Beware 'too good to be true' when looking for serviced office deals
Monday, 01 August 2011
Unfortunately the practice of hidden charges – who doesn't know the old adage "always read the small print" by heart – remains relatively common in parts of the serviced office industry.
I can't begin to count the number of clients we've given a 'home' to at our various office business centres over the years because they've been stung by a sharp offer elsewhere. An offer that seems too good to be true generally is, and for good reason. The trouble is, we all like to think we're getting a bargain and, with many services - managed offices suites and meeting rooms included, it can be difficult to compare like with like. For example, some companies like to quote meeting room rates at 'delegate rates'. Others, like us, tend to charge by the room and by the hour. Nevertheless, we are happy to provide a delegate rate if it makes it easier for a new client to compare prices or simply to budget better.
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“Digital progress is not the same as real progress”
Friday, 15 July 2011
As the markets and business journalists desperately look around for some good news stories – to offset all the downbeat news about failing retailers on the UK High Street and Greece...and Spain...and Italy - they’ve turned to technology companies for more promising headlines they think we’ll relish. But, in my opinion, some knowledgeable commentators, notably Bill Bonner (who cam up with the phrase “digital progress is not he same as real progress”) are right when they urge us not to be sucked in by the hype. The dot.com boom of the new millennium and the move away from ‘bricks to clicks’ has caused some fundamental changes to the way companies operate and workers work but it seems we’re still a long way from understanding the full impact of this shift on our economies.
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Friend or business foe? How do you know?
Monday, 04 July 2011
In recent weeks, and doubtless throughout the coming months (some say a year or more), the prospect of Greece defaulting on its huge debts has dominated the news headlines. The fact that the UK had at least one day of blazing sunshine and that Andy Murray yet again ‘nearly’ - but didn’t - triumph at Wimbledon barely got a look-in.
The joy of somebody else's problem
Monday, 27 June 2011
I’m told by one of our long-standing clients that one of the joys of using serviced offices is that, on the odd occasion when something goes wrong, it’s our problem, not his and all he has to do is demand that we fix it. Happily we have an excellent support team and can generally fix most problems that are under our own control very quickly. However, I can understand his point of view. There are so many frustrations in modern life and so many layers of complexity – emails, IT systems, music systems, wifi devices, smartphones, websites and now, of course, kindles as well as tablets. All of these are brilliant and useful when they are working properly, be it in our personal or business lives. The minute there’s a problem – if it’s down to us as individuals to solve it – we can be letting ourselves in for hours and hours of frustration, stress and wasted time. This is where the joy of it being someone else’s problem comes in.
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