Great Opportunity for Small Businesses and Start-Ups as Serviced and Shared Office Rent Prices Fall

CAMBRIDGE, England, May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Rents asked for serviced and shared office space have fallen by more than £10 per month per employee in some cities, according to the Officegenie.co.uk Price Index.

According to figures compiled on more than 250,000 desks available on the UK market in the first quarter of 2012, three has been a general fall in prices being asked. 

Since January's Price Index the average cost per desk has fallen from £309 to £302 in serviced offices and from £303 to £293 in shared offices. Prices for rented offices have fluctuated but largely held value.

Regionally serviced offices saw the biggest average falls in Birmingham and Leeds (down £12/£11 to £173/£209 respectively). Bristol fell by £7 per desk to £336, but London bucked the trend with a small rise (up to £509 per month per desk). Manchester is the only big city really bucking the trend, with rents asked rising steadily over the quarter from £194 to £204.

Office Genie co-founder Ciaron Dunne said: "As the news continues to worsen for the UK economy as a whole, commercial property landlords are clearly struggling to fill their office space. Many wanted to ride out the recession to hold the old rent values, but with no end to the recession in site it's proving impossible.

"However, it can be seen as an opportunity for start-up and small home-based businesses to take another step towards professionalism by taking the plunge into renting their own office space. It can have a big impact on client perceptions and take young businesses to the next level."

Officegenie.co.uk compiles data from available desks across the UK, from massive serviced and rented projects to individual businesses renting out their small bits of extra wasted space to deskers.

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Office Genie is the UK's leading desk space website, providing an independent environment to both let desks and compare them, for free. The original site, Desk Space Genie, was launched in 2009 as the first dedicated desk space office search engine. The name was changed to Office Genie in 2010 as the range of desks available spread to include serviced space and complete offices. The site is one of the most popular in its field, regularly featuring in the national press. http://www.officegenie.co.uk

2. All queries and interview requests should be directed to Chris Marling at Office Genie, chris.marling@officegenie.co.uk