On my way to work today I saw a massive pvc banner advertising new office space that has become available in a new development. Now usually I ignore these things completly. We’ve all gotten very used to screening out advertising, no matter now loud the music, how flashing the television advert or how glossy the vinyl pvc banners are. In this case though I noticed it because of something that is under discussion at work at the moment.
The boss is thinking of moving offices. The let of the agreement has come up, and he is seriously considering changing offices for a better deal. Now commercial property in london is expensive, it really is so moving is quite a big decision. Having said that I think that one of his reasons for making the move is based around the actual fact that it is expensive. If he stays here and renews, rumour has it that the cost is going to shoot up, dispite all the stuff on the news about housing prices coming down. So now he is looking for somewhere to rent… or thats what we thought.
Actually, he has decided to try and find an office that is willing to barter for space! That’s right, rather than pay for space like most normal businesses, he is going to try and find an office landlord that is interested in our business, and instead of taking our money my boss hopes that he will accept payment in kind through our service! Now actually I think that this is a really good idea in theory. I think that swapping is great. It involves no exchange of money, so you don’t get hit by tax, and since you are offering something that you already have or produce, you can effectivly swap things "at cost" which means that both partys end up with more than they would have had if they had just paid. It means that eveyone gets value for money.
The real quesiton is though – is he really going to be able to find someone to make that kind of a trade with? Keep reading and I’ll let you know as and when it happens… !