KWB branches out with ambitious plans for the serviced office sector

KWB, the Midlands’ leading independent office property specialists, is branching out into the Serviced Office arena – and ambitiously aims to become one of the main serviced office providers by 2010.

The Birmingham city centre-based business, which boasts a portfolio of more than 3 million sq ft of office space available to let or for sale, aims to have 40 Serviced Office Centres – fully operational offices complete with manned receptions, ready-to-go workstations, filing cabinets and total IT infrastructures – strategically positioned throughout the UK within the next two years.

In order to take their long-held vision forward, KWB partners John Bryce and Nigel Tripp have teamed up with established serviced office specialist United Business Centres plc to create a new company, UBC (Midlands) Ltd.  UBC (Midlands) Ltd is good news to businesses requiring short term, and yet prestigious, offices to accommodate bespoke projects as the new venture is breaking the conventional mould of office letting, normally three/five year leases or longer, by signing clients on simple licence agreements from three months upwards.

John Bryce, KWB partner, said: “Serviced Office Centres are the future and we intend to be at the forefront of this new revolution. Until now, they have been mainly utilised by small and medium sized businesses; UBC (Midlands) Ltd intends to break that mould.”  He added: “Companies, especially blue chip operations, often need a local base for short term projects and yet require offices of the highest calibre which represent their business.  We will deliver that service.”

Linking with UBC plc, the new company is already a force to be reckoned with, with established Serviced Office Centres within the confines of Gatwick, Birmingham International and Stansted airports, plus sites in the highly desirable Salford Quays Manchester, and Milton Keynes.  In addition, the new company has recently opened prime Serviced Office Centres in Cirencester and Henley-in-Arden with additional sites in Brierley Hill and Worcester to follow shortly.

Philip Grace, UBC plc Managing Director, said: “The fact that the serviced office sector is enjoying considerable growth despite the property market overall facing a slowdown is a testament to the scope of this opportunity.  Serviced offices can also prove a valuable asset to landlords/developers with the centres offering a useful ‘seedbed’ for new tenants as they expand and consider conventional leases.  UBC plc is expanding its network of business centres across the UK, with an aggressive schedule of openings over the coming months.

“The requirement to pay full business rates from 1st April 2008 for offices that have been vacant for three months or more is concentrating many landlords’ minds on their holding costs of vacant offices.  UBC (Midlands) Ltd, under a management agreement, can install a Serviced Office Centre into the vacant space and not only pay the landlord rent, service charge and business rates, but offer a share in the centre’s profit as well."

Nigel Tripp commented: “UBC carries out a spatial appraisal of the vacant offices together with a market report on competing Serviced Office Centres and workstation rentals.  This information is set out in a business plan for the landlord to review.  If acceptable, UBC and the landlord complete the management agreement and a Serviced Office Centre is opened to the benefit of both parties.

“If the centre proves to be as successful as projected, then the management agreement can be converted into a traditional lease.  Some landlords prefer this, particularly if they are looking to dispose of their interest in the building – although many others prefer the management agreements due to the profit element they produce over and above the normal rent, and the improved yields they therefore get on their investment.”