Commercial Property News and Comment

Small business growth suffers from London office space drought

March 2002

Nearly 20% of small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling to find suitable office space, according to the Spacia Small Business Property Monitor 2002. Although the proportion of unhappy firms has fallen to 20%, from 32% last year, Spacia said commercial property problems were "a significant obstacle to small business growth". According to the 2002 report, 64% of the UK businesses (around 1,000) polled called for more flexible leasing terms from landlords. More than 50% of firms claimed to have problems finding London office space within relative budgets. Stephen Barrie, Spacia director, said: "The problems we identified in 2001 largely still remain. If landlords adopt a flexible approach to tenants it creates a win-win situation, helping the businesses of both."

Andrew White EGi News 08/01/02