How to open a satellite office

Now more than ever, successful businesses are understanding the importance of decentralising their business outside of busy cities. For most companies, this means opening a satellite office in a new county or region.

Opening a satellite office comes with many benefits, but managers also run the risk of challenges without forethought or organisation. With careful planning and consideration, there will be less stress for your business and team members (both existing and new recruits).

Here are the five vital things you need to think about before opening a satellite office:

Location

The location is the most important decision-making factor when opening a satellite office. As a business, you should consider your objectives for decentralising and expanding.

If your objective is to network with potential clients or partners, it is worth choosing a location in a hotspot for your industry. For example, as a fashion business, you might consider opening a satellite office in Leicester where you can be immersed in the garment industry.

Do you want to take advantage of a local talent pool? If your objective for opening a satellite office is to hire employees with a specific set of skills, you need to research where your potential recruits live. By offering your potential hires a shorter or more convenient commute that does not involve public transport, this could give your business a competitive advantage.

Is your strategy to expand into a new market? Opening a satellite office in a location with little to no competition could help support this goal. You’ll want to make sure that you hire local talent who know the market and audience to hit the ground running.

Technology

In 2019, Google’s People Innovation Lab (PiLab) surveyed more than 5,000 of their distributed workforce. The results found that the biggest challenge for a team that were not all in the same office was establishing connection.

Veronica Gilrane, Manager of Google’s PiLab, explains that “glitchy video or faulty sound makes impromptu conversations that help teammates get to know, and trust each other, seem like more trouble than they’re worth.”

When opening a satellite office, you need to ensure that new starters and current employees have the technology to allow them to communicate and collaborate effectively. It is especially important for new starters so they can feel like they are a part of the team. This includes:

• Laptops or computers with webcams for all employees
• Software or cloud computing for conferencing and productivity tools (such as Google Workspace or Microsoft 365)
• Established processes for booking meeting spaces

It is especially important for new starters so they can feel like they are a part of the team. An efficient technology suite and knowing your employees are confident in using it means that teams in satellite offices will be able to maintain a company culture.

Understand how your employees work at their best

If opening a satellite office, it’s important to understand how your employees work at their best. If it’s an office for web developers and designers, your employees might need their own dedicated desk with adequate desk space for extra monitors and equipment.

For collaborative teams, ensure that you have adequate meeting spaces and processes in place that employees can quickly book meeting rooms. Also make sure that you have casual breakout spaces within your satellite office for team members to catch up about work or have team meetings.

Keep in mind that how your employees work at their best will change, so you must be open to hear feedback on this.

Consider differences in employment law across the UK

You must consider the differences in employment law if you are opening a satellite office in Scotland or anywhere else in the UK.

Below we have outlined some of the main differences in employment law in England versus Scotland. However, you may find that recruiting a new HR lead that is local to the area would be beneficial.

Bank holidays and annual leave in Scotland

Scotland has additional bank holidays on 2nd January and 30th November, including St Andrew’s Day, as opposed to England and Wales that have eight bank holidays. Employers do not have to close on St Andrew’s Day, therefore employees do not have the right to take it off work.

Whether or not employees are allowed to take a bank holiday off work will vary from business to business. However some employers in Scotland might provide entitlement to both local and national bank holidays.

Employment tribunals in Scotland

In Scotland, the Employment Tribunal procedure also differs from usual practice in England.

Witness statements are not regularly used in Scotland, but verbal evidence can be used. It is also common for Employment Tribunals to now allow witnesses into the hearing until all parties have provided evidence.

Prioritise flexibility

Before committing to a certain location or space, you must consider your future plans for the business. Prior to signing a new commercial property agreement, contemplate where your business wants to be in the next year and beyond.

Are you planning on a big recruitment drive to expand the team? You might need more space. Or perhaps you have future plans of tapping into a new market? Then you might consider opening another satellite office down the line.

When opening a satellite office, opt for an office space provider that will give you flexible rents, parking spaces and the ability to offer you more offices in the same building if you need to expand.

If your business has different working hours, look for somewhere that might give you 24-hour access.

Opening a satellite office should be an exciting time for a business. You are on the cusp of expanding and embarking on a brand new adventure!

Though there are important factors to consider, they should not put you off taking your business to the next level. Careful planning and understanding what your business requires will be indispensable when deciding where to grow your team and business.