6 ways your office can be more cost-effective

Because who doesn’t love saving money?

Office spaces don’t need to break the bank - far from it. 

At a time where we’re all watching what we spend, it’s no different when it comes to where we conduct our day jobs. 

An office can actually prove pretty cost-effective in a multitude of ways, but we’ve rounded up 6 of our favourites to get started…

👉 Avoid ad-hoc costs 

You might not even have a proper base for the team, and if so the likelihood is you’re spending money on ad-hoc spaces for meet-ups. 

These can start to tot up quickly if you aren’t careful, so investing in your own office takes away the costs and the stress of organising somewhere new, and spending a chunk of money each time. 

This also applies if you do have an office but you’re quickly outgrowing it - you could have a small number of meeting rooms which are consistently booked up when all the team is in, so a larger upgrade could be better than spending money on extra external spaces.

👉 Area codes 

Moving to a particular new area can be a sure-fire way to reduce costs. 

Of course, this doesn’t apply to everywhere, and if you’re paying for a central location you’re going to reap the benefits in other ways, but taking a new place in East London or even further out can help keep those costs down, as long as it’s a convenient location for the team and easily accessible via transport links (which let’s face it, pretty much everywhere is now!). 

As a rough idea, Mayfair, Soho, King’s Cross are naturally pricier, whereas Shoreditch, Aldgate and Hackney tend to be kinder on the purse strings.

However, we get that location can sometimes be part of a compromise with other key criteria, so it’s not always a straightforward answer.

👉 Longer contracts 

Sometimes you’ll be able to get a discount on a place if you sign a longer-term contract, so if you know you’ll be staying somewhere for a prolonged period of time this could be a good shout. 

Unfortunately there’s no set guide, and some places don’t even like to do it, but if you know you’ll be setting down roots somewhere for two years or more you could get a bit of a saving (which we can absolutely help you with!). 

👉 Be more B Corp 

If you haven’t heard of B Corp yet, we guarantee you will have soon.

The B Corp certification measures the social and environmental impact of a company, and has specific standards and governance used for best practice. 

With this comes a heightened focus on energy efficiency - for example up to 100% of electricity could be provided by renewable sources, which is great for the planet and for your pocket. 

We’re seeing an increasing number of office providers show an interest in B Corp - our friends over at Work.Life, Second Home and X+Why already have the title and several more are pursuing, so this could be something to look out for when the time comes to move. 

We know it’s not the sexiest subject but there’s usually a saving to be had by reviewing all your utilities, not to mention little wins like turning down the thermostat, ensuring everything’s switched off at the end of the day etc.

The level at which you can look at changes to utilities varies across flexi, leased and managed offices, but there will be ways to make a difference - is the lighting as efficient as it can be, are you able to switch energy providers to get a better rate?

👉 Interiors check 

So of course you want your office interior to look good, but there’s plenty of ways to make it work from a monetary standpoint if you don’t want to move, too… 

Look at rejigging the current desk set-up to see if you can fit any more in - there’s always somewhere you can make a bit of a squeeze. 

Or 

Utilise all the space you can - could any little corners work as a break-out space or hot-desking area? 

Or 

If you’ve got stud walls you could look to take them out (or even add another) and voilà, a whole new look! 

👉 Switch it up  

Another option is to switch to a different type of office completely. 

Depending on your business needs, opting for a flexible or managed space over a leased one can be beneficial for your bank balance if you’re not after something long-term, as you won’t have to pay for a fit-out (unless you want something really niche). 

The length of stay will be much shorter than a lease too, so if you think you’ll be outgrowing a place in the next year or so and you aren’t planning on being in the same place for ages, it could be worth looking at this route. 

On the other hand, going for a lease tends to be more cost-effective over a longer period of time, as you aren’t having to continuously renew or fork out on costs associated with moving. The decision is yours but we’re here to offer help and guidance every step of the way.  

There’s plenty more where that came from, but we thought 6 was a nice starting point (and a good talking point to show anyone involved in office-related matters internally!).

If you’d like to chat more, you know where we are.

By Jess Ward, Content Marketing Manager