How must offices in a post Covid-19 world adapt to play their part in restoring vibrant life to our city centres?  There are 5 lessons to learn.

In an earlier post, I spoke about what we’d like to see to encourage businesses and people back to Newcastle City Centre and its close neighbourhoods. Most of the things I spoke about are not within our gift. However, we recognise that businesses like ours – responsible for office space – have a part to play.  How  must The Racquets Court begin thinking big about smaller offices, to meet the changing demand for space.

What has changed?

In the past 12 months, we (and most of the planet) have learned how to work from home.

We know what we like about it and what we don’t. We know what we miss and what we do not. We’ve solved some problems and not others.

The genie is out of the bottle. It will not be put back.

We are not certain what all of these lessons are, but these are some that we are working with.  We must:

1.  combine the best of ‘home’ with the best of the office
2. tempt people with ensuring that the frustrations they ‘probably’ encounter at home will never be ecountered at the office
3. recognise that it will be the norm, not the exception, for people to combine working from home with working at the office
4. ensure that the safety from infection that people feel at home are replicated to the fullest extent possible at the office
5. work with the knowledge that the pressure for employees to work from home, some of the time, will come from their employers.

The best of home PLUS the best of the office / compensating for the frustrations of working at home

The evidence suggests that, where home is comfortable, people enjoy working there. That phrase ‘where home is comfortable’ however is a big one.

There is an obvious connection between how well off someone is and the degree to which they find working at home comfortable. More than this, the better paid will find it easier to afford the additional costs of working at home. Although homeworkers save on travel (and on clothes that are worn below the waist), outside the South East, this may not compensate for the greater costs incurred for utilities.

There are other issues.  ‘Before Covid-19’, home was big enough, now it is not.  The desk chair used for brief periods before Covid-19 was OK; sitting on it now for hours at a time, it’s killing my back.  Before Covid-19, the table was OK for brief periods of work;  as a desk, the table is too small.  And ‘my table’ has not before been used so extensively for work; my table is my metaphor for the difficulty of separating home from work.  Where does one stop and the other start? Before Covid-19, this was relatively easy to distinguish; today it is much harder.

Connectivity?  OK for my personal use;  Zooming and Teamsing all day is entirely different. And my partner is on it too – it won’t cope.

The psychological impact of Zooming and Teamsing

Microsoft has largely found itself missing out on the plethora of slang associated with the harms associated with video conferencing. We have ‘Zoom Gloom’ and ‘Zoom Fatigue’.  The slang does however mask real concerns about the psychological impact of the exccessive use of this technology.

So we should assume that employers who care about their people will wish to reduce the use of Zoom and Teams by bringing them back into an office – at least for part of the week.

Playing our part – tempting people back to a Newcastle City Centre office.

We have to be comfy.  We’re not ‘home’ but we can be a great alternative. You will not get a bad back sitting at your desk (because the chairs have won design awards in Germany and the USA).  The desks are amply sized, screened and with nifty pull away tops to hide the wires.  They are made in Yorkshire.  The office will be quiet because the carpet is designed to insulate you from office noise.

The coffee won’t run out, because it’s locally sourced and delivered. When the building is full, you’ll be able to reach into the fruit bowl and grab an orange or an apple, sourced from Grainger Market.  You’ll never have to wait for the kettle to boil or for the tap to run cold because boiling and chilled water is on tap.  And your space will be clean – because we clean it every night. (And we employ our own cleaners – on excellent terms and conditions).

These luxury features have guided us from the beginning; we have always wanted to be thinking big about smaller offices.

We will be flexible with space – desk space and meeting space

You will probably not want space every day of the week. We will therefore offer you space when you need it. If you need desk space for only 0ne or two days a week – then we will make that possible. If you need one desk one week and two every other week – we’ll accomodate that too. If you need to meet others in the middle of the night – well, that OK because the building is 24/7.

We recognise also that this way of working is unlikely to reduce the Zoom or Teams load. This is because not all of your people will be together at the same time. So we will make our meeting spaces more flexibly available.  Before Covid-19, meeting room were bookable for a minimum of half day.  We will reduce this to 2 hours for those outside The Racquets Court; for members, we will reduce this to one hour.

