There comes a point in the life of most businesses or organisations that it is time to move to new premises, take on new space or even overhaul the space that you have. There may be a myriad of reasons for this, from organic growth (you simply don’t have room for that new marketing team), acquisition, opening up a new location or possibly downsizing to a site more suitable for your needs.

The workplace is changing

The last decade in particular has seen huge changes in fundamentally how we all work – the rise of flexible and remote working, hot desking and a concentration on effective use of space with collaboration, productivity and employee wellbeing at the heart of the experience.  If you want to attract key talent, best think again about those dingy isolated workstations and drab colour schemes and, even if you find the concept of workplace happiness a little too intangible for your liking, the wealth of evidence supporting the positive impact on productivity, staff retention and, ultimately, the bottom line that engaging workspaces has, should convince even the most curmudgeonly of you that it is a good thing to invest in.

Mind the gap

…But that’s the point. These projects are inevitably an investment, and generally a big one, regardless of the size of your organisation. Even if you have been prudent enough to budget and plan ahead for a move or refurbishment, you can probably think of many more ways you could use that capital to grow your business that doesn’t involve partition walls and new furniture. You might try to squeeze your aspirations for a fantastic new workspace into a budget that simply doesn’t fit and, at best, have to live with a compromise or, worse still, you are paralysed into inaction and try to carry on with what you have.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

A new world

Asset finance for fit out projects is something that specialists like Bluestone Leasing provide organisations like yours with every day. What we have learnt over the last twenty years or so though is that, for most of our new clients, they have never used leasing for such projects ever before. There are notable exceptions when it comes to the knowledge of asset finance in business. Vehicle finance is both extremely popular and well understood as is, to a lesser degree, technology and IT finance. Most of us wouldn’t blink an eye at the photocopier (technically a multifunctional device, I know) that we are renting sat in the corner of the office but the concept that we can do the same with the cabling, lighting, furniture, ceiling grid, indeed all of the building fit out, raises at least a Vulcan eyebrow.

The lightbulb moment

It is a great feeling for our team to see the reaction when we sit with a new client, go through the concept and explain all the benefits. Often we experience a “lightbulb moment” as the customer grasps the idea and starts to race ahead with their own thoughts as to how they can employ our solution for their project.

That all said, we are realistic enough to accept that not everyone planning a fit out project gets an introduction to Bluestone Leasing and even those that do will need help and assistance in making an informed choice.

The Guide

That’s why we have introduced our Fit Out Finance: A User Guide. Inspired by a determination to offer an independent, comprehensive and informative overview of everything to consider when thinking about using finance for any fit out project.

We wanted to demystify the terminology, explain just how tax benefits works from a lay person perspective, cover all the different finance options available and the pros and cons of each. Mindful that the vast majority would be considering finance for fit out for the first time, and would not necessarily have the right contacts, we set out what to look for in a provider and, just as importantly, what to avoid.

In a sector rightly criticised for lacking transparency, we provide guidance on how to check a finance quotation is accurate, how to meaningfully compare one against another and the pitfalls to watch out for.

Although this guide is no substitute to the dedicated time our team spend with each and every client to understand fully their organisation, their needs and the dynamic of the project, it does supplement that work and provide answers to so many of the questions we have come across over the years.

Initial feedback since the recent launch of the guide has been tremendous. Clients express how simple the language of the guide is to understand, how much they like the “warts and all” approach and how much it has helped them make an informed choice.

You’re welcome

Typically, we provide the guide to those clients we have already been introduced to through our partners (their potential suppliers or advisors) in the fit out sector or if they are one of our existing Bluestone Leasing customers.

So emphatic has the feedback been that we would like to extend access to the guide to any organisation, private or public sector, that is considering a fit out project and would like to learn more about using finance as an alternative to capital upfront.

Simply use the contact form here to request a copy of the guide and we will be delighted to help.

We’ve helped thousands of businesses make similar investments over the years and are proud of the quality of the service we provide. We would welcome the opportunity to do the same for you.