BackSome of your staff live in the East, some in the West, your clients are in the North and your office is in the South - what’s a business to do?
As our clients respond to the current working climate we are seeing an increase in demand for Hub & Spoke solutions across London. What do you mean Hub & Spoke? Are we all cycling now? - Maybe... But what we are referring to is a central “hub” HQ office that is supplemented by smaller, satellite “spoke” offices across town.
From what we are seeing and hearing from our clients, the rationale is:
This method provides staff with a range of office locations so they can work from the spoke that best suits them when they are not required to come into the hub office but want to escape the mundanity of the home office. This is also particularly useful as businesses begin to phase staff back to the office but want to reduce staff commute times;
It provides alternative locations for staff “bubbles” to ensure health and productivity are safeguarded at all times;
It provides clients with the ability to hold face-to-face meetings at their convenience in locations across the capital, especially as video conferencing fatigue has started to set in and clients demand personal interaction;
It increases the flexibility of the office portfolio, as more short-term flexible offices are added beyond the traditional, long-term lease. These can be expanded or contracted as required, allowing the company to adapt to any staff or regulatory changes. Moreover, they come at an all-inclusive cost, so there is less admin headache for you.
It can save you money. Office spaces closer to residential areas are usually up to a third cheaper than central London locations, so spreading your satellite offices will likely save you money.
For example, your office is in Holborn and you have 150 employees. You may find that 50 of these employees live in East London, 70 in South London and the rest commute in from further away. It would ,therefore, be beneficial for those in East/South London to have a place to work closer to home that they could walk/cycle to with space for smaller groups to get together such as a 20 person office in Vauxhall or a 10 person office in Shoreditch to supplement the HQ in central London.
The hub and spoke concept is nothing new, it has been used to great success in several industries for years, and at Kontor, we have carried out this strategy for a number of clients throughout Europe and the US. Also, we expect this model to increasingly be used within key cities, such as London & New York, as businesses strive for a holistic real estate strategy that works for their staff and their clients in light of the challenges provided by COVID-19.
Email us at hello@kontor.com if you would like to hear more and discuss whether the Hub & Spoke solution could work for your team.
