Business Parks Are A Great Place To Work

Sep 24 2012 Adevertisment Feature

With greater competition and the need to attract new tenants, business parks have thrown off their drab, utilitarian image in recent years. A modern business park can be an excellent place to work and do business.

A good example of a thriving business park is Arlington Square, located in the town of Bracknell. Set in an expanse of natural woodland, Bracknell is a thriving town with a lively business district. The town has been very successful in attracting high technology companies, with big names such as Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu, Siemens and Microsoft occupying the town's office space. Bracknell is close to both Reading and Windsor and has good transport connections to London, making it an ideal location.

Arlington Square has attracted significant interest from investors and property managers, including global property expert Goodman. Local business and investors have recognised the need to offer more than just workspace; the drive has been to create a more "campus-like" atmosphere for the business park. Arlington Square now has entertainment facilities, places to eat and drink and a Holiday Inn hotel. Cafes and gyms provide busy workers with much-needed rest and recreation.

A business park offers the advantage of conveniently-located facilities arranged around a central location. Conference centres and hotels are located within a stone's-throw of the office, making meetings and seminars much easier to arrange and significantly less disruptive than having to trek across a busy town. For employees with children, crèches and childcare facilities can be located centrally; rather than each employee having to make separate childcare arrangements or a company needing to find space on-site for a nursery, employees from different companies can all take advantage of a conveniently-located childcare facility within easy walking distance of the office.

Business parks offer greater ease of access than offices located in the centre of a town or city. Since you don't have to drive through a town or city’s winding streets, there's often less of a problem with traffic congestion or rush-hour snarl-ups that delay meeting, for example. This improves not just productivity and efficiency, with fewer working hours lost to traffic woes, but also morale. A staff member who's forced to scurry in at five past nine is nowhere near as lively and confident as one who was onsite for 8:30 and has had time for a leisurely coffee before strolling into the office.

Choosing to locate your workplace in a business park also allows you and your workforce to escape the grind of an urban environment. Because of its location, Arlington Square offers workers plenty of opportunity to get away from the office environment without breaking up the day too much. As well as gyms for exercise, there are plenty of places to go for a walk: if you fancy a riverside stroll, the Thames is only a few minutes away. A breath of fresh air can be just the thing to wake up the brain cells.

Finally, locating your workplace in a business park can improve networking -- not just between staff on one firm but between different businesses. The potential for an exchange of fresh ideas and exciting new contacts can't be overstated.