New years are all about new beginnings: a new you, a new year's resolution or a new home.

What about a new office? How do you know when it's time to move your whole company? Here are a few hints.

Corridor Catch-ups

The more people in an organisation, the more meeting areas are needed. This doesn't have to be a formal meeting room but there should be an area where employees can take a break from their computers, have an informal get together or even just a place to eat their lunch. If people are having to catch up in corridors, then it's probably time to move to bigger offices.

Over the years, we've seen an increase in people requesting more breakout areas or collaborative zones within their new workspace. This is especially important if you have a larger office that is spread across different floors to help facilitate informal communications across floors and departments.

Full Filing Cabinets

You might just need a really good clear out. However as storage these days is no longer restricted to IT equipment and paper but now includes items such as bicycles, furniture, food, Amazon orders! it's more than likely you need to reconsider your office storage options.

As businesses change the way they work and agile working becomes more popular, the use of personal storage areas has increased in the workplace, whether it's a locker or just an allocated area.

In our experience, storage can take up to 10% of your office space, depending on brief and requirements so it should be considered at the start of any project.

Terrible Technology

This doesn't refer to old fashioned laptops or dodgy broadband but rather the advanced technological features available to businesses.  Whether it's protecting your office with facial recognition or having AI feature on the IT helpdesk, there are a myriad of options available.  It might not be appropriate for right now but it's worth considering to ensure your new workspace can be adapted for future innovations.

Sweaty Staff

With more and more people enjoying a work / life balance and taking advantage of cycle to work schemes and subsidised gym memberships, the workplace needs to reflect these changes.

The installation of showers throughout offices is becoming more popular . If you don't currently have showers, it might be worth considering to ensure not only a healthy but also a happy and clean workplace.

Coffee Queues

Do you have to wait 30 minutes for a cuppa in the morning? If so, you might need to consider installing additional tea points throughout your office. Brits drink 95 million cups of coffee a day ??" do you want to get in the way of your staff and their coffee?

If you are looking to move office or just want to refurbish your existing workspace, please don't hesitate to contact us info@francishunter.co.uk