Kate Nudds, founder of Professional Choice Personnel, recently moved to a serviced office to save cash. "As the climate unfolded, we had to make cuts. Now we don't have to pay rates or broadband and all the heating and lighting is provided," Nudds says. "I would say we've saved around £200 ($304) a month on bills and rates, and as they provide a front receptionist who takes all our calls, we've also saved another £12,000 ($18,192) employing someone." What's more, the space is nicer than the company could have afforded on its own. "It looks fantastic and has raised the corporate image of our company when we also bring clients on site," she says.
Another option: "Touchdown London," the city's effort to declare London open for business. The program provides free desk space for up to a year in one of its centers. Qualifying businesses also can receive a 25 percent discount on rent at one of Avanta's serviced office spaces. For more details, click here.
Then, of course, is to go virtual. (For Inc.'s own virtual experiment, click here.) If you need to have semi-regular business meetings, various private members clubs (including some designed for entrepreneurs) offer space. For details on clubs, click here.
If you're still set on your own office space, the suburbs are sometimes a cheaper option – though they are "a mixed bag and difficult to generalize," says James Merrett, who specializes in London retail for Cushman & Wakefield. (Desirable outer-London locations such as leafy Chiswick or Wimbledon Village can cost nearly as much as central London.) One place to consider: Stratford, at the heart of London's 2012 Olympic venues. The up-and-coming area is home to a new town center complete with high rise office towers dubbed "Stratford City," and plans call for an international train station, that will link the neighborhood to the high-speed Eurostar, and provide easy access to Paris and Brussels.
If you're renting you may want to consider a license agreement, which lasts for up to a year, as opposed to the more traditional commercial lease, which lasts from three to 25 years. Pros of a license: It's more flexible and usually can be ended at short notice from either side. Cons: You don't have an automatic right to renew it.
6. Don't underestimate how much time (and money) you'll need to budget for transportation. Links between northeast and northwest London are particularly poor and tend to require either travelling all the way into central London to travel back out, or multiple buses. Your office may be close to a London Underground stop, but clients you need to visit may require a couple of subway line changes, all of which can mean journeys of an hour, especially as the Tube undergoes frequent engineering works. How bad can it be? Getting to work late because of Tube or train problems is a widely accepted fact of office life in London and merits sympathy (as opposed to reprimands) from most managers. Little wonder that the mayor prefers a bicycle. (For sample journey times, click here.) Hint: The best (and best-functioning) London Underground lines are the newer ones – the Jubilee (silver) and Bakerloo (brown) lines. The Victoria line (blue) also is good. Taxis across London can cost upwards of £100 ($151).
7. Thinking of employing Brits? To be competitive you'll need to offer approximately 23 days' vacation – and that's not including public holidays. Unlike many American companies, Brits actually use all of their vacation – two- and three- week holidays, as vacation is referred to in the U.K., are not just for, say, honeymoons. You won't, however, need to provide health insurance: British citizens are covered under the National Health Service. (If you're thinking of employing Americans, you may need to offer special coverage to stay competitive.)
8. If you want to drive in London, keep in mind that obtaining a British drivers' license can be time-consuming and you will need to take lessons (starting at about $200 for 10 sessions). It's also common to fail the test at least once. Legally, you can drive in Britain for a year on your U.S. license, though occasionally it can cause car rental headaches. If you were a claims-free customer in the U.S., come armed with a letter from your insurance company, which should help bring down the cost of car insurance.
9. You may speak the language, but people still may not understand you (and vice versa). Like any other foreign country, Britain has its own ways of doing business – and usually, it's a lot slower than in the U.S. Brits don't make decision quickly, don't necessarily see change as a good thing – and they don't tend to reveal emotion, except at football, a.k.a soccer matches, where all bets are off. They also avoid extravagant claims about products or plans.
Brits don't network as shamelessly as Americans, and pulling out your business card too early can be fatal to the relationship. At the pub, don't bring up work, even if you're with business associates. Nor should you ask a Brit the standard American conversational opener: "So where are you from?" It can appear intrusive – and since the answer is obvious to any native Brit (the accent gives it away), you've just marked yourself as a foreigner desperate for conversation.
Sound confusing? As the playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, "England and America are two countries divided by the same language."
