Outgrowing the office: grow the team without a bigger lease

Key takeaways

Outgrowing office space is a growth decision disguised as a property one. A bigger lease is a multi-year fixed cost taken on to house roles that may not need a desk. Before signing, check which work has to happen on site, share desks for hybrid staff, and consider supplying routine capacity from outside the building.

• A lease is a multi-year fixed cost. Demand is rarely that certain.
• Count which roles genuinely need to be on site.
• Hybrid working lets desks be shared.
• Outside capacity adds hours without adding desks.

Why is office space a scaling decision?

Office space is a scaling decision because it is one of the largest step costs a small business takes. Space comes in fixed sizes on fixed terms. A move made to fit three more desks commits the business to rent, rates, fit-out and service charges for years, whatever happens to sales.

• How outsourcing helps small businesses scale without hiring
• Step costs: why the next hire is a jump, not a slope

What does a desk really cost?

A desk costs more than rent. Add business rates, service charge, utilities, insurance, furniture, equipment, connectivity and cleaning. If the total comes to an illustrative £350 a month per desk, five more desks are £21,000 a year before anyone sits at them. Work out your own figure from last year's premises costs divided by desks.

• Overhead cost per employee in the UK: what to add

Which roles need to be in the building?

Fewer than most firms assume. Roles that handle physical goods, meet customers in person or use specialist equipment need to be on site. Roles that work entirely on a screen, such as customer email, order processing, invoicing, data entry and content production, can be done from anywhere with secure access.

• On site: warehouse, workshop, reception, client meetings.
• Anywhere: inbox, bookings, invoicing, data, marketing production.

• Core vs non-core activities: what to keep in-house

What are the options before a bigger lease?

There are four options short of moving. Share desks among hybrid staff. Rent flexible space for the overflow on a monthly basis. Employ some roles remotely. Or supply screen-based work through a managed team, which adds capacity with no desk, equipment or premises cost on your side.

• Desk sharing for hybrid roles.
• Flexible or serviced space on short terms.
• Remote employees.
• A managed outside team for routine work.

• Remote employees vs outsourcing: which scales better?
• Scaling an outsourced team up and down: how it works

How do the costs compare?

Compare the full annual cost of each planned role on site with the alternative. An employee adds the loaded employment cost, about £34,500 a year at a £30,000 salary, plus the desk. Managed offshore capacity is indicatively £9–£18 per hour with equipment and premises included in the rate.

• What scaling a business costs: hire-led vs partner-led
• BPO cost per hour in the UK

When is a bigger office the right move?

A bigger office is right when the work must be done together or on site, when the current space is harming productivity or safety, or when the business has contracted growth that justifies the commitment. Culture and collaboration are real reasons too. They should be weighed against the fixed cost, not assumed.

• Operating leverage: why fixed costs make growth risky

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see in UK firms at about 15 people: the office is full, and the plan is a five-year lease on a larger unit to fit four new administrative hires. Looking at the roles, all four are screen-based. Running that work through a managed team keeps the existing office and avoids both the lease and the fit-out.

• See client work
• BPO Solutions for UK businesses

Office space checklist

Complete this before talking to an agent.

• Calculate your true annual cost per desk.
• List planned roles and whether each must be on site.
• Check actual desk occupancy across a normal week.
• Price flexible space for any overflow.
• Price screen-based roles as a managed service.
• Compare a new lease term with your revenue certainty.

• Workforce planning for growth: roles to hire, roles to buy

Next step

Tell us how many desks you have, how many roles you plan to add and what they do. We will show which could be supplied without more space.