Is it still all about location, location, location?

Whatever the reasons for your current location, have you asked yourself lately if it still serves your business or customer needs as well as it could or should?

If a move might be in order, is it still all about the location or are there other factors to consider on any future property move, whether that be a shorter term leasehold choice or a more strategic freehold investment?

The property industry just like all other areas of business is undergoing fundamental change in the way it does business.

It knows it needs to meet the challenging demands of businesses just like those in our Fastest 50 and it is reacting to the evolution of the virtual world and increased automation and technological advances.

You may be located in a town centre office, for example, as it was important to be in a central location for people to come in to see you for meetings. Does that still hold as true today in the era of the global market and virtual meetings?

Do you need to keep in contact with your customers all over the country and indeed all over the world? If so, does your existing building have all of the up to the minute audio and video conferencing technologies? If not could you potentially move out to a more sophisticated building in an edge of town location which is easier for car parking and likely to be cheaper in terms of rents and other outgoings?

Do you still need as much actual office space for your staff in view of the increase in the use of mobile technology, laptops, tablets and smartphones? Maybe you can downsize from your existing premises and recoup some costs savings that you could reinvest in the business.

Do you need to re-engineer the space that you have got and, if you are a tenant, does your lease offer you that flexibility? If it does, do you need to secure planning permission or other third party consents and is your landlord’s consent required before you can make any applications or carry out those changes to the building?

Are you a retailer aiming to target more and more customers online and if so does your business need to capitalise on the increasing demand for warehouse space to accommodate the stock you need to support the internet shopping market? Do those warehouses have integrated logistics and warehouse facilities to meet the increased demand for faster and more cost effective delivery solutions?

Moving on to your workforce, are you still in the best location to access the talent pool of people you need to keep your business in front of your competitors?

There is plenty of research to show that people are looking for a better work/life balance and whilst they are willing to work hard they do not necessarily wish to have to commute long distances to work. They also want to work for employers who can facilitate flexible working practices such as remote access and home working.

Another key factor in the modern property move is around energy efficiency and carbon footprint reduction.

It is more and more important at a time of increasing energy costs to look at building options which utilise the very best and most energy-efficient systems to minimise your running costs. It can also help you satisfy some of your corporate social responsibility obligations.

There are a number of landlords now promoting so-called “green leases” where they and the tenants commit to make the building and its use as energy efficient as possible.

For example, some landlords are installing solar panels on the roof of premises and might offer their tenants discounted electricity or even a share of the free electricity that is generated.

The Government is also trying to make business take its energy consumption more seriously and the CRC energy efficiency scheme requires the largest carbon emitting companies, which includes some of the larger institutional landlords, to purchase allowances for their estimated carbon emissions for the year across their entire property portfolio.

There is to be a league table of the most and least efficient companies. This may well come to be a table that occupiers consult when considering a property move as it will show those with the lowest carbon emissions and that could result in lower bills to the tenants of those companies.

The CRC payments that are being made, or could need to be made in the future, are also beginning to appear in the more sophisticated leases as additional costs to be met by the tenants and so it is important to understand the potential impact on you as an occupier as you will have no direct input into the sums to be paid and they will relate to more than simply the property which you are intending to occupy.

We are used to supporting growing businesses of all shapes and sizes on all of these issues and more.

We are committed to working closely with you as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible and will offer constructive solution-driven advice which is focused on getting you the best deal that we can and on terms that works for you and your ever changing business needs.