Heralding the Rise of the Virtual and Serviced Office Space

This year, more than any other, we have seen a sudden surge in the amount of businesses taking up serviced and virtual offices in central London. Both serviced and virtual offices are types of ‘instant offices’. The main difference between them, is that a serviced office is a physical office space whilst a virtual office only exists in cyberspace.

A serviced office is also run by a management company who often rent the offices furnished and with a reception facility such as Office Genie. Whereas, a virtual office may have an address for post but otherwise the service is provided over the internet and telephone such as, a call handling and message taking service.  Some virtual offices, such as W1 Offices even provide meeting room spaces.

The Rise of the Virtual and Serviced Office Space

But why, in particular, have these types of offices become so popular in central London? One contributing factor to their rise in popularity is likely to be the rise in small to medium businesses, particularly those in the computing sector. This is because these types of business often start small and only need a virtual office until a physical office such as a serviced is required as they grow rapidly, they do not want to take out long leases and be tied to a small offices that they will quickly outgrow. Most business’s looking for serviced offices are often looking for short term lease agreements and flexibility. As most of these operators rent out serviced offices on a rolling basis so, pay for the facilities they have used at the end of the month. This is one of the many advantages of having virtual and serviced offices. It literally allows fledgling companies to tailor the services and space that they need to their exact requirements.

A benefit with serviced offices is that it allows business access to good quality, centrally located office space which they may not otherwise have access to. For instance, Landmark PLC provides luxury serviced offices which are located in several locations throughout London. Furthermore, this is charged at a fixed price with all amenities included meaning they will not be subject to any hidden extras such as broadband or housekeeping services, and all rents, rates and services are included you only ever pay for what you need.

The Age of Collaboration

A further benefit of a virtual and a serviced office space is that it can enable separate, businesses to conveniently come together under one roof, enabling companies to work collaboratively together in referring clients to each other and ultimately providing them with a full service under one roof. As a digital art designer, you could, for instance, collaboratively work with other companies who provide, a web design or copy writing service.

The landscape for traditional offices is changing as more and more business are seeking the many benefits and rewards from renting a serviced or virtual offices space. So, before you pay for a deposit on a physical office space and spend money on looking for an ideal location take a set back and assess which office landscape will be better suited in the long term for your business.