4 Office Setup Tips for a New Business in the Midlands, UK

'Without a doubt, starting your own business or managing an existing business is no easy feat.'

From the conception of the perfect entrepreneurial idea to hiring the right people, there are many things that should be given emphasis.

With this in mind, if you are planning to kick start a business in Midlands, UK, one of the first things that you should be thinking about is setting up an office or at least set up a Virtual Office for professional presentation reasons.

Regardless of whether you are engaged in business services, IT consultation, or website design and development, among others, a new business in the Midlands, UK will need to have a physical space where business matters will be conducted, including meeting clients and completion of the output that is required.

With this in mind, keep on reading and we will provide you some tips about having an office for your business located around East Midlands or in Birmingham West Midlands.

Tip 1. Gather the Financial Resources that You Need

When setting up a business, you will need to have the required financial resources, especially to come up with your own office space. There are organisations helping businesses to source and connect to grants in the West Midlands area. In this case, you might want to consider small business finance West Midlands (Finance WM).

"There are also some companies that can extend loans to help you get started with your business in the West Midlands. You can consider sourcing business grants in the West Midlands to raise the amount that you need to build not only your business but even your own office."

There are business start up grants that are available from the government to business residents in West Midlands that can help with your business setup costs. Such as: help towards paying for staff recruitment and training, advertising costs, building renovations, i.e. swing space, machinery and equipment purchase and much more.

However, some business grant offers are for specific industries only, whereas, others are aimed at a more general audience. Therefore, when seeking a grant, be aware of the eligibility requirements and the intended use of the programmes you discover.

For businesses within the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership area, recent notification came through of a business development grants available, stating that:

"Business development grant awards are available to local West Midlands based businesses that are looking for business grants between the value of £10,000 and £15,000 – representing 45% of eligible project costs."

Tip 2. Choose the Perfect Location

When setting up a business office, one of the most important things that should be given emphasis is its location. With Birmingham's recent central train station upgrade (New Street), the West Midlands and surrounding areas are much more connectable for new business considering moving to the area. Therefore, accessibility to local public transport and access to major link roads should be a priority; making sure that your business location can be easily reached by your employees, and more importantly, by your clients. Consider as well the competition within the vicinity of the office space that you are sourcing.

 Birmingham Transport links inlcuding new modern West Midlands Travel busses and modernised New Street Station.

Tip 3. Look at the Facilities and Amenities

If you are looking for an office for Birmingham businesses, you should take a look at the amenities and facilities. Your key goal is to rent out a space that has everything that you need to run your business. Bathrooms, meeting rooms, and break rooms are amongst the most important. There should also be excellent internet connection to support the operations of your Midlands business. Even if the space is small, it must be complete with all the things that you need in an office, including ergonomic chairs and tables.

Flexible Office Facilities and Amenities in Environmentally Echo-friendly locations.

Tip 4. Think About Flexibility and Being Environmentally-Friendly

The small office setup must be also flexible. Meaning, you must be able to easily perform modifications in the area as needed. It will be good if there are no fixed partitions so that you can easily change the layout of the office as your business grows or as your needs change. Also, to create a better impression, you should also be setting up an office in a space that is green, such as one with ample amount of natural light.