THE market for office space as and when you need it may not be as peripheral to business as first meets the eye. One of the leading property services companies in South Africa, Pinelands based Old Mutual Properties, is now rolling out its plan to make available nationally fully furnished and serviced offices on an ‘as you need’ basis.

A special division - The Office Suites Company - has been formed to serve the market for small fully equipped offices either for small businesses or for travelling business people who need professional satellite office space in other towns.

While it is expected that most tenants may opt for three-month leases or longer, it is possible to rent space on an hourly, daily or weekly basis.

Peter Vergeer, who heads up the business, says it can serve as a nurturing ground for future, permanent business. Last month The Office Suites Company opened its 1 200sq m premises in Claremont, Cape Town. This follows the successful launch of its Parktown flagship in Johannesburg, which has been providing fully furnished and serviced flexible office solutions to local and international tenants since August last year.

Now plans are afoot to open branches in Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London, Pretoria, Sandton and Windhoek. Not only does the company aim to establish a national network of office suites, but it may even be grown into an African brand.

Vergeer tells Cape Business News that the company will be able to be highly competitive in its pricing. Until now the local market has been dominated by international players, such as Regus, and the scope for expansion looks promising, he says. Depending on size and type of office space, monthly rentals vary from R3 000 to R5 500 a month.Vergeer says emerging businesses can now take flexible space at a good address, reducing costs at a time when every cent is necessary to start up.

Vergeer says that after careful consideration, Claremont was chosen as the site for the next branch. “Claremont is still the most central and accessible suburb in Cape Town, and has so much to offer. The new branch is surrounded by a variety of hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and is in walking distance of two gyms.”

An initiative by Old Mutual Properties’ concept engineers - young graduates who turn the conventional workplace perspective on its head - the Office Suites Company is a new and vibrant way of developing vacant properties.

Andrew Weinberg who leads the team of Concept Engineers says: “We took over a going concern in August 2001 and are now growing it into a national business. Some of our clients are small local firms of lawyers or accountants who need a professional face, infrastructure and space. Parktown and Claremont Offices Suites each comprise 1 200sq m. They offer comfortable offices to the professional who can expect a receptionist to answer the phones in the name of his or her company and take messages; the latest equipment from telephones, video conferencing to fax and photocopying; catering services, board-room service; cleaning, 24-hour security, air-conditioning, back-up word-processing services and typing or secretarial work, a hands-on operations manager, stationery supplies, courier and mail services.”