After a month in London deciding what I should do with myself I have come to realise that I'm not someone that can work or think at home.
Office search begins.
Now I will happily admit that I'm not overly practical when it comes to things like this. With no business set up I'm probably best to stick it out at home for the moment or get a small desk space in North Acton for £50. I haven't done that, I have google office space in London and in the required area field I have entered SW1. After a 15 minute grilling from freeofficespace.co.uk I set up 3 viewings in SW6 and SW10 thinking these are closer to home and will surely be more cost effective.
Viewing 1 - A studio space just the other side of Parsons Green. A company has downsized and stuck up a partition wall and they want £1400 for a poky space. Not for me.
Viewing 2 - Harwood road office in an okay location which is warm, secure and reasonable well presented. £1600 and you'd get 4 or 5 people in there. Worth considering.
Viewing 3 - Cool converted build on Lots Road. Exposed beams and red brink, split level offices and a nice little cafe attached. I like it. £2900. Not for me.
After a coffee near Parsons Green (Barossa - very good cappuccino) I couldn't help but feel that these spaces didn't suit me nor what I visualised myself working in. I had more thinking and looking to do. A friend of mine has just moved to a refreshed block adjacent to Putney Bridge station called Fulham Green. 3 buildings which have been left untouched and pretty much vacant for some time. Purchased recently by John Hunt the ex Foxtons owner, these are already being transformed into something rather nice. I decided to pop in and see what they could offer. Their initial response was that they were all out of small offices and have just leased most of the larger spaces to 1 client. They showed me a board room which they may let me have but couldn't confirm this for a day or 2. As I left he handed me a brochure for a new 'John Hunt' development on High Street Kensington call Drylands. I took it away to read later that evening.
Now I don't buy my shirts from Burton or my shoes from Clarks so the moment I started to flick through the beautifully printed Dryland brochure I was sold. This was the new luxury standard for London offices. Prices start from £99 for a basic membership and go up to £1299 for a 1 man office. I made a call and booked a viewing for the next day.
On arrival you enter a marbled cafe with freshly baked brownies and cakes on display and the aroma of fresh coffee. I received a beaming smile from the waiter and continued to walk towards the reception. I inform the attractive female receptionist that I have a viewing booked with Nisha and that I'm a little early. Moments later a supermodel-esque young lady approaches once again with a beaming smile. This is going to be an expensive visit!!
She shows me around this impressive newly refurbished building. The concept is new and I liked it a lot. Regus meets a Virgin Clubhouse. On the 1st floor there are offices around the outside of the room with between 1 and 8 desks in each. In the central space there are business pods which house 1 person and are electronically accessed with a coded key card. The 1 man offices were already taken and on the yet to be released 2nd floor the 2 1 man offices had already been reserved. Nisha did offer me a 2 man office for £2000 pcm which isn't ideal. I left disappointed that I couldn't secure a single office for myself but extremely impressed by the set up.
I'm not a millionaire and probably should be shopping at TK Maxx especially as I currently have no income. However I find myself travelling Upper Class with Virgin, buying my shirts from Emmett, shoes from Tim Little and now housing myself in a Millionaires working environment. Have I gone completely mad?
Now I wouldn't be doing any of this if I couldn't afford it but as I said with no current income I probably shouldn't be doing this. I like nice things, I like being looked after and most importantly I like to enjoy the environment in which I spend my time and money.
There is no moral to this story in anyway at all but I know whatever happens I will always make sure I'm in a position to enjoy these nice things. As long as the likes of Richard Branson and John Hunt understand what people like myself want then new niches like Dryland will be VERY successful indeed.
Eddy, well thats what you were known by at school. i have read your blog and i daren't say it but are you suffering from slight stint of insomnia?
ReplyDeleteIm arriving back to the english soil very soon, i was recommended to buy a car from D LOVETT, anyway after a few! Call me your private investigator, i found you, well your blogg!! UNFORTNATELY, i may be a year too late. good luck on the business.
i will try this martini now as its cold in New York but its the party season.
your undoubtedly your beautiful friend Louise xxx