And of course, you do not have to worry about connectivity.  The Racquets Court is one of the very few buildings connected to Stellium’s Metro Network.  We have a Gigabit carrier and 200 Mb up AND down. Every desk has a wired connection and there are 3 wireless networks in the building. If you need extra security, then we can offer your own connectivity the Metro Network.

Covid-19 has not disappeared. The Racquets Court must be safe

Currently, desks are socially distanced; we have reduced the capacity of our cafe area.

We have installed a facial recognition, no touch, temperature scanner. We anticipate that everyone entering The Racquets Court will wish to ‘scan in’.

There is a hand sanitisation station at the entrance to the building and all sinks are stocked with Arran Aromatics luxury hand wash and hand cream. Regular handwashing and sanitising is drying out our hands.  It is very important therefore to moisturise them.

Air Circulation

Additionally, The Racquets Court has a sophisticated air circulation system. It does not have air conditioning.  The system continuously draws fresh, filtered air into the building and pushes out the air from inside. Therefore, you can feel confident that the air you breathe is as fresh as possible and filtered.

Our system is also more environmentally friendly than air conditioning, helping to protect our planet as well as our people.

The Racquets Court also has a self-opening glass roof for maximum fresh air. And of course, it has rain sensors so it closes automatically when the weather turns.

Cycling to The Racquets Court

Many of us are avoiding public transport and cycling. Newcastle City Council is promoting this of course with more cycle lanes.  The Racquets Court has secure bike storage. And there are luxury showers to freshen up (Arran Aromatics toiletries provided).

Making the home / office balance work for all

If you are running a business, and you’ve downsized your office needs, we assume that you will wish to devote resource towards making your people feel as though their home / office balance works in their favour.  This is about your business thinking big about smaller offices.

If you can get it right, if your people feel that they can get the best of both worlds (comfort, ease, frustration-free, hygiene factors satisfied), then employee satisfaction will be high and productivity will increase.

And the cost to you is predictable; there will NO additional costs except for those you ask for such as a meeting room for an hour or two.

If you are an employee, then going to the office should be an appropriate alternative for everything that working from home might offer. And perhaps that should include the odd additional trinket that you might not get at home.  This might capture some of the things mentioned above, but also easy access to John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Fenwick, a drink after work in a City Centre pub, followed by a trip to the cinema or theatre.

This is what we mean by thinking big about smaller offices

In my last post on this subject, I talked about Newcastle’s ‘bit’ – those things over which we have no control which make our City attractive. This post has been about our ‘bit’

Our ‘bit’ is the offer of luxurious office space in the centre of our City which people will WANT to work in.  The future appears to be that many of us will wish to combine working from home and at the office; we believe that The Racquets Court can be ‘the offfice’ that makes this combination work to the benefit of businesses and the people who work in them.

Working from home has made many of us re-evaluate our office essentials.
At first I thought all I needed was a table, a chair and a spot to call my own, but it turns out I was wrong. There is much more to an office than the basic furniture, so I’ve made a list of my 10 top office essentials.

1. Headphones

I cannot stress this enough – headphones are VITAL.
Sitting in the office with several people shouting at their screens is one of the most annoying things about the modern office. Even at home we’re often battling with general household noise and distractions. Investing in a good pair of headphones helps you moderate your volume, keep your conversations more private PLUS you get to listen to the music you like!

2. A Good Office Chair

If working from home over the last few months has taught me anything, it is that my old kitchen stools are no match for a decent office chair.
Being able to adjust the height, the back and overall position of your chair can help improve your productivity. Have a look at ergonomic chairs, and general office furniture. It is more important than many of us realise.

3. Ergonomic Keyboard

According to Windows Central “Ergonomic keyboards focus on natural hand and wrist position for long typing sessions”.
I find my ergonomic keyboard helps me type faster and more accurately, and is just generally more comfortable!

4. Footrest

Again, this is related to posture. If you’re short (like me) you find that your feet never do quite reach the floor properly. A little footrest is ideal for helping you maintain a good posture. But you don’t have to be short to benefit from a footrest. They are great for encouraging active sitting and reducing pressure on your legs.

5. Phone Charger

If you have a work phone and a personal phone, invest in some back up phone chargers. There is nothing worse than digging around in your bag when your phone is on 5% and you’ve got important calls to make.

