Office refurbishment vs. office relocation - Should you stay or should you go?

should-i-stay-or-should-i-go.jpg

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room – the should we stay or should we go debate.

Does your business occupy a leased office space? If the answer is yes – listen up!

People and property are two of the biggest outgoings to a business, which makes a lease event in the business lifecycle extremely important. If you’re approaching a lease break or the end of your lease, it’s time to make an important decision. The wrong decision costs money, but the right one will save you so much more…

In short, we can help to save you money by guiding you towards making the right decision at your commercial lease break event.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

You have two options as you approach your lease event. You can either choose to continue with your lease and remain in your current space, or end your lease and move to a new premises. The choice is yours, but it can be a difficult decision to make.

It’s in the best interest of your business, and its finances, to make every inch of space work to its full potential, particularly with commercial spaces becoming increasingly expensive.

Additionally, it’s important to try and keep cost and disruption to a minimum, as any time without a functioning office costs money!

To make the best decision for your business in regards to whether you should stay or go from your current leased space, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Is your company expanding your workforce or contracting?

  2. Is your company principle open to changes in its working practices?

  3. Do you endorse wellbeing and best places to work practices, and if not, do you wish to implement them?

  4. Do you want to attract and retain the best staff?

  5. Are you expanding? If so, do you wish to make a decision that will help you to retain staff and reduce potential exposure to cost?

How to Make an Informed Decision

We get it, there’s a lot of pressure to make the right decision for your business and your people. To give you peace of mind and take some of this pressure away, a workplace analysis can assess the utilisation of your space as it currently stands.

‘What’s the point?’ You might ask…

Well, the expert opinion you receive will assess how efficient and productive your current workspace functions, and they will be able to offer advice on potential improvements that can be made.

This will either show you the potential of your current space, or highlight the importance of moving to a different one. In most cases though, your office space has potential just waiting to be released.

There’s also the option to get really business savvy. By instruct a building surveyor or agent, you can get help on negotiating with your landlord on inducements to stay.

Landlords most often want to keep their tenant in a bid to avoid the risk and hassle of having an empty space, so it can work in your favour when it comes to negotiating better terms on your lease. It’s not rocket science, but it’s savvy.

If you’re able to bargain a better deal, you could potentially make savings on your lease and get a better price compared to what you might get when taking out a new lease with a new landlord.

Weighing up the Costs and Savings

Sometimes, making a short list to weigh up different costs and savings can work wonders. Let’s take a look…

Choosing to move:

  • Costs

    • Surveyor/legal fees

    • Dilapidations of your current space

    • Loss of staff

    • Recruitment/training

    • Disruption

    • New office fit out/furniture

    • Removals

Choosing to Stay:

  • Savings

    • Landlord contribution to fit out via monies or a rent-free period

    • No loss of staff and no recruitment/training costs for staff replacements

  • Costs

    • Surveyors/legal fees

    • Fit out/furniture costs to suit new working practices and to create more space for expansion

Benefits of Choosing to Stay in your Current Office Space

It’s good to be aware of all of the options available to you ahead of your lease event, and the earlier you start thinking about it, the better.

If your current space isn’t offering you all that you need, moving isn’t the only option available to you. Refurbishing your office is a fantastic opportunity to invest in your workspace and team whilst also improving your workplace wellbeing, utilisation and culture – without having to up sticks and move!

Remember, moving to a new space doesn’t necessarily provide you with everything you need from your workspace.

It’s highly likely that you would still need to invest in a fit out to make your new space suitable and branded to your business, so instead of spending time and money on moving, it’s worth considering the refurbishment of your current space.

Additionally, the opportunity to re-negotiate with your landlord means that you can potentially sign a lease that is more cost-effective and affordable than a new lease in a new space.

 
 

Do you have another question about your commercial lease? Search below to see if we’ve already answered it!

Not found what you’re looking for? Ask us a question below and we’ll get back to you soon!

 
 
ACI GroupOffice Refurbishment Vs Office Relocation