Regus, the world's largest workspace provider that has business centres in 550 cities in 90 countries, opened its Leicester Grove Park centre in February 2010.

Eighteen months later, the centre is thriving and provides services to over 100 companies every day. It is a popular choice for satellite offices of large corporates, perhaps given its strategic location on the M1, but also local small and medium sized enterprises, especially private healthcare consultants and solicitors.  The services on offer range from equipped offices, daily or hourly meeting rooms, a drop-in business lounge and 'virtual office' services.   

One of the reasons behind the centre's growth is the accelerating trend towards "flexible working".  Many firms are rejecting the traditional 'twentieth century' office with a long lease and high overheads in preference for more scalable, on-demand workspace. 

If you walk into any company these days, you are likely to see lots of empty desks, with staff working from home, out at meetings or on the road. A fixed work location is just not as necessary as it once was.  

Local managers realise the financial drain of under-occupied offices. In Regus' recent research, 60% of local firms agreed that a flexible approach to workspace carries a lower price tag than conventional leased offices these days. 

Virtual Office - Better Image

This new approach to workspace isn't just the preserve of large firms. One service that is especially popular with smaller companies is the 'virtual office' (VO). 

Regus has seen substantial rises in numbers of VO customers at its business centres across the Midlands. The demand is coming from home-based and small firms seeking workspace that is low cost, low risk, and more productive. The attractive business address is certainly a driving factor too.

Top Tips for a Successful Virtual Office 

It's one of the classic business archetypes - the entrepreneur who starts a business in a spare room, and ends up a global player. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, for example, famously began Google in a garage. 

Such stories sound great with hindsight, but not every spare-room business does so well. First impressions count, and these include your business address, if and how your phone is answered, and where you meet potential customers and investors.

Small business owners know all that, of course; the dilemma is what to do about it. An impressive office costs money. How can you ensure those vital first impressions are positive, without saddling yourself with too many overheads?

For many companies, the answer is to go virtual. You assume the presence of a more established company, at a fraction of the price of leasing prestigious office space. 

For a set price a month, you gain a professional office address, a dedicated business phone number which is answered by a local receptionist, and post and call management. 

Another option is to use serviced offices. These provide fully-equipped workspace for 1 to 100+ people with options to suit different budgets and needs. Depending on the provider, you can rent serviced physical space by the hour, the day or for longer periods of time. 

In Regus' experience, people use our virtual and serviced offices for a variety of reasons. Why they use them governs how they use them, so it's a good idea to consider which features would best suit your business.

1. Many SMEs want a prestigious address. For example, many local firms have chosen a virtual office address at our centres in Leicester Grove Park, Nottingham City Centre or East Midlands airport. Those wishing to project an international image might choose our most popular virtual office locations globally, such as New York City's Chrysler Building, London's Berkeley Square and Sydney's Citigroup Centre. Such an address on your letterhead can work wonders for your image, and is an impressive place to meet clients and investors.

2. Some want a more professional image. For home-based companies, the nightmare scenario of a call from a major potential investor being answered by your three-year-old son is all too common. With a virtual office, you can have calls answered by a trained receptionist. 

3. Some use virtual offices for the flexibility. You can travel around the country, meeting clients or marketing your ideas, secure that the phone is being answered professionally.

4. Others want to lose the distractions. As well as being costly, running an office consumes time. You have to manage support staff; equip and maintain the office; sign for mail deliveries … the list goes on. Using a virtual office means someone else does those tasks for you, freeing you to focus on core activities.

5. It's a way to expand into new markets. Many local SMEs use a virtual office to establish a presence in another city. It is a great way to project a presence before you are ready to physically set up shop there. 

6. Some use a virtual office as a permanent arrangement; others use it as a staging post. They may then upgrade to a campus office (a private work area in an open-plan environment) or a serviced office. If you base your virtual office at a location that offers campus or serviced offices, you can grow without having to change your business address or find new premises.