6. Water Bottle

It is so important to keep yourself hydrated and having a nice water bottle on your desk is a great reminder to drink water!
Drinking water is also great for reducing stress, stopping headaches and improving general health which definitely makes it an office essential.

7. Hand Sanitiser

Now more than ever, it is important to take care of ourselves. While washing your hands is still the best method for keeping them clean, hand sanitiser is great for when you’re on the go, but also very handy for using on surfaces (desks, keyboards, phones etc)

8. Plants

It’s no lie that we LOVE office plants at The Racquets Court. They are amazing thing for many reasons.
Not only do they improve air quality, but they also improve attention span, lower stress, increase productivity and they look great!

9. Laptop Stand/Adjustable Monitor

I’ve mentioned this a few times, but posture is so important.
Being able to adjust your screen to the right height (top of the screen roughly at eye level) is essential to keeping your posture right and making your work-life easier.

10. Desk Tidy

Desk tidies come in all shapes, sizes and designs, but the main thing they all have in common is how useful they are for helping you stay organised. They often have small compartments for your notebook, pens, paperclips etc. Keeping a tidy desk makes it easier to keep things clean and stop you losing those important documents.

Think I’ve missed some office essentials out? Let me know in the comments below

You may have noticed that in 2020, nothing is quite how it was and that includes office space. With more people than ever working from home, most businesses have been forced to change the way they work – including us!

The rule book for office space has well and truly been thrown out the window and many of us are starting to look at new and better ways to use office spaces.

Co-working Spaces

Co-working spaces are far from new, but they are on the rise. According to this piece of research by Hubble HQ, 43% of those who took part would like to work in a co-working space when not in their main office.
Many organisations are embracing the world of full or part time remote working, which is great…if you have somewhere else to work from. A co-working space allows you all the comforts of a traditional office with much less of the commitment.

Have a team who need to work together in a specific location? Co-working space.

Have a team member moving to a different city and don’t want to lose them? Co-working space.

Looking to get a smaller office but still have a place your team can assemble or work together when required? Co-working space.

Co-working spaces mean you can have 4 dedicated desks and 8 passes for your team to share. This allows your team to work in the office when they need to but have the flexibility to work from home or elsewhere when required.

Office ‘Timeshares’

The word ‘timeshare’ is enough to make many of us shudder. But, did you know that you can have a timeshare office?
What this means is, you and another organisation would sign up together and split the use of the office or desks however you like. If your business would only realistically need desks 2 days a week, but you want to guarantee their availability, you can pair up with another company who could use the space on the other three days and share the costs.
This is different from typical co-working because you wouldn’t inhabit the space at the same time as your timesharing friends, but rather use the space on alternate days. The benefits of an office timeshare are:

• Get the office you want at a more affordable price
• Offer flexible working without your office sitting empty half of the time
• Work your schedule around what works best for you both
• Create a great, local contact who can become an advocate for your business.

Rent A Desk (Hot Desking)

Rent a desk as and when you need one! Such a simple concept.
Hot desking, in this respect, is buying a ‘pass’ for a hot desking facility where you will have all the comforts of a traditional office. If you’re the type who often occupies space in a coffee shop, you’ll know what a pain it can be. Having to keep buy hot bevs so you don’t get asked to leave, the all too tempting cakes and pastries by the tills, the lunch time rush, sketchy WiFi…not to mention, what do you do with all your stuff when you need to nip to the loo? Well, all of this can be avoided by booking a hot desk. With your pass you typically get:

• Full day access
• Proper workstations with desks, office chairs and power supply
• Fast and stable internet connection
• Use of the facilities
• Security
• Beverages included

Virtual Offices

If you’re thinking “well, hang on, I don’t think I need a physical office at all!”, then you could consider a virtual office. This is ideal for remote teams who need a physical address for post and for their online profile. Often with these, you also get a phone number and basic reception duties such as taking messages and dealing with your incoming mail. It’s a great way to shake off the traditional office set up all together and let your team be 100% remote.

If you’re reviewing your office requirements, why not get in touch with our team to find out more about the facilities we offer?

Whether you’re a one-man band or a giant corporate, you need somewhere to work.

