Frequently 
Asked Questions

We have a range of office suites available at Pioneer House. We have offices suitable for 1 to 2 people up to a self-contained suite that will accommodate 60 people. All of the suites are fully furnished and ready for occupation.

All of our offices are provided with high quality furniture which consists of desks, operators chairs and storage facilities. There are wired data connections for PC’s/laptops to our high-speed data network with a basic free service, a telephone line with a voIP handset and direct dial phone number. The offices are also fully air conditioned, are newly decorated (white) and provide a really pleasant and comfortable working atmosphere.

It is possible for you to bring your own furniture, but we do not encourage it as our power and data connections have been designed to match our furniture layouts. We also reserve the right to make a charge for the removal of our furniture from the room you are looking to accommodate and also to reinstate it. Most of our customers utilise our furniture so when they move offices internally there is not as much work associated with the process. It is also no cheaper using your furniture rather than ours.

Our license fees include as much as possible where it is cost effective to do so. Our customers therefore benefit from their license fees including all rent, services charges (building and estate), utilities, on-site staff, repairs and maintenance (not damage), buildings insurance premiums, utilities, parking, cleaning, facilities management, common part H&S management, toilet stocking and cleaning and wifi. This is not an exact list but includes the key aspects of what is included. The license fees do not include business rates which is explained in the next paragraph.

All of our office space is individually rated by the valuation office. This means that If your organisation qualifies for any business rates relief due to being a charity or occupying accommodation of a certain size, you are likely to benefit from discounted business rates or not actually need to pay any rates at all. This is the reason why we organize the arrangement in this manner and it is worth pointing out what happens if a business centre is rated as a whole.

If a centre is rated as the whole site, the operator will be responsible for settling the business rates which is likely to be based upon the large business multiplier and the cost will be passed on to the occupier via the license fees charged. It is also likely that VAT will be charged on the whole license fee (including the business rates element) making the overall arrangement more expensive.

It is also worth pointing out that when grants were provided by the Government to occupiers of business premises at the start of the first COVID related lockdown, those business where the centre was rated as a whole rather than individually, they struggled to obtain the funds due to the overall arrangement.

Customers must sign a license agreement based upon our standard terms before moving into our accommodation. A license agreement is far less onerous for both the occupier and the owner/operator of the property and gives both parties far more flexibility in comparison to a lease. Another major benefit is that Solicitors do not normally get involved in the signing of a license agreement making the process simple and inexpensive.

Flexibility is the crux of what we do, and we try to be as flexible as we can with our customers. Most agreements are on a rolling monthly basis with between 1 - 2 months’ notice and do not have a fixed minimum term. Some customers have a specific period they need accommodation for and we are always willing to put arrangements in place that mirror the period they require. In comparison to leasehold arrangements, we offer the most flexible solution and are keen to work with our customers to suit their circumstances.

Deposits are required when taking serviced office space and they are normally the equivalent of 2 months license fees. The deposit is returned at the end of your occupation assuming you have fulfilled all of your obligations as per the signed license agreement.

Our offices are set up and ready to go. Once we are in receipt of a signed agreement, your deposit funds and any initial license fees we will provide you with fobs/keys, switch on your phones, patch in your data services and start the induction process. This can happen very quickly and has been done in the past in less than 24 hours.

Our boardroom and meeting rooms are available for use and are currently booked via our reception team. The reservations policy is strictly on a first come first served basis and there is also a cancellation policy that you will be made aware of when completing your booking. Refreshments and catering can be ordered via our on-site team who will also run you through how to use any presentation and videoconferencing equipment. All meeting rooms are normally charged on standard hourly, ½ day and day rates.

A free wifi service is available throughout the centre. This should not be confused with the high-quality data services that are provided for resident organisations, customers with memberships and meeting room users. Both wifi and hard-wired connections are used to deliver data services throughout the centre.

We have a range of data services available and can provide up to 100 Mbps of bandwidth via the leased line connection into the building. With the connection being solely for the centre, the only contention when utilising our shared service is with other users of the premises. This is different to a domestic service where bandwidth is shared with the various users of the connections to the local fibre cabinet. We have a range of shared and dedicated data services allowing customers to choose exactly what they need.

We make use of a cloud-based voice over IP telephone system and can provide as many telephone lines as needed. Customers have the choice of a basic or premium handset and whether they wish to pay for calls as used or take a 1,000 minute or unlimited bundle. The system provides all of the functionality that you would expect with voicemail, diverts and customisable answering rules. Additional call centre functionality can be purchased such as IVR’s, queues and reporting.

We do not provide any computing hardware or software for occupiers of our sites. Equipment of this nature would normally be provided for by the occupiers themselves.

Our reception team have access to a good quality printer, copier and scanner but most resident organisations utilise their own equipment of this nature. Our reception team will assist with ad-hoc requirements rather than permanent requirements.

It is possible to make use of an office for a day, week or month with our centres having pricing for these situations readily available. We also have a couple of memberships that allow people to use the breakout and/or coworking facility (where available) and/or private offices for up to 5 or 10 days per month. Our on-site teams can provide details of these memberships and how they work.

With the site being called a “Business Centre”, our customers tend to be heavily focussed on their business. That said, we have a wide range of organisations who occupy our space from all industry sectors including construction, finance, education etc. Our aim is to provide a pleasant, professional and safe working environment for all users of our space and tend to find that there are a lot of “like minded” people in occupation.

We have a number tea points within the building where people can make a hot drink and prepare meals. All tea points have counter tops with stools/seating for use.

At Pioneer House we also have a break-out facility with booths, sofas and soft seating for people to use when away from their desk.

Not only do we have kettles, microwaves and fridges in our tea points to allow you to make drinks, but we also have a high-quality hot drinks machine that dispenses a range of coffees and hot drinks. The machine is token based (which can be purchased from reception) or priced at 50p meaning it won’t break the bank when using it.

All of our sites have undesignated free parking which works on a fist come first served basis. In some instances, parts of our car parks are sectioned off for use by our larger occupiers, but we try to allow our car parks to run themselves.

Resident organisations are provided with keys to their office(s) and access fobs for the site that allows them 24/7 access.

Our staff are on-site from 08:30 until 17:30 Monday to Friday but finish at 17:00 on a Friday. Our sites are not manned at weekends or on public holidays. That said, the sites are continuously monitored from a security perspective with regular patrols when our staff aren’t present.