IT IS hot in our office, very hot. We have no air-conditioning and our office in Central London is next to the BBC’s Broadcasting House redevelopment, which seems to have become the world’s largest, noisiest and dirtiest building site.
Now one of the buildings right in front of our windows is going to be pulled down. So the options are to shut them and perspire beyond belief or open them and have to shout at each other to be heard.
Neither of these is very appealing, which is why we have finally decided to move and to outsource the task of finding a new office. We had already decided to outsource the lease negotiation when alternative premises were found. We had hoped that the people lining up to do the negotiation would also come up with the premises. But none of them seemed very motivated.
Cash, I find, is a great motivator. So as an incentive to persuade someone to make it a priority to find us an office and to negotiate a good price, we are offering a two-part fee. A payment is made upfront, with the balance paid when the agreement is signed. The second part of the fee is variable — the better the deal obtained by the agent, the bigger the final payment. The difference between the advertised rent and the negotiated rent is the defined improvement and it will get a percentage of this.
How did we find an agent? I met a charming woman at breakfast who seemed so organised that I knew any firm she worked for had to know what it was doing. So we have entrusted the search for our new home to Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker, the real estate agent.