There are plenty of different types of offices out there so choosing one for your business can be difficult. It is important to think about what the office needs to be for you. Is it an address? Is it to help you attract (and retain) staff? Or is it somewhere for your team to interact? Depending what you hope to get from your office will depend on which one is best for you. So we’re written a list of a few things to consider.

Set-up

The facilities can vary from space to space, some will offer you all-inclusive packages, so you can plug in a play on day one, whereas other will offer you lower rates but you have to sort your own utilities and suppliers. Some businesses don’t have the time or resources to make sure they’re getting the best energy details and deal maintenance contracts, in which case offices which take this stress away are often an attractive solution.

Length of commitment

“Dream big” that’s what they always say. If you have a growing team, or your headcount fluctuates across the year, do you really want to commit for 3+ years to one space? Flexible spaces will offer you the luxury of easy in easy out contracts. This works well for businesses who might take on a new project in a different city and need a temporary office to get it up and running.

Growth

In a similar way, if your business is expected to grow rapidly, you need to be able to future proof your office space without over committing. If you’re not in a position to pay for space you might need in the future, then look at somewhere which will allow you to grow your headcount at your own rate such as a shared office or co-working space.

The Look

Looks aren’t everything, but they do count when it comes to office space. Employees spend an average of 3,515 full days at work over the course of their lifespan so it important to find an office space where they can thrive personally and professionally. Access to quality furniture, natural daylight, greenery and a nice design will help improve mood and productivity within your team. A nice office space will also help keep your team engaged while also attracting new talent as it shows them that you care about your team’s well-being.

Budget

Without beating around the bush, budget is definitely something you need to consider. But remember that the headline price is not always reflective of the true cost of occupying an office space. Before setting up The Racquets Court, we spoke to many different building owners who all flagged that one of the biggest costs is cleaning (you can read more about this here). It is important to consider your ‘must haves’ and ‘would likes’ when finding your ideal office space. Do you really need a customised ping pong table? Identify what is important to your business objectives and the well-being of your team and start there. You can always add the ‘would likes’ later.

Private or Shared

Here’s where I would like to dispel a myth: you can work with sensitive information and be in a shared office. In fact, we’ve got data companies working out of The Racquets Court. Providing you don’t leave sensitive documents out on your desk or confidential emails open on your screen while you go for lunch, you can work in a shared space. Most shared offices have meeting rooms, break out areas or other places you can go with your colleagues for a chat if you don’t want to be overheard.
In a private space, you often have more authority to change the decor or layout, but you may also have to budget for kitting out the place as well. Shared offices often come furnished (often to a high standard with quality products are they are built to last), so you can have fewer overheads when first moving in.

Location

The right location can make a huge difference, not only to your team, but also to your clients. Will you have clients visiting the office on a regular basis? In which case you may need to think about how they will get there (i.e. will they be able to walk? Drive? Public transport?). We know that the average UK worker will spend 400 days of their life commuting, so in the interest of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, it’s worth considering location when selecting your next office.

To find out more about workspaces at The Racquets Court, get in touch with our team today

If you were to use our headline as a search term, you’d find very little to answer the question that’s implied. This, from Zoopla, is one of the better pieces – at the least it refers to things like energy costs.

However, if you agree a conventional lease on office space, you’ll perhaps be surprised to discover that the most expensive thing you contract for is likely to be your cleaning.  The Zoopla piece does not mention it and it’s never highlighted – perhaps because ‘dirt’ is not something we want to think about too actively. Or perhaps it’s because cleaning contracts conjure a picture of poorly paid, often exploited, usually women employees.

However, when researching this broad area for our investment in The Racquets Court, it became clear that cleaning is either first or second on the sorted list of costs associated with occupying an office.  The only cost that cleaning might compete with is connectivity – I’ll come back to that.

With all of this in mind, let’s look at the TRUE cost of office occupation – both the tangibles and the intangibles.

In what follows, we’ve assumed an office space of 1,866 square feet – coincidentally, the space on the first floor of The Racquets Court.

Cleaning

The unskilled nature of cleaning leads to exploitation and cut-throat competition amongst companies.  The following breakdown is on a cleaning company’s website; I’ve updated the salary cost to reflect the current minimum wage and assumed 2 hours to per day for a space that houses around 20 people. This will include things like emptying waste paper bins, keeping paper goods topped up and so on.

