Energy bills and a message to businesses considering taking a new office space….

Level founder Joe Averill discusses the importance of due diligence when comparing shortlisted office spaces

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In the last year energy bills have doubled, even trebled at some spaces for those not on fixed rates. 

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Due diligence when searching for office space is of the utmost importance. 

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When comparing your shortlisted offices it’s a must to factor this into your figures.

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In a recent due diligence piece for a Level client one particular building’s energy rates had increased from 18p per Kw/h to 49p kw/h in the last nine months alone. 

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Whereas others had a locked in rate of between 21p-25p per kw/h.

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To give you some context relative to analysis of Level clients and Manchester firms, for a space of circa 5,000 sq ft (50/60 people with meeting rooms and breakout space) firms are typically utilising circa 80,000kw/h per annum (subject to building and business).

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In this instance, the uplift in energy prices equates to an additional £24,652 per year in bills over the tenure of the agreement. That’s £73,956 over three years and some speculate rates are still going to rise in the short term.

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For those taking space at other buildings and for those taking larger spaces, this could be significantly higher. 

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This is important to factor in when comparing buildings as it may make your rent free period less attractive with higher energy bills.

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