Serviced offices are in the national press again, thanks to serviced offices operator Business Environment. The company came in at number 38 in The Sunday Times Top 100 Best Small Companies to Work For and, at the same time, scooped a three star rating, the highest available, awarded for being ‘an exceptional place to work’.
The awards have been running since 2001 and are split into three categories: small (50–249 employees), mid-sized (250–4,999 employees) and big (5,000 plus employees). More than 37,500 employees, from all areas of business, are surveyed nationally. The process consists of issuing an employee survey and an organisation questionnaire, and points are awarded based on the answers received. Evaluated factors include leadership, pay and benefits, and treatment of staff.
Any serviced offices business looking to gain exposure through the 2012 awards needs to have been in existence for three years by 1 March 2012 and have a minimum of 50 full-time or part-time employees working in the UK as of 30 September.
The only serviced offices company in the top 100, Business Environment has buildings across Southern England, including a recently opened operation in Cheapside.
Across the categories, Boots Opticians was the number 1 large business, media group UKRD Limited was top of the mid-sized companies, and the best small business was marketing organisation Brand Learning.
The media exposure comes at a time when encouraging noises are being emitted from the UK serviced offices industry. Reports suggest improved leasing rates in the UK market mean the start of a stabilisation trend. The demand for office space rentals is still regarded as balance between recession and recovery, leading some analysts to advise prospective occupiers to seek favourable prices and terms. The ability to respond quickly to the changing UK economy, in the form of scalability, is expected to be a key advantage for serviced offices occupiers during this current period.
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