What is Managed Office Space? And is it Right for my Business?

As the world of work continues its evolution, businesses have a greater number of office space options to consider - and even opt for a strategic mix - to suit their needs. Here’s an in-depth look at managed offices, and whether they could be the right solution for you and your teams.

As we’ve explored before, if you want a private office space, you have three options: serviced offices, traditional offices and managed offices. All are great in their own right and are able to provide the perfect solution to different businesses.

The newest of the three is managed office space, which replicates the hassle-free ease of serviced office space, but with your ‘own front door’. It gives you the ability to create your own space, and promote your own brand and corporate identity in what very much feels like your office.

Managed office providers will work with you to create a workspace designed around your needs, and then they’ll deliver it for you. Think on-brand company colours and tailored furniture layouts – complemented with your own amenities that your teams won’t have to share with other businesses.

One of those managed office providers is Yours. We caught up with Elliot Gold, co-founder of Work.Life, the successful coworking company behind Yours, to find out more.

How does managed office space differ from serviced office space?

The key difference is that managed offices give businesses their own space. They provide an opportunity for companies to brand it and make it their own in terms of the space plan, aesthetics, technology and services provided.

A serviced office, on the other hand, gives you a private office space and shared amenities within a larger space, which is operated and branded by the serviced office provider. Serviced offices are attractive to small businesses because they offer a simple, flexible and convenient office solution, with great customer service and access to amenities on demand.

In contrast, once you walk through the front door of a managed office space, you’re in your office – you see your brand’s name over the reception desk and you create your own look, feel and company identity. You control the experience and the corporate image you project to clients. Managed offices also offer more privacy and security than serviced offices, as you don’t have to share your spaces or amenities.

What similarities do managed offices and serviced offices share?

Like a serviced office, managed spaces are delivered for you, as a service – your rent is all-inclusive, paid monthly, and there are no upfront costs. You can also call on someone at any time to provide anything you need, or to address any issues.

And how does that compare to taking a conventional lease?

A conventional lease gives you ultimate control, but you also shoulder all the responsibility of creating your ideal office from scratch. This is perfect if you really want to be involved in every aspect of designing, delivering and managing your office space.

But for most, that’s a huge amount of work and responsibility. For many business leaders, it’s completely outside of their scope of expertise and can be a hugely time-consuming distraction from their ‘day job’.

Is there a particular type of business that's best suited to managed office space?

Managed offices appeal to two key target markets. Firstly, businesses that are outgrowing coworking spaces or serviced offices – and who still want the flexibility and convenience – but now want a space of their own.

Design-wise, most operators are moving with the times and offering a more agile space plan to suit modern working styles. Agile spaces take into account flexible working practices and provide only a proportion of desks for team members.

Secondly, more established businesses that may have previously taken conventionally leased spaces, but now see the value of a more flexible solution that removes the burden of fitting out and managing their offices themselves.

What size space is typical for a managed office? 

Managed office spaces typically vary in size from 2,000 sq ft up to 15,000 sq ft, which is quite a range, so it’s suitable for scale-up companies, SMEs, corporate project teams, or even as an HQ.

Design-wise, most operators are moving with the times and offering a more agile space plan to suit modern working styles. Agile spaces take into account flexible working practices and provide only a proportion of desks for team members. 

For example, a team of 150 people might take a space with 60-70 desks, then rotate their team under the premise that not everyone will be in the office on the same day, and not everyone will require a set desk.

Could you talk us through the Yours offering and how it works for businesses?

We built Work.Life, our coworking brand, on the back of the demand from small businesses for flexible term lengths, access to shared amenities, and networking opportunities, catering for up to 30 desks. But over time, we found that many of our customers have grown with us, taking larger office spaces, and in some cases, outgrowing our spaces altogether.

In many cases, outgrowing our spaces meant simply needing a bigger one, but when we dug a little deeper, we found it wasn’t just more space they sought. When speaking to our customers, we found that when their business reached that scale, it became more important to them to have their own private, secure space – designed for them, and where their brand, business culture and identity was at the forefront.

This is what prompted us to offer Yours – spaces for companies that are ‘outgrowing coworking’ and looking for a space they can make their own, but without the hassle of doing it themselves.

Where and what kind of office spaces does Yours offer?

We now have Yours spaces across central London in a variety of different buildings and at different price points, where businesses can have a dedicated office suite, with their own dedicated meeting rooms, kitchens and breakout spaces, all designed to their unique requirements.

To achieve this, the process is simple. You tour the space, you confirm you like the blank canvas and location, you book a design consultation, and we co-create a workspace to meet your needs. We’ve taken great care to make this process efficient – you give us direction on what you need and why, and we handle the details so you don’t have to.

Then, it’s over to our delivery team to fit out the office space, ready for your move-in day. You’ll be welcomed with a tour of the office space, for all your staff, a rundown of what’s provided as standard – which is everything you’re likely to need – plus who to contact when there’s something extra that you want.

What makes Yours stand out?

Firstly, we’re an established coworking company, which means this is not new territory for us. We’ve spent 6 years honing our coworking business, focussing on delivering first-class experiences for our members.

We’re bringing all of this experience and expertise to the Yours solution. We know what it takes to design, deliver and operate great workspaces and we have a team in place to help businesses create their perfect space.

Secondly, as a Yours business, you have access to Work.Life’s network of coworking spaces. So not only is your main workspace agile by design, but you have the additional flexibility of a satellite office you can drop into should you find yourself needing a place to touch down in between meetings, or closer to home. It really is the best of both worlds.

Thirdly, Yours spaces are provided in partnership with our landlords. Why is that relevant? Well, by partnering with landlords, we can take on a larger number and a wider variety of spaces across central London. The overall quality of our product and service is consistent, but the ambition is that there should be a Yours space to suit any business, anywhere. Landlords like working with us because we enable them to incorporate more flexible office solutions into their portfolios, without the need to build a team of their own to do it themselves.

As businesses have full say over branding and design, are there any exciting examples of how tailored an office can be?

In a Yours workspace, businesses can play a central role in the design and layout of their space, without the hassle and cost of fitting out the space themselves. A workspace design manager is available to consult on agile floorplans and help businesses create their ideal workspace.

One example that springs to mind is EVE Sleep, a UK-based e-commerce business that sells mattresses and other sleep products. They wanted to design a workspace that would help them embrace agile working, as well as show off their products. So, they had beds installed in their office, complete with EVE Sleep mattress and pillows. Their ‘mattress testing area’ is another area for their team to meet for an informal chat, and a great talking point for people coming into the office!

As the world of work evolves, how can you stay competitive?

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