So, around £7,000 per annum or £3.75 psf.  In The Racquets Court, we’ve decided to employ our own cleaning people. They are paid £10 per hour and their terms and conditions are the same as others we employ.  Broadly speaking, we’ve chosen to apply the margin that a cleaning company might enjoy to the package enjoyed by the cleaners themselves. This does represent a management overhead for us, but one that we think is right.

Service charge

Usually around £6 psf in Newcastle, this will cover things like cleaning and lighting common areas, the rubbish disposal contract, insurance and so on.

Coffee / tea / staff maintenance

OK, you may not choose to provide this, but if you do, you’ll find it costing around £5 pcm per employee to which must be added the overhead associated with providing decent coffee making machinery.  This will total around £0.90 psf.

Gas / Electricity

One of the more difficult to forecast but for a business employing around 20, the total power bill is around £6,500 per annum.  See here for some detail on that.  In our example, power will cost around £3.50 psf.

Rates

In Newcastle, rates add between £7.50 – £8.00 psf.  So, let’s assume, £7.50

Telephone

The main costs here are set-up and ongoing.  Let’s assume a modest £500 per annum or £0.30 psf.

Connectivity

The Racquets Court connectivity has been well documented.  We have a gigabit bearer which is set to deliver 200Mb upload and download.  Of course, we can scale beyond this if required. Achieving this routinely with providers (if it can be achieved at all) would require a leased line. There are many providers but this one is representative. The cost is around £300 pcm for a 36-month contract.  However, this does not capture the additional costs involved (e.g. firewall).  Conservatively, we’d estimate the costs over 36 months to average around £,6,500 per annum or £3.50 psf.  For those interested, this is an informative thread on the subject.

Back office management

Yes, things go wrong. The gas meter reading is weird; the coffee hasn’t turned up for the coffee machine; the maintenance contract on the leased line isn’t delivering; why are those calls being charged for on the phone invoice.  And there are around 100 invoices per annum to pay on the maintenance and management of office space for around 20 people. We estimate that this requires around 15% of a person’s time (a bit less than a day per week).  This is NOT a simple clerical task – dealing with suppliers who are business critical requires a degree of skill.  We assume a total salary bill for such a person (including on costs) to be £25,000 per annum.  15% of this is £3,750 or £2.00 psf.

Summary of tangible on-going costs

If we add these costs, we come to £27.45 psf – the sum to be added to the rent psf.

Fit out – tangible but spread out

The Racquets Court fit out is very high quality and includes high specification meeting room facilities. This site shows that furniture etc will cost between £1000 and £2,500 per person.  The Racquets Court is towards the top end of this.  Let’s assume the most basic provision – for around 20 people, this represents a cost of around £25,000 to include meeting room facilities.  If we assume depreciation over 5 years, this is £5,000 pa or £2.70 psf.

Cabling for connectivity also represents a one-off cost – obviously written off over the life of the occupancy.  We’d estimate Cat6 cabling for around 20 people to cost around £3,000 or £0.53 psf over a (say) 3-year lease term.

Additionally, there is a fit-out cost – perhaps carpeting, perhaps, kitchen equipment, perhaps a wall or two.  Knight Frank estimates an allowance of £30 psf for this – if it’s necessary.

Representing both a tangible cost and an intangible cost are ‘dilapidations’ – restoring your space to the condition in which you found it.  This is impossible to forecast but it represents an intangible cost as well as a tangible one because it’s often a hassle and often goes to some kind of arbitration.

The intangible costs

There are two very significant intangible costs associated with the occupation of office space.

They are:

1. The interaction of business need with supplier contracts. You will have contracts for all of the services you need. The space itself will be the most onerous of the contracts – once you’re in, it’s difficult to leave. If you install a leased line, your commitment is considerable – both to your location and to the lengthy contract required.  You may be able to agree short term contracts elsewhere, but usually they’ll be 12 months at a minimum.
2. The management of the space. We’ve accounted for this in our costs (£2.00 psf) but alongside a £ allowance, there’s the sheer effort that goes towards managing the space – which has nothing to do with the business you are actually pursuing.

In short  …

…  the rent per square foot is usually the least costly element of the occupation of an office space. Add in the other tangible and intangible costs and it is clear that flexible, service led space is an attractive option.