Officio moves away from broker model

One of the UK’s most trusted and long established names in the flexible workspace market has rebranded as part of a new initiative aimed at improving standards in the industry.

Officio is the new brand from officebroker.com which has been helping companies to relocate to flexible workspace for the past 18 years.

The company works alongside businesses to make the process of finding suitable workspace straightforward. Their process involves asking the right questions to find out what businesses really need and only showing them suitable spaces.

Officio has long standing relationships with all the UK’s major workspace providers and many smaller operators who meet their exacting standards.

The decision to rebrand is part of a wider strategy to raise standards in the industry and to move away from the broker model of matching companies with office providers.

Along with the new name comes a defined commitment to a deep understanding of client needs and a focus on offering long term solutions.

Officio has some of the highest staff retention rates in the industry and advisors are able to offer a deep understanding of flexible workspace provision both in London and across the UK.

The company is committed to raising standards across the flexible workspace sector and have pledged only to work with office providers who meet the highest levels of customer service.

The new name is part of their mission to improve standards in the flexible workspace industry and particularly to move away from the ‘broker’ model.

Many brokers operate on an unqualified leads basis, flipping enquiries into workspace providers for short term gain. But Officio take a much longer term view, working with businesses to help them find workspace where they can be happy and continue to grow.

Officio CEO Chris Meredith said: “We have always had a commitment to raising standards across the flexible workspace industry and we felt we needed a new brand to reflect that commitment.

“We felt the word broker no longer reflected what we do which is to take real pride not simply in helping clients find a workspace but in helping them find the right space. That means a space that will meet their needs for considerable time to come.

“Across the industry we have seen too much focus on short term practices with incentives to encourage sales with purely a short term view.

“But it doesn’t help any business to have to continually move offices each year so we are working with providers on a much longer term approach.

“This requires a far deeper understanding of each client to ensure we are able to offer a solution that really meets their needs not just now or next month, but for some considerable time to come.

“Our rebrand is our way of saying we are deeply committed to raising standards and to leading the industry on this. We see ourselves as the champions of flexible workspace in the UK.”

The flexible workspace sector is booming with significant growth in recent years thanks to the rise in popularity of co-working in our big cities, particularly London.

There are now hundreds of providers with choice and competition is greater than ever. In 2018 flexible workspace providers took more square footage in the form of new leases than any other industry.

Mr Meredith continued: “We know that finding a workspace can be a headache. It’s confusing, time-consuming, and just needs to get done.

“That’s why at Officio, we work alongside businesses to make the process of finding the right workspace, altogether easier and more straightforward.

“Rather than bombard clients with irrelevant nonsense and endless listings, we ask the right questions to find out what they really need. Then, only show them what’s really worth their time.

“We don’t settle until we’ve helped a business make their next best move. So, when they come to look for their next space, they’ll never look elsewhere for help.”