How do you save money on new office space?

3 simple steps to help save you money when renting office space.

 1.      Make sure you search the whole market

There are currently over 600 office suites available to rent in Manchester City Centre. Most are offered to let by the landlords through their appointed letting agents. These are the firms whose logos you see on ‘To Let’ boards which are often attached to office buildings.

However, around 80 of the 600 suites that are currently available are not being marketed by landlords. Instead, these suites are available through the existing tenant who for whatever reason needs to get rid of its lease liability before its natural expiry date or break option date. They would normally seek to do this by securing a sub-tenant or assigning the existing lease to a third party.

The distinction between “landlord space” and “tenant space” is important because the terms that can be secured on “tenant space” are usually far more attractive than those available on “landlord space”.

The challenge for tenants looking for new space is that landlords and their agents don’t usually want you to be made aware of “tenant space” as it competes with their own offerings and results in them achieving lower rents. From a tenant’s perspective however, “tenant space” can represent outstanding value for money as it is often already fitted out and available on highly flexible terms. In some extreme cases, fully fitted “tenant space” can still be secured rent free for the duration of the sub-lease.

Remember, most lease agreements prevent tenants from advertising the availability of their space so you are unlikely to physically see it or find it listed on Rightmove or a similar website. The only way to ensure you get to see everything that is currently available including “tenant space” is to employ a specialist to conduct a property search on your behalf. This might cost a few hundred pounds but it will save you far more in the long run in terms of your own time and the additional options it will reveal to you.

2.      Stay calm and carry on

In spite of the hype about Manchester’s office market, there are still plenty of opportunities available. So do not panic and make sure you go through a methodical selection and shortlisting process. This way, you will encourage competition between vendors seeking your business as a tenant, not the other way round. This should pay dividend when it comes to the incentives and the lease terms you are able to negotiate. Once again, employing a specialist adviser will help you to save time and money as they know what represents good value and what lease terms ought to be achievable.

3.      Measure the floor area

You would be amazed how often the floor area that is quoted by a landlord is an over-estimate. In my experience, it always pays to have this fundamental detail checked by a surveyor before you agree the annual rental figure.

Also, in any terms that are agreed, make sure the floor area is calculated on a Net Internal Area (‘NIA’) basis in accordance with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Code of Measurement Practice (2007) 6th edition. Avoid at all cost any reference to the International Property Measurement Standards or ‘IPMS 3 – Office’ as these always result in a higher measurement which would of course, favor the landlord not you!

RLB agree terms on No.1 King Street

The impressive roof terrace on the fourth floor of No.1 King Street.

International construction consultants Rider Levett Bucknall Limited (‘RLB’) has today agreed terms to lease the Fourth Floor of No.1 King Street in Manchester City Centre.

RLB’s existing Manchester office is located within Exchange Quay in Salford Quays. Earlier this year the business decided it should investigate options to relocate to Manchester City Centre where many of its clients and competitors are now based.

Tenant Advisory Group advised RLB when it re-negotiated its existing lease back in 2013. TAG was re-appointed in April 2017 to conduct a property search and provide advice on RLB’s available options.

Following an extensive search and shortlisting process RLB selected the recently refurbished No.1 King Street. The floor selected by RLB benefits from many character features as well as an impressive “wrap around” roof terrace offering views over the city centre and Spinningfields.

TAG is now working with RLB’s lawyers Gateleys on the finalisation of lease documentation so RLB can exchange contracts and begin the fitting out of the new premises. RLB plans relocate to the new premises by January 2018.

The comprehensively refurbished interior of the Fourth Floor.

The re-designed entrance foyer of No.1 King Street

DRG move into The Lexicon

The Lexicon, 10/12 Mount Street, Manchester

The fit out of DRG’s new offices on the fifth floor of The Lexicon in Manchester City Centre is now complete.

Six months after its appointment and just within the required deadline, TAG oversaw the completion of the fit-out and physical move of DRG to The Lexicon in Manchester city centre.

The TAG team were responsible for most elements of the project including:

·         Property Search

·         Lease Negotiation

·         Space Planning and Interior Design

·         I-T and Data Networking

·         Furniture Procurement

·         Branding and Graphic Design services

·         Telecoms

·         Server migration

Refurbished kitchen and staff breakout area.

The solution we delivered to DRG demonstrates the value of the TAG service, particularly when timescales are tight.

Having analysed DRG’s space needs we ran a property search which identified a range of viable options which were then inspected. These properties included several “off-market” opportunities that DRG would not have been able to access without our help. Once a shortlist was agreed, we organized a competitive tender process between vendors to establish the likely dealing positions of each party. We also had our in-house space planner test each option in terms of its space efficiency. This allowed us to negotiate highly competitive terms on the option which offered the best fit in terms of location, specification and configuration.

As is often the case, the best option was already fitted out which made it even more cost effective when compared to many of the other shortlisted properties. But it still needed adaptation in terms of detailed design and branding. TAG undertook this aspect as well as furniture procurement, data cabling, telecom and I-T requirements.

This full service approach allowed DRG to manage the majority of the relocation project through a single point of contact. TAG in turn was able to deliver on time and within budget across a range of disciplines to a single client. This saved a significant amount of time and cost for both parties.

If you have a similar relocation project in mind please contact Martyn Markland at Tenant Advisory Group on 07905 762184 or e-mail Martyn at mm@tenantag.co.uk.

Boardroom with views of Manchester Town Hall

Newly installed meeting room suite.

Open plan offices

Re-branded reception area.

SCP transports itself to a new level

The Leeds office of Manchester based transport planning consultants SCP, has completed its move into the ground floor of 10 South Parade in the heart of the central business district.

The new office should elevate SCP’s profile in the city quite significantly as the suite features a fully glazed elevation that overlooks the inner city loop road. This creates a superb branding opportunity for the business as well as an interesting outlook for staff and visitors.

The lease terms included a landlord funded fit-out, a penalty free break option and a stepped rent to mirror SCP’s anticipated growth in headcount.  Another advantage that the building offers is that the landlord occupies space elsewhere in the property. This should mean a “hands on” approach is taken to property management unlike some buildings where owners remote and often unresponsive, as a result.