Empty offices – no movement in rents!

John Kehoe wrote a piece in the AFR on April 24^th about how the [1]“public service ‘ghost’ offices should rile taxpayers”. Seems like a fair point, if employees are now predominantly working from home (WFH), with 57% of public servants in 2023 doing just that, why are governments and others not reducing or renegotiating floor space and rentals? Is it just taking time to adjust, with many lease terms three, five or more years, are we just seeing a slow rebalance?

Certainly, it seems sub-optimal to be supporting employees desire to work from home and then simultaneously renting expensive downtown office spaces with nobody at their desks! Certainly, there is an argument that staff need their CBD desk space on the days they work in the office, rarely a Monday or a Friday – I’m not bitter! Surely it can’t be long before we see hot desking on some kind of rota system to reduce footprints.

We have seen little evidence of rents coming down, presumably the supply and demand balance currently favours landlords. However, we can’t help but think that a rental rebalance is inevitable. Watch this space.

Please feel free to share your recent experiences with rental negotiations.

Good luck and stay safe.

References:

[1] AFR April 24 Page 29 Public service “ghost” offices should rile taxpayers

Subscribe to receive alerts for new blog posts

Recent posts

4 December 2024 . Michael McGrath

What’s Next – With Tom Waterhouse

Back in June 2024, I had the chance to chat with Tom Waterhouse on The Troubleshooters Podcast. We covered a lot of ground, but one topic really stuck with me—the big question most business owners face after selling: what’s next? It’s something I hear all the time from clients, and Tom’s experience sheds light on that particular dilemma.

27 November 2024 . Michael McGrath

Amazon and The Big Two

I’ve been predicting the demise of the grocers for three decades! By and large I’ve been wrong or let’s just say it’s taking longer than I expected. Carrie LaFranz in last week's AFR has an interesting take on this subject.

20 November 2024 . Michael McGrath

Confessions of a Bulldust Detector

James Thompson has written a piece in the AFR citing Gary Wiess' advice to CFO’s, suggesting, they focus on the numbers, “of course.” He goes on to say “At the very basic level, it is the accumulation of the financial data in a cohesive, coherent manner that can be understood.” Sounds simple but as Weiss says, “it’s not always a given.”

6 November 2024 . Michael McGrath

Our Thoughts on Leadership

Leadership is critical. The ability to guide, influence and have others follow you, carries great responsibility.

16 October 2024 . Michael McGrath

Mike’s Story

In my first experience with selling a business, I scaled up from a single pizza delivery shop to 84 stores, only to realize I had undersold the business. Here's what I learned during my first M&A deal and why you shouldn’t rush in without some help.

18 September 2024 . Michael McGrath

A Business Lesson from Mike: When a Giant Buyer Comes Knocking

Selling your business is likely to involve a major mismatch in terms of the scale and size of the likely buyer. Getting in the ring with them by yourself and without a clear strategy, might not work out so well for you.

4 September 2024 . Michael McGrath

10 Steps You Need To Follow Before Selling Your Business

Selling a business isn't like selling a house. A business is a dynamic asset—customers, management, staff, stock, IP, and goodwill all contribute. The key is to always run your business professionally and profitably, focusing on value creation and risk mitigation. So why wait until you’re ready to sell? Here are my top 10 tips to prepare your business before you sell.

28 August 2024 . Michael McGrath

The Hidden Dangers of Publicising Your Business Sale

Publicising your intention to sell makes your business vulnerable to perceptions of instability among staff, competitors, clients, and suppliers. Small to medium-sized companies are delicately balanced, and the last thing an owner needs is staff hearing rumours that the business is for sale.

8 August 2024 . Michael McGrath

Sell, Sell, Sell, The Media Overload

We are often asked at Oasis Partners, when there is market volatility or other geopolitical uncertainties, whether it’s still a good time to sell a business. The reality is that we are selling most of our clients to much larger corporate acquirers where there are strong synergies and reasons to do a deal.

23 July 2024 . Michael McGrath

The Rising Retirement Age: Implications for Business Owners

At Oasis Partners we are seeing about half our transactions are shareholders selling for age related reasons, retirement or health. The other half are selling for other reasons such as wanting a change or feeling that a merger would provide benefits at their particular stage of the business lifecycle.

02 8599 3442

02 8599 3442