Faced with record figures of unemployment, Britain’s youth are heading towards self-employment rather than self-pity. Almost a million 18–24 year olds were classed as unemployed in the Office for National Statistics’ recent figures, out of almost 2.5 million in total.
Previously, a succession of bleak unemployment statistics would lead to more people going to or returning to study, hoping for an economic upturn once studies had finished.
However, the increase in tuition fees has meant that, for some, this is no longer an option. Instead, inspired by television programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragons Den, many are looking to make a job instead of take a job, using serviced offices as a convenient, inexpensive and all-inclusive base to work from.
Government records reveal a 46% leap in self-employed graduates. Many operate simply from a laptop, neither requiring nor having the finance to maintain a regular office; but serviced offices are providing for the times when an address or interview room is needed, or where the flexibility of office space is required.
Providers of serviced offices in the following cities appear well placed to provide for this DIY employment attitude: London, where four out of ten students are either running or setting up their own business, Hull (36%), Glasgow (32%) and Cardiff (22%).
Some serviced offices are already catching on to the entrepreneurial atmosphere, giving discounts to SMEs that are starting up or seeking to expand or offering ‘test drive’ periods for SMEs using new satellite offices. One serviced offices company is even giving away three months’ use of their virtual offices to existing clients or those that take up workspace at one of their centres.
Further encouragement comes from the government and its New Enterprise Allowance. Set up in October 2010, it offers qualifying participants a business blend of mentoring, finance and training. It has now chosen to expand the service, offering up to 40,000 would-be entrepreneurs the chance to set up in business. Serviced offices appear well placed to offer the adaptability and flexibility many of these SMEs will require.
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