FaqsVirtual Office Rental

FULL TIME RSIDENTS - For most new residents our usually starting point is usually just 6 months, this can be adjusted to suit each company’s needs, so just let us know what your needs are and we will do our best to be flexible and work with you.

EMERGENCY STAY - If the rental is needed so work or repairs can be completed on your existing premises, then we may be able to arrange a period to suit your needs. (two past emergency clients suffered flood damage in their own building, one stayed for 6 weeks, the other 9 months. Being a family owned company, we can decide how we wish to help our tenants, we don’t have to ask “Head Office” for permission.

Currently we have a company who have been in the building for over 10 years, four companies have been here 5+ years, the majority of companies stay for an average of three years. We would normally suggest you start with a six month agreement, this automatically renews at the end of each period, this gives you the flexibility of being able to change your office requirements as your business grows. We see no point is asking you to sign a 3 year agreement day one and then find your needs have changed and you may need more office space or as usually happens you expand your business to the point where you need your own place. Our last two “leavers” outgrew Compass House and now both have their own offices and both took premises within 500 meters of Compass House.

The building is open from 08:00 am - 17:30 pm Monday to Friday. During this period, the main gate, main reception door are open. Outside these hours registered key holders can gain access 24/7/365. The opening and locking procedure is simple and quick, everything is electrically operated and all out of hours access is remotely monitored so we can confirm that only authorised key holders gain out of hours access.

The record is 8 minutes, but the norm is the same day.

The simple answer is no, Super High Speed Fibre Optic Broadband (KC Line Stream) is already installed and can be connected with a simple turn of a switch, telephones are the same, an exclusive phone number is allocated to your offices. both services are normally available within 1 hour of signing your agreement.

No, both these agreements are set for the duration of your office agreement, but if you decide that you wish to reduce or increase the number of phones, that is done with just one month’s notice. You will have to pay for telephone line rental and any call charges made for outside the 01482 area, all local calls are free. Line rental and call charges are billed monthly in arrears.

Your phone number is a fully service system, your can set up a voice mail message OR select a redirection number which you can start and stop at any time your wish, some tenants redirect when they leave the office at night or over a weekend and cancel on their return to the office. The caller is not aware that the number is being re-directed.

We have a server cabinet on the ground floor, three companies currently house their servers systems there. Up to 6U cabinet space is available as standard, additional space is subject to availability.

Fixed IP addresses are available from Kingston Communications (KC), however KC make an additional charge for this service, the last time we checked this was £5 per month per fixed IP addressed ordered. We have to order this service separately from KC and they require a 12 month minimum period for fixed IP allocations, an additional payment of £60 per year per fixed IP address is required and is simply added to your rental invoice each month.

Yes

This varies in each office depending on the desk spaces/size of the office, but each desk space has at least two connection points, these can be either the standard phone/internet or phone/phone or internet/internet configuration. you decide…

Compass House was built in 1888, so while limited ground floor access is available, the upper floors do not have a lift and the stairs would stop wheelchair access.

There is a 55 inch smart LED Television screen, (VGA, USB and HDMI connections), a white board, meeting table and chairs, there is a diary in the meeting room, you simply check the dates available, add your date and time and that is your use of the meeting room confirmed. (We do operate a fair use policy, but this is to ensure no one company can place block bookings the rooms for days in advance).

The Centre has it’s own private car park, each office is allocated a set number of spaces. (Small single desk office gets ONE space, larger offices are allocated based on size.) however, none of the parking spaces are allocated to a specific office, so usually there is extra parking available should it be needed for short periods or visitors.
The car park is a walled and secure area, out of hours this area is locked using a electrically operated gate. The car park is well lit during all hours of darkness and is under constant CCTV coverage.

A number of companies run from their home address, today with Google maps and Street View, a would-be client can go and see where where the company is operating from and the type of premises they are using.  To avoid this happening, using our services a company can rent a mailing address, register the business at Compass House, have a telephone line and number (Not a mobile) and when that company’s new clients “check the company out” they see a large commercial premises.

Unlike most Virtual Office packages, we also include the use of a meeting room, so having checked out the company then now ask for a face to face meeting, that can happen at Compass House address.

We have found most home based companies who have used our Virtual Office Service have within 1 year moved to a full office rental within the building, most have moved on to larger offices within 3-5 years.

This is always the biggest step a small business can take, we as a family business understand those needs better than most. To aid your decision, we have a home to office agreement option, if you wish to take that step but find the idea of a long term rental agreement daunting, we can help, during your first 6 months, we will operate your rental as a single monthly period. So while it is a full six month agreement you can terminate at any time with just one month’s notice and you only pay for the amount of time you used. If you find the move is not paying off, you can leave at the end of your month’s notice period with no requirement to pay for the unused term on your agreement. 
When we say flexible terms we really mean it

Each office is fully furnished, most new tenants only bring their computers. printers and paperwork. Standard in each office is usually, Desks and chairs (as required). filing cabinet, storage cabinet, under desk drawer units, other furnishings can be supplied but these are subject to availability, all offices are fully carpeted and decorated.

Regardless of the agreement duration, we normally require one month’s rental in advance and also one month’s rental as a security deposit. Your deposit is returned at the end of the rental period when you have completed the full term and your invoices are paid.