Managed Or Serviced Offices: What’s The Difference?
As businesses adapt to the changing economic conditions, and alter their property requirements accordingly, so the term “managed office space” is coming into more common usage. Historically, the lines between serviced and managed office space have been blurred, with people tending to think of them as, if not the same thing, then at least something so alike, that any differences would be marginal.
Managed offices
This, however, is beginning to change, as the large corporations are adopting the tag of “managed office space” to describe, essentially, the sub-leasing of their surplus accommodation. As the corporations contract, in response to the tougher economic climate, so they are turning more and more to sub-leasing as a means of generating short-term income from their excess space, with a view to taking it back when their business demands it once more.
And this is where the confusion arises. Because while leases on this type of space may be offered on an inclusive basis – covering business rates and essential running costs, as well as, on occasion, other costs such as air-conditioning and contract cleaning, it is a far cry from what the serviced office provides.
Fully inclusive serviced offices
By contrast, the serviced office has been developed with the independent occupier in mind. Buildings have been carefully designed in order to be able to accommodate a range of size and type of business and as such, have flexibility factored into every aspect of the occupational process. They also offer leases on a fully inclusive basis – but on this occasion, “fully inclusive” really means what it says.
In addition to business rates and essential running costs, the serviced office provides meeting and conference facilities, complete with all the necessary support services, from catering to presentation equipment. It also provides staffing across the board, from reception to secretarial and clerical services, and total IT and telecoms support, thus enabling the occupier not just to occupy the premises, but to outsource a whole host of costly internal operations.
High specification
It will also often give the occupier access to a higher specification of office infrastructure than it would otherwise be able to attain. For example, in London, Executive Offices Group, one of the leading serviced office providers, has fitted a number of its buildings with resilient bandwidth – an immensely costly item beyond the reach of many smaller businesses, involving dual band with sources (one as the primary source, and the other as an emergency back-up).
Serviced office advantages
Once the differences between managed and serviced offices are clearly understood, the benefits of the latter begin to emerge clearly. Not only is the absolute cost of occupation completely transparent, but the value for money in occupiers being able to outsource so many of their core operations (and so avoiding a number of fixed costs during an uncertain economic climate) also becomes clearly visible.
To summarise, while the terminology may make the two seem alike, the reality is quite different. So for those who are looking to lease premises on an inclusive basis, it is well worth checking beforehand just what the “inclusive” promise actually covers.
