How Much Does Office Space Cost?

We all know that starting a business can often be an expensive endeavour. There are a lot of costs you need to factor in before you can even start trading, these include your IT costs, the costs for a car if you are going to be doing a lot of traveling and even a uniform if you are going to be spending a lot of time in front of clients. A lot of people nowadays are choosing to start their business from home, but what happens when your business becomes too large to trade from your home, or what happens if your business is not the type that can be run from a home address? This is where you will need to start thinking of buying or renting office space.

Most small businesses will rent their office space as it is often a cheaper alternative than buying the space outright. However, there are limits to what you can do with the space if you are renting, and if you do get the landlord’s permission to make changes to your office, you will need to foot the bill to bring it back to original spec if you choose to move to a larger space. This is without mentioning that you are limited with what you can do in terms of office design in the first place! It is for that reason that a large number of companies are now choosing to buy their office space in the first place.

But how much does this really cost?

Well, to find out, our team scoured commercial property listing websites to find the average cost per square foot of office space for some of the UK’s most populated cities, here are their findings:

London is, by far, the UK’s most populated city, with an estimated population of 8 Million people! Not only that, there is also an extremely large number of people that commute into London on a daily basis for work. London is the our capital, and the most obvious choice for a lot of businesses thanks to its close ties to airports and the UK’s major motorways.

On top of this, London is also where you will find some of the UK’s most creative office spaces! With the likes of Google and Facebook setting up offices here. Want some tips on how you can design creative office space for your business, check out our blog post on this topic here.

With all of these benefits, almost inevitably, comes a bigger cost for office space. In fact, the average cost per square foot of office space in the City of London is £98.30!

The UK’s second city, Birmingham, is one of the largest in the UK, and by far the largest city in the Midlands. Located close to major motorways such as the M1 and the M42, you can access most major places in the UK from this central location. Having an airport close by is also another major benefit.

Due to all these benefits, you may believe that the cost for office space in this area is extremely high, but compared to a lot of the cities around it, it really isn’t that much. The average cost per square foot of office space in Birmingham is £18.67.

Liverpool is one of the most popular cities in the UK, popular with business owners, students and a wide array of other people. One of the more modern cities in the UK, with a skyline full of high rise buildings as well as smaller spaces, it is also one of the most architecturally diverse places in the UK. Almost the perfect blend of old and new!

Liverpool is also a well-known city when it comes to keeping up to date with the latest trends, whether that comes in the form of music or even office design! Earlier this year, we took a look at the office design trends we think will be prominent this year. Take a look at the post here.
Like Birmingham, however, even with all the benefits that come with locating your business in Liverpool, the cost per square foot of office space is relatively low. In fact, the average cost per square foot of office space in Liverpool is £15.35!

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, which instantly makes it one of the main choices for businesses in the area thanks to great transport links. It is also an area steeped in history, with Edinburgh Castle close by, making it great for tourist based businesses. However, many businesses will also want to locate here thanks to the lifestyle that comes with it, all of this attracts business owners for a wide array of businesses.

Of course, with all of these benefits (as with London) comes a high cost for office space. This is also due to the fact that Edinburgh is a historical city, with less free office space available for businesses. The average cost per square foot of office space in Edinburgh is £49.05.

Are you interested in learning more about how our office design service could benefit your business? Give us a call today, we have completed projects in Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and the wider area.

If you are looking to find out more about the cost per square foot of office space in some of the UK’s major cities, take a look at this amazing graphic our team created: