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January’s office of the month goes to….Google. It was only a matter of time that we approbated the seemingly impressive Googleplex; Google’s HQ in Mountain View, California.

Not only does Googleplex boast four central buildings, totaling a whopping 47,000 sq meters, the entire site is spread over 26 acres – the equivalent to 30 football stadiums! This is the only place where “sorry, I got lost” is a common and acceptable excuse after returning late back from lunch.

The site was originally built for Silicon Graphics (SGI) as a creative collaboration between Studios Architecture, the SWA Group, the Planning and Community Development Agency of the City of Mountain View and SGI in order to develop the privately-owned corporate headquarters and adjoining public green space. The overall project was completed in 1997 and Google began leasing the facilities in 2003, as well as acquiring the majority of SGI’s estate, including the Googleplex, for an emphatic $319 million.

Now for the fun stuff. On a daily basis staff can enjoy the 1500 sq meter gym, free laundry rooms, two small swimming pools, sand volleyball court, 11 cafes and pool tables! The main lobby is furnished with giant shade lamps and rubber balls, as well as a piano and large projection of current live Google search queries.

As well as Googleplex being irrepressibly cool, inspiring and welcoming, it happens to be energy efficient too. The complex is littered with solar panels; covering the rooftops of eight buildings, two car parks and equipped to produce 1.6 megawatts of electricity. The panels provide the power needed for 30% of the peak electricity demand in their solar-powered buildings.

Is there anything GooglePlex can’t provide? It appears not and that’s why this is one of the most advanced and desirable office spaces to work in the world. We take our hats off to you Google!

Why not come and experience our environmentally focused executive office space situated in London and Manchester and see how your business can enjoy a fun and greener working environment.

(images provide by wikipedia.org/wiki/Googleplex)

Firstly, Happy New Year to all our clients and partners – we hope you enjoyed the festive period and are now ready for a prosperous 2010!

Serviced Office Company are also looking auspiciously to the year ahead, and with a number of new sites on the horizon in London and Manchester, we’re very much looking forward to working with new and existing clients in tailoring our serviced office solutions to your needs.

Like most businesses we’ve crafted a few New Year’s resolutions in order to push the business forward, but just as importantly, be even more environmentally studious when selecting our executive office spaces.

With the commercial property market finally rediscovering its vitality in the capital and other major cities, businesses in the UK are now more confident and inclined to relocate; with enquiries on the rise and faith restored.

However, we are still fully aware that our clients need to be financial astute, so all of our executive suites for rent will fulfil your budget – just let us know what you’re looking for, where and how much and we will provide the right package.

Serviced Office Company wants to help your business find the right space and help make 2010 a successful and favourable year…All the best!

The Christmas office party has been a highly anticipated and often controversial date on the business calendar for many years. Most of us can recall an inebriated boss who has over-stepped the mark, or an equally zealous colleague that thinks getting naked in front of everyone is the perfect way to the get the party started. We’ll let you be the judge of that one….

So to help you with your Christmas office party plans, and to ensure the bash is a success, we’ve compiled some tops tips to get the party started – and not a naked person in sight!

Time and Place

When choosing the date and time for a party, you need to be sure that everyone who is invited can make it. You need to look for any holidays, and try to avoid them clashing with the party. A Christmas party obviously needs to take place near to Christmas, however due to busy schedules and deadlines, a lot of companies now have their parties well into the New Year.

Entertainment

This is always a tricky one as finding the right entertainment for all is pretty much impossible. However, you can either go for a DJ who plays a variety of genres, a cover band which are great for pleasing all ages, or get everyone to put their favourite 20 songs on a CD and they can be played over the course of the evening. The latter is certainly the most inexpensive option too.

Food and drink

As much as people like to drink over Christmas, that doesn’t mean you should encourage excessive drinking by providing an abundance of free alcohol. If you decide to have a bar, only supply a certain amount of free drinks in order to maintain control – and reduce the chances of a forthcoming employee of course! With regards to food it’s probably sensible to have both meat and vegetable options, even if they’re aren’t veggies in the office. How much you buy is dictated by your budget, so spend wisely!

Travel

Although it’s unlikely anyone will be driving home, to prevent any temptation of drink-driving book enough taxis relative to party goers. Taxis are notoriously more expensive over the festive period, but slightly cheaper if you travel in larger groups.

All of our executive office space is ideal for hosting office parties, with stunning interiors and bespoke furniture; you know that your Christmas party will be remembered for the right reasons this year!

If there is one thing we really appreciate at Serviced Office Company it’s cool stuff for the office. With Christmas just over a week away, some of us still haven’t had the time to buy Christmas presents for work colleagues and friends. To help you with your last minute shopping, we’ve found our top five cool office stocking fillers to really make Secret Santa memorable this year!

1) The Street Mouse
Whether you’re the boy or girl racer in the office, the Street Mouse means you can speed around your mouse mat as you surf the internet. This flashy desktop accessory comes with alloy wheels and LED headlights, as well as a variety of exterior colours. Who said using your work computer wasn’t fun?

2) Bendi Board pink computer keyboard
Bring some life to your desktop with an ultra cool, flexible, silicon keyboard. Not only will you look great using one, but its versatility means it’s coffee and tea-proof and can be easily rolled up and carried in your bag. There is a white option too.

3) Finger Print Lock
The fingerprint lock is the ultimate security gadget entry system for the budding James Bond! Great for the home too, you’ll never worry about being locked out again or the busy office with staff working all hours. Configured to hold up to 25 different finger prints in its memory.

4) Stationary Kit
This ingenious little stationary kit would please a CEO or student due to its pragmatic simplicity. Whether you work at home or in the office, you know that this kit will keep your administrative life in order!

5) Autobin
None of us particularly enjoy emptying a smelly that is riddled with germs and your colleagues left over curry remnants! The beautifully engineered AutoBin, with its non touch opening lid, is the ideal way to maintain hygiene in the office.

All of our serviced offices are unbranded space, a blank canvas if you like, which means that your business can really make our managed offices your own – especially with our cool Christmas office gift ideas. A big Merry Christmas from the Serviced Office Company team!

For more cool office stocking filler ideas visit www.urbanjunkie.co.uk

This month’s office of the month goes to…. Pixar. And we’ll tell you for why:

As well as walls painted like skies and a gorgeous open-plan cafeteria, the Pixar offices are nothing short of inspirational. With cool pumpkin fairy lights giving the shed-cubicals a Disney feel of their own, it’s no wonder this creative company comes up with such fun ideas.

According to Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the guys responsible for this masterpiece, the building was retained by Pixar’s CEO, Steve Jobs, to design a new headquarters campus for 600 employees on a fifteen acre site in Emeryville, California. The facility is master planned to house more than 1,000 employees in the future.

We have a new solution to irritating corporate speak and annoying colleagues. It is this: The USB missile defense array! Inclusive of software, this cunning little devise allows you to aim and fire at targets at your will!

Gosh! Just think of the possibilities! This is a better time waster than Twitter and is a sure fire way to get your revenge on your most annoying of work buddies!

Swine Flu has taken 29 lives to date in the UK, and in high volume, face-to-face places like the office it can easily spread. Little known fact: The influenza bug can live for up to two hours on surfaces like desks, keyboards and doors.

The office is a hot house for multiplying bacteria so “moving forward…” here are our tips to keeping the virus to yourself:

• Carry tissues
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough
• Wash up cutlery, plates and mugs properly as soon as you have finished with them
• Clean your hands thoroughly and regularly

Carry Tissues and Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough

One sneeze can spread disease up to 100mph, so covering your mouth and nose is very important. Remember to throw all your tissues away once you have used them, and wash your hands.

Clean your hands thoroughly

Washing you hands properly is extremely important. When you are sharing a space with people, germs can spread quickly. Hands get everywhere so make sure they are clean!

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth

Germs live in hot, moist places – places like your eyes, nose and mouth, so avoid touching them and spreading these germs. The bacteria, once they have set up camp on your hand, will contaminate desks, doors, keyboards and mugs. Remember: The office can be a very dangerous place. So keep it clean!

When you work in an office environment and you spend up to eight hours a day with the same people, things are bound to get on your nerves a little bit. But, there are a few phrases which have become universally irritating. Here are our top ten:

1) Moving/Going forward

What this really means is ‘let’s try and forget your massive complaint and keep going’.

2) Incentivise

This word is used when discussing the best tool to make someone do something they do not want to do.

3) Let’s touch base about that offline

No one really seems to know what is meant by this, but it usually refers to having a private meeting about something.

4) Referring to a problem as a challenge

This is a clever way of side-stepping the acknowledgment of a problem.

5) Pre-plan

What is wrong with planning? You cannot pre-plan. It is not possible.

6) My door is open on this issue

Never have we heard this used by someone who has their own office. What is wrong with plain old ‘I am happy to speak about this’.

7) At the end of the day

Never have we heard this phrase used in reference to the end of an actual day

8 ) Thinking outside the box

Since when was there a box?

9) Give it 110%

Again it doesn’t make sense. This one is used to let people know that 100% will never be good enough!

10) Out of the loop

Translated, this means I don’t have all the information. Out of what loop, I’m not sure?

This month’s office of the month goes to…. Red Bull. And we’ll tell you for why:

As well as slides and a beautiful roof terrace, employers of Red Bull get to cruise around a fantastically modern office space and play table tennis at lunch! To inspire the creativity needed to work for the brand, and to possibly burn off all that extra energy they have from sampling the energy drink, this office is more like a playground than a place to work.

How do you get to your meetings? According to the adverts, Red Bull gives you wings – and the employees of Red Bull certainly do fly into their meetings – on slides!

Here at Serviced Office Company, we offer a home away from home type experience where comfort and inspiration is paramount to our clients, but we thought that the Red Bull offices deserved a mention in our office of the month for going above and beyond creating an exciting and energetic work space!

Staff area: table tennis anyone?

One thing that drives us mad is when you make a nice cup of coffee or tea, return to your desk and forget about it. Then about ten minutes later you fancy a hot drink, remember you’ve made one already, then realise its cold! Well, not anymore!

Chow China have released this little office gem.

I know what our new office gadget is going to be! Say goodbye to cold coffee and tea.