Different Companies have different space requirements. The average space allocated in a serviced office is 75 sq. ft / person, however you can choose to work in a compact (say 60 sq. ft / person) or more generous (say 120 sq. ft / person) if you wish.

Some smaller companies may not require a reception area while others may require a large area. 150 sq. ft would be a bare minimum to accommodate a small reception desk with a small waiting area. 200 sq. ft would be sufficient for a reception desk together with a seated waiting area. 250 Sq. ft allows for a generous area.

The required length of stay is very important as it has a large effect on the period over which startup costs can be amortized. Generally, for large requirements (over 20 people), serviced offices is the most cost effective solution only if the term is fairly short (less than 12 months).

Acquiring a conventional lease will take at least between 2 and 6 months to pinpoint, agree terms, refurbish and fit-out. Serviced offices are the only option should you need to move within 4 weeks, as they are easy to pinpoint through Instant offices, require no capital outlay and provide immediate possession.

	London City	M4 Corridor	Manchester	Edinburgh
Premium	£700 - £1200	£400 - £700	£500 - £800	£500 - £750
Standard	£400 - £800	£300 - £600	£300 - £500	£300 - £500
Economy	£200 - £400	£250 - £400	£200 - £300	£200 - £300
Managed	£200 - £500	£200 - £600	£100 - £200	£100 - £200

	London City	M4 Corridor	Manchester	Edinburgh
Prime	£50 - £75	£27.5 - £35	£15 - £25	£20 - £30
Secondary	£30 - £45	£15 - £25	£10 - £15	£15 - £20

Occupiers of conventional offices must pay Business Rates (occupiers tax), this varies depending on values set by the Local Authority(£2.5 - £10). The Business Rates payable are proportional to the rental value of the building. Business Rates are included in the workstation cost of serviced offices."

Occupiers of conventional offices must pay a service charge to cover general maintenance of the building. The charge covers expenditure on upkeep of the common parts and general maintenance. The cost varies depending on the condition of the building(£1 - £10). All service charges are included in the workstation cost of serviced offices.

The majority of companies do not require greater connectivity than ISDN lines. ISDN offers Internet access at twice the speed of traditional phone lines, are inexpensive to install, but you have to pay standard call rates when you are online.
Companies that use the internet intensively may require either an ADSL line or even a lease line. ADSL provides 'always on' Internet access at up to 20 times the speed of ISDN lines however because your line may be shared with other companies it can be unreliable. ADSL offers a brilliant solution if the majority of your work is downloading rather that uploading from the Internet. ADSL costs circa £150 to install with annual charges of circa £120 depending on the size of your connection.
Leased Lines are expensive to install (up to £2200) and incur annual charges of circa £2000. However they provide always on Internet access with a dedicated line.

Telephone systems can be expensive to install (circa £2000 for a small network) but do not provide the only cost effective solution. BT can provide a low cost solution call FeatureLine that works well as long as your network is small, and you only require basic call transferring. The cost of FeatureLine is negligible.

The majority of refurbished modern offices is open plan, and may require some partitioning to create standard offices or reception areas. For say 2 small offices, a tea point, reception area, meeting room, data cabling and light modifications, a capital cost of £5 / sq. ft is not unusual.

Unless totally refurbished the majority of offices will require some redecoration.