Are you starting a business and on the verge of moving out of your home office in to an office which will be fit for multiple employees, and for hosting visiting clients? There’s a lot to consider when selecting your commercial property, from which type of lease to sign, or whether to go for a sale rather than let property, to which location is best, or what type of property is suitable and all manner of other decisions.
Location is such an important factor for a variety of reasons, so before you just find the cheapest building closest to your home, think about some of the following factors! I live in St. Neots in Cambridgeshire, and rather than just renting the first office that came up in town, I weighed up the pros and cons and decided that Cambridge would be the best location to host my new business.
Employee Pool
Now, it somewhat goes without saying, in my opinion anyway, that the people in Cambridge can be relied upon to be good employees, managers, team members, visionaries, you name it! In the city which is built around the success of Cambridge University, there’s always going to be a culture focused on knowledge and personal improvement. That’s a good ilk of employee to have at your finger-tips!
In some districts not too far north of Cambridge, there’s the heavily bemoaned culture of staying off work or not working over 16 hours because of reliance on income support (which is a debate in its own right, but wherever you stand on the issue, it’s got to be said that people who ‘can’t afford to work’ are not going to be the most reliable employees, not necessarily through any fault of their own) – in a young starter business what you really need from your employees as well as skills, is the hunger to gain experience and to improve their CV, and the flexibility to take on more work and the dedication to remain in your employment.
Consumers
If your business is any sort of retail or leisure business, it’s going to help you out immensely if your chosen business location is an affluent area! John Lewis in Cambridge was the busiest department store over Christmas, consistently achieving its own aims to beat the previous year’s sales figures, whilst other cities’ Christmas retail figures were struggling to catch up.
The South Cambridgeshire District council has a surplus of money as people don’t claim income support in the numbers that they do elsewhere – this is proved in so far as Cambridge businesses don’t struggle to make profit, as the people are not inhibited in their spending.
Travel Networks
Just off the M11 and the A14, about an hour north of London, Cambridge is easily accessible for visiting clients, also for getting in to London from for meetings without too much hassle. At the same time, being out of London definitely has its perks in terms of congestion zone fees and fuel prices etc. What’s more, Cambridge is just central enough that it offers minimal travel time to other vital areas, such as Birmingham, Essex, and Hertfordshire, all of which are within an hour and half’s drive, without having to tackle London traffic!
There are a host of buses within Cambridge and linking Cambridge to surrounding towns and villages, as well as a guided bus way which flies past any commuter traffic. A train station in the centre of town also adds another option for those travelling from farther away. You can be assured that as long as you select a business premises in one of the business parks or in town, your staff will be able to travel to work easily enough.
Science & Technology hub!
Cambridge is rapidly becoming the nation’s hub for technological and scientific research organisations and businesses. This is a great culture for any businesses who work within these disciplines, but is also great for businesses who will need to call on the expertise of web developers, technology innovators, or research facilities, as there is a wealth of experience all around the city.
Great for Networking & Corporate Entertaining!
You can’t really compare Cambridge with other cities in terms of entertaining or schmoozing clients and employees – there is literally always somewhere new opening up, and different options to suit everyone’s palette. What’s more, people in Cambridge know how to behave themselves so you won’t find yourself in an awkward situation with a high spending client due to stag do’s or bar crawls as you might in some of the larger, more popular cities around the country!
Cambridge’s history and class sets the scene perfectly for respectable business ventures with that little je ne Sais qua, so there’s really no reason not to move your business to Cambridge!
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License: Creative Commons image source
License: Creative Commons image source
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License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://all-free-download.com/free-photos/illuminated_office_building_192530.html
Business owner Karen James has recently chosen Cambridge as a location to let commercial property. Karen used the professional services of www.bsm.uk.com to relocate her businesses and recommends their efficient services.