Boards urged 'consider office interiors in long-term planning'

Office design news from Morgan Lovell

Published on 26-05-2009

UK companies have been advised to consider their long-term office interior accommodation needs when preparing future business plans.

Howard Cooke, a director in the corporate consulting team at GVA Grimley, said that businesses should carry out more detailed plans of where they will perform their operations in order to make better use of office space and to understand the need for expansion or downsizing.

Mr Cooke commented: "In the good times it's very much a focus on, 'things are going strong, we need more space, let's get on with it'."

However, he warned that these plans should have flexibility and firms should not be looking to take office interior leases which are significantly longer than their business plan.

According to figures compiled by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in May, the proportion of surveyors reporting a rise in occupier enquiries compared to the number reporting a fall stood at -38 in the first quarter of 2009 - this figure was -63 in the fourth quarter of 2008.