the initial fit-out expense amortised over the term.
Remainder Leases
These are the residual time remaining on a conventional lease that the incumbent tenant no longer requires. This type of office suits opportunistic occupiers who want to benefit from a fully fitted office for a shorter finite period of time. Due to the nature of this solution, the length of the lease and the level of fit-out included will vary. You’ll hear them spoken about as an assignment, an underlease or a sublease – the latter two meaning precisely the same thing.
Co-working
Another type of office is co-working – but like all office space types, it isn’t for everyone. Co-working spaces are typically shared workstations in an open plan ‘office’. Office types like this focus on community interaction and offer a variety of membership packages, such as flexible and short-term, or a pay-as-you-go model. London is awash with co-working options, with different types of office buildings specially designed for every kind of occupier: women-only, dog-friendly, private member lounges, childcare friendly… you name it.
If a flexible workplace solution sounds like the right option for you, DeVono can help. After understanding how your business works, we’ll search our different types of office space to build the right flexible workspace package for you. Start your search here.
Traditional Office Leasing
Also known as ’conventional’ or ’leasehold’, requires signing a lease directly from a landlord. This act then grants you occupation over an office space for an agreed period of time – typically anywhere between three years, to in excess of five, ten or even 15 years. You’ll have full control over the internal demise, meaning that you can fit out and furnish the office any way you choose, to create a space that represents your brand.
DeVono’s design and build team, Dthree Studio, was created to give clients a best-in-class design and build service for all different types of offices.
Traditional leasehold offices give businesses privacy and branding opportunities that flexible offices typically cannot match. A traditional office lease usually better suits slightly more established businesses that are better able to predict the headcount in their business over a period of years. Traditional leases will often represent a better fit for businesses that combine stable and predictable growth with financial security – as well as a willingness to commit to a particular area for a longer time period. Any business taking a traditional lease will have to be comfortable with the fact that they’ll have a CAPEX liability at both the beginning and the end of the lease. These will come in the shape of the initial fit-out at lease commencement, and the obligation to return it ‘as new’ (known as terminal dilapidations) at the lease expiry.
If a traditional leasehold solution appeals to your business and set-up, let us help you find your perfect workspace. Start your search here.
What are the Different Types of Offices for Your Needs?
At DeVono, we make sure that your real estate decisions are aligned with your wider business strategy. Office types don’t need to be confusing. That’s why we spend time getting to know your business and find you a ‘just-right’ type of office that matches what you want and need from a workspace. We know London’s offices like the back of our hands, and as a result, we always explore new and improved ways of delivering workplace solutions that are bespoke.
We specialise in advising occupiers on both conventional and flexible office solutions – giving our clients full visibility of all the options available to them. We’re experts in the pros and cons and do’s and don’ts of all office types out there, and our team will share the know-how.
Finding the perfect type of office is simple with help from us, so get in touch today.
Speak to the DeVono team today on +44 (0)20 7096 9911 or email us at info@devono.com
