Slowdown Helps Serviced Office Space Business

April 2, 2009	(Be the first to rate this story!)  Loading ...
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With shrinking revenues and thinner staff, companies are looking at compact office spaces that have all the facilities of a modern office and yet do not cost much in terms of rentals and maintenance. Therefore, there is a growing demand for serviced office space. Serviced offices provide a one-stop solution to companies and entrepreneurs, offering services such as executive offices, internet connectivity, video conferencing, wireless access, telephone and fax lines, receptionists and client service representatives, apart from on-site executive assistants, and meeting/board rooms on a pay-as-you-use basis. Such offices also offer a prestigious address for executives to print on their business cards. And charges are competitive and substantially lower than traditional office space. Servcorp, one of the leading providers of serviced office space in Australia, Asia, Europe, Japan and West Asia, has entered into an exclusive agreement with real estate firm K Raheja Corp.

Meenal Sinha, managing director, Servcorp India, told FC Estate, “Slowdown has affected the serviced office business in a positive way. Our business grew 30 per cent in the past few months as multinational corporations and domestic players were looking at furnished office accommodation for convenience and cost-savings as team strength and expense sheets have been cropped.” Occupancy rate, she said, was as high as 85 per cent.“The sector hase been growing at the rate of 15-20 per cent,” she said. Servcorp, which claims to be the pioneer of serviced and virtual offices worldwide, would benefit from the lack of enough capital for investments in purchasing or renting large space due to the current financial turmoil, Sinha said. “Moreover, slowdown has affected many people and prompted them to explore their own ventures, opening up the possibility for virtual offices,” she added. Servcorp, along with Raheja Corp, are looking at setting up operations in all the major cities in India. The first two facilities are located at Mindspace, Hi-Tech City in Hyderabad and Raheja Towers at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai of around 20,000 sq ft each.

Servcorp claims to offer everything that a new business would require, allowing them to focus on the day-to-day running of their business in a cost-effective way. The company offers the services on ‘pay-per-use’ basis, which means that the customer is charged only for the services they use. “It is a very flexible model because the customer controls these costs and uses only the services that they require,” Sinha said. Virtual office clients can also take advantage of prestigious addresses, putting them on business cards and letterheads, be assisted by a dedicated receptionist who’ll answer calls in their company name, Sinha said. “Everything you’d expect from a professional office environment, without actually having an office would be provided.” Servcorp is targeting companies in sectors such as information technology, finance, manufacturing and automobiles. “Since our key value proposition is premium services at a cost-effective price, it attracts companies acrosse industries,” Sinha added.

News Published Under:   Real Estate India |

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