Lease End Guide

LEASE END GUIDE

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO NOW?

WHY do you need to act early?

HOW do you go about the process?

WHAT do you need to do?

1

S H O U L D I ST AY O R S HO U L D I G O NOW? W rit t en b y V ic ki W a lke r, S p a c e So lution s

If y ou a re a pp ro a ch in g a le a se e ve n t

S U S TA I N A B I LI TY

it c an re p re se n t a ti m e w h er e y ou a re

40% of the UK’s carbon footprint

fa c ed w it h m a ny d ec is io ns a s a b us in e ss a nd c an b e a n u nc e rta in jo u rn ey fo r m a ny o cc up i er s.

comes from the construction industry. In terms of office fit-out, the Circular Economy approach of

T he re a re se v er al fa ct or s to c on s id e r.

reduce / reuse / recycle also applies.

COST

One of the benefits of moving office

In b us in e ss e ve ry p en n y is a p ris on e r, w h et he r th a t is p ro fit s fo r o w n ers o r sh a re ho ld e rs , o r to b e se e n n ot to b e w a sti n g p ub li c m o ne y. C ur re n t la n dl or d in c en ti ve s to st ay h av e to b e w e ig he d u p a ga in st p ro po s ed

rather than transforming the existing space has always been that a fit-out in a new building could go hand-inhand with a ‘big bang’ move rather than a phased decant and fit-out that introduces complexity and cost.

la n dl or d in c en ti ve s to m o ve a n d p ot e nt ial ly tr ad in g o ne o ff th e o th er.

N ew fu rn it ur e a nd fi t-o ut c os ts ha v e to b e fa ct o re d in a s w e ll a s th e h um a n c os t in te rm s o f th e st re ss

P O S T CO V I D W O R K PL A CE The return to the workplace is an important consideration for any

in v olv e d w it h a ny si g ni fic an t ch a ng e.

organisation re-occupying a business

LOC ATION

real opportunity to evaluate the way

A cc e ss to th e m a rk et m ig h t n o t b e a s c rit ica l n ow th a t d ig it al c oll ab o rat io n is p ro vi ng to b e so ve rs a til e. In fa c t, a s w e’v e al l b ee n re a di ng, b us in es se s a re n ow b ec o m in g (w a it fo r it) “lo ca ti on a gn o sti c” w it h p ro xi m ity to st af f ta k in g th e p la ce o f fo rc in g p eo p le to c om m u te lo n g d is ta nc es to a c en tr al lo ca t io n w h er e th e re is a c on c en tr at io n o f li ke-m in d e d c re at ive s.

premises this year. It has presented a your team and your business work in the future. To understand the spaces you need and how they need to work Now that working from home isn’t the nightmare we all anticipated, could in situ refurbishments become more common? Does WFH now make the in situ ‘big bang’ change a reality?

2

W H Y S H O U LD YOU BE AWARE O F Y O U R LE A S E EVENTS? Firstly, the decision is not just about staying put or moving to a new location. It’s about changing what you’ve got, where you are or moving to a new location and a new environment.

Lease Breaks provide an opportunity to consider your options to see out the remaining term of your lease or re-negotiate with your landlord should you stay for the term agreed.

Lease Expiry for occupiers is often missed with many leaving it too late and are either forced into extending the lease where they are, or they have a compressed amount of time to design and fit-out a new space putting pressure on the business.

Both of which result in either space that is not fit for the future, or a deal that costs the business more money.

GET IN TOUCH

enquiries@spacesolutions.co.uk www.spacesolutions.co.uk

3

H O W S H O UL D Y O U P R EP A R E F O R A L EA S E EVENT? You should be considering your

Lawyers should be instructed 6

options a maximum 24 months in

months in advance of the move as

advance. This will allow you to review

this process can take up to 3

your business strategy and carry out

months to conclude.

any workplace consultancy exercise to establish what you need from your

The 5-6 months leading up to

space to build a brief and what size

occupation on site you should be

of space you require. The current

developing the Design and issuing

pandemic has taught us that there

any Statutory Consents for

are no one size fits all , and you

warrantable works. This process can

should be considering how you build

take 6-8weeks and we advise always

in flexible space to support a new

having a warrant in place prior to

way of working.

works commencing on site. ·

Once you reach 12 months from your

Procuring the costs for fit-out and

lease expiry you should be reviewing

furniture should be the next step

your current dilapidations on your

allowing enough time to complete

premises and start engaging with an

the fit-out and move into your desired

Agent on available space that fits

space.

your space standard and operational needs. Once you have identified some options SPACE can assist with Test-fit plans showing how your brief fits the space and what the likely cost of fitout would be.

Once you have decided on a suitable premises your Agent will negotiate your Heads of Terms to secure the best deal for you.

4

WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS? SPACE work with occupiers at the earliest stage to ensure we

GET IN TOUCH

understand your business and what types of space you need to support your people. · We can undertake a workplace consultancy exercise where we interview key department heads and

Vicki Walker

prepare a schedule of what types of

Business Development Director

space you need to support your business needs for the future. · We can undertake a space budget as part of this exercise to ensure you

victoria.walker@spacesolutions.co.uk

07875 676198

have the right size of space. Get this wrong and the cost to the business can be significant. · Whether you decide to stay or go SPACE can support you with space planning that supports the brief developed as part of the consultancy exercise.

We can provide an indication of CAT B fit-out costs for the works to de-risk your project in its earliest stage.

We are here to advise any client considering a change to the workplace, please get in touch.

GET IN TOUCH

enquiries@spacesolutions.co.uk www.spacesolutions.co.uk