New Year, New Office
Christmas, the buzz of New Year and even the malaise of getting back to the office is, or should be over which poses the question, what do we do now?
The UK retail office market luckily has the answer because, if you’re looking for a new office, this is the time of year to look. The New Year, New Me has been replaced with, New Year, New Office – which is of course also handy for us.
In today’s blog we’re going to take a look at why moving offices in the first quarter of the year is a good idea and what you need to consider when moving offices in this period.
Fortune favours seasonality
We get it, you had your Christmas parties, worried about the office shenanigans and the subsequent fallout at the start of the new year. Finally, you fell for good marketing. Like the idea that Blue Monday made it cool to just give up and pet donkeys on a sanctuary in Wales seemed to resonate.
We all get it – we all want to do it as well.
When it comes to moving offices though, seasonality matters.
Because the Christmas season is a bad time to move for many. You have clients who need processing with requests, you have suppliers demanding early payments and the stress of moving office can be very intense indeed.
January and February are however good times to move, or to at least look around and assess what you want and what you actually need.
“Moving to a new office is more than simply changing postcodes – it’s about commuter times, ease of access, how staff will respond to a different location and so on. Your business needs may have changed but a new office destination needs to be considered with delicate gloves.” Mark Knops, MD of Sketchlabs.
Take your time
New offices are always coming to a market space however, are they right for you?
For example, if you’re switching to a hybrid work model, do you need as many seats? What kind of access to the city is required for those coming in regularly?
If you are growing as a business, do you need to think of the expansion possibilities of a new office space? Do you know what will keep old and new staff engaged with the work and the local environment?
“Taking your time to assess what you need and where you want to move to is going to be essential. Using an office broker – like ourselves – can erase some of that search time once you know what it is you want. Brokers think about your needs and what’s out there that will suit them. Think of it as matchmaking for your morning espresso and high business stakes needs…”
New Office, New Year Syndrome
It’s easy to get caught up with the idea that you need a new office for the new year.
After all, we make big promises to ourselves in our resolutions, hoping that they radically change our lives in just a few weeks of hard earnest work.
But the New Office, New Year Syndrome is a real thing because after all, businesses and business leaders need to keep adapting to challenges and growing to take them on.
“A new office can change the way you work, how you work and even the kind of talent you attract. Whilst there can be negative consequences, we like to be more positive and see the impact which leads to many of the businesses we have helped over the years achieve their yearly goals and targets, smashing them in some cases!”
If you’re looking to move offices in the new year, then now is the time to start looking. With more properties becoming available, businesses assessing the state of the market and where they want to be for the coming 12 months, a new office, new Year mentality may be just the thing the doctor – or the CFO – has ordered!