No, not the iconic 80's rock group or the song by Prince but an acronym beloved by Sales Trainers that can be applied to just about any area of business, and is much used here at Workspace:

Keep It Simple Stupid (or variations thereof).

Peterborough Workspace Ltd launched in 1991 with a goal to support local entrepreneurs, business start-ups and local small businesses.

Simple, not complicated.
A clear goal.

Now, almost 30 years later, things have changed; new services have been added and generally things have moved on but that goal remains. For our tenants and virtual tenants this translates into a few small things that make all the difference to them:

No Deposit Required
 - starting a business can be costly. Not only do you need lots of things that cost money, but as a new business you're often seen as a high risk. Your providers & suppliers aren't always prepared to 'gamble on your success' and quite often you won't get credit or it's payment in advance. For us, taking a holding deposit that cannot be touched by either party seems like a fruitless exercise, so, we don't. Likewise, we won't ask for two or three month's rent in advance & we don't ask for any restoration or exit costs or apply any other admin charges.

No Long-Term Lease
 - long before WeWork came about, there were organisations, including us, who decided against long term leases for their clients. It's great having a 1,3,5yr business plans but in reality things change, and for new, small businesses quite often they do so quickly. Being tied into a 12 month or even longer contract for your premises can restrict your plans and potentially hamper & restrict your growth. So we keep it simple, our tenants are on a rolling monthly contract. At any time, a tenant can give us 4 weeks notice and move - move into a different unit here, move out, move back home, the choice is theirs. Now in reality, and because we engage, support and do what we can to help our tenants, we generally know far, far in advance what our tenants are doing and quite often are actively engaged in helping them move¹. That said, we've had tenants that have moved in and moved out in what sometimes feels like the blink of an eye and, at present, we've also got two tenants who have been for over 25 years! In all cases, all tenants are on the same simple and easy rolling monthly contracts.

No Hidden or Unexpected Charges
 - none of us like to pay more than we plan or expect to. Sometimes this can change the dynamic of a business relationship and things can unravel quickly. We operate as a landlord which can sometimes be seen as a relationship that is heavily stacked in our favour. So to keep things even we're open, clear and upfront about all the costs, charges and pricing structures at Workspace. For our physical tenants, our monthly charges are for a fully serviced office and it includes everything we believe it should cover - the office space, lighting, heating, staffed reception, gigabit internet, a landline telephone number. All of that is included in the price. We make it clear that if you use our printer/photocopier it will charge extra. Our current telephone contract incurs call costs for overseas and non-geographical numbers but UK landline & mobile calls are free. However, if you do incur charges we don't add any hidden admin fee for processing the costs. 

Starting, running and growing a business is hard. Our goal is to make our involvement with your business that little bit easier. If you're looking at moving your business out of your home or you need to relocate from your current commercial premises and want a simple, fuss-free contract that gives you flexibility without being tied down to a long (anything longer than a month) contract get in touch with us - office@pe27.co.uk. You can see what we currently available HERE, and don't be disappointed if the space/office you want is not available. Get in touch as things change quickly here and you might not have to wait too long.

Workspace is home to a diverse mix of businesses; from online retailers, accountants, electrical contractors to hairdressers, beauticians, business coaches, first aid training and much much more. All our tenants work to create a supportive, collaborative environment that makes Workspace House THE place to be if you're serious about starting and growing a successful business. It's that simple.