An office listed at £20 per square foot can look like obvious value.
Then comes the important question: what does that include?
In this Ocean House Conversation, Ed looks at the costs that can sit outside the headline rent and why comparing a traditional lease with a serviced office is rarely as simple as placing two figures side by side.
One Price, Several Bills
A traditional office is often advertised using its rent, either per square foot or as a monthly figure.
That might not include service charge, buildings insurance, energy, water or maintenance. Depending on the space, there may also be fitting-out costs before anyone can start work.
The details vary from one building and lease to another. That is precisely why the headline figure can be misleading.
A serviced office brings several of those costs together. Its monthly price may look higher at first, but it is being compared with a rent that may leave much of the real cost out.
Compare the Whole Cost
Ed’s point is not that every traditional lease is secretly expensive, or that a serviced office will always cost less.
It is that the comparison only becomes useful once both options are measured in the same way.
Start with the rent. Then add the compulsory charges, utilities and services your business will need. Include any initial spending required to make the space ready, too.
Only then can you see what each office will actually cost.
There Is a Time Cost Too
Several suppliers mean several accounts, contracts and invoices. Prices change, renewals come around and someone within the business has to keep track of it all.
That time is easy to leave out of the calculation because it never appears on the office listing.
A serviced office puts more of those costs and responsibilities into one monthly figure. It makes budgeting clearer and leaves fewer separate jobs for your team to manage.
Ask a Better Question
When comparing offices, the most helpful question is not simply:
How much is the rent?
It is:
What will it cost us to work here?
Ask what is included, which charges sit outside the quoted price and what your business will need to arrange separately.
The cheapest-looking office may still offer the best value.
But it should have to prove it.
Watch the conversation
Watch Ed explain why the headline office price rarely tells the whole story. Watch the conversation.
About Ocean House Conversations
Ocean House Conversations is an ongoing series exploring modern working life, business culture and the realities of how people work today.
Short conversations. Honest observations. No corporate fluff.
