Five people is the size where a team stops fitting comfortably on dedicated desks and starts wanting a door. Here is how that move goes here.
Before you sign
Ask three things of us, or of anyone else you are looking at.
What is the notice period, both ways? Ours is one month, and it runs in both directions — we can ask you to leave with a month’s notice too, which almost never happens but you should know it.
What happens when you grow by one? We will move you into a bigger room when one comes free and charge the difference, with no new contract. If the building is full we will say so. Some spaces will not commit either way, and that is the answer you are looking for.
What is actually included? For us: the room, furniture, 24/7 access for everyone, the registered office address, eight meeting-room hours a month, and everything on the amenities list. Not included: anything you screw to a wall without asking.
The first fortnight
Week one, we get the door sign made, set up the fobs, and put your post on the rota. Somebody walks each of your team round and introduces them to five people doing something near what they do. That sounds like a nicety and it is the thing that decides whether your team eats lunch with the building or in their office.
Week two is usually when the furniture argument happens. Rooms come with desks and chairs; most teams want to change something. Swap what you like, we will store the rest.
What we get wrong
Heat. The first-floor rooms face south-west and the afternoon sun is genuinely too much in July. Each room has its own thermostat and two have portable units, and we are replacing the glazing in the two worst rooms this year. We say this on the tour rather than let people find out in a heatwave.
The maths, honestly
Five desks at £425 is £2,125 a month. Five dedicated desks would be £1,475. You are paying £650 for the door, the thermostat, the address and eight hours of meeting room — about £130 a head.
For some teams that is obviously worth it and for some it is not. If you are not sure, take dedicated desks in one bay for three months and move when it stops working. That is what most of the teams upstairs did.
