The journey towards commercial lease expiry has always required occupiers to think long and hard about what the future holds for their business in property terms, but this has been amplified significantly as a result of the pandemic.
Whereas before, there would be a relatively straight-forward series of steps and considerations to take into account ahead of a forthcoming lease expiry, now, businesses need to go much farther in their thinking, as they assess what the post-pandemic workplace needs to look like.
The expiry of your commercial lease represents an invaluable opportunity to establish this, and really evaluate your property (and workforce) requirements.
Ideally, you should start thinking about what this looks like 24 months ahead of your lease expiring. But where do you start?
First, you need determine what it is that you want from your premises, what you want to achieve and what brand image are you trying to portray. If you are committing to a 5-10 year lease, it is likely this will go beyond your business plan cycle, so it is important to get this stage right.
We kick-start this process with a discovery phase, sitting down with key stakeholders within our clients’ businesses, to understand what it is that they are trying to achieve.
It’s a bit like what you would do with your independent financial adviser (IFA) when discussing investment risk appetite or if you are building the next big software package for your market place. The same is true of your commercial property requirements – we establish what your objectives and preferences are.
This will inform whether or not your current premises fits your brand and needs, and if it isn’t what needs to happen – from liaising with your landlord around potential refurbishment options, to exploring new locations and buildings.