The role meeting room hire could play after the lockdown is lifted

What was your first thought when Boris Johnson announced England’s roadmap out of the coronavirus lockdown last week?

Perhaps you were salivating at the thought of potential summer barbecues with friends and family?

Or maybe a cold pint in the pub?

If you run a business, though, it’s probably the prospect of bringing your team together once again that excites you the most.

But will businesses be combining the benefits of working from home with regular face time, or will most be back to working from the office full-time?

FirstBaseHQ CEO Chris Herd reckons many businesses will place employees on a split week of 2-4 days working remotely and 1-2 days working together in an office or meeting space.

But how will ‘work’ look on the other side of the pandemic?

How will the world of work look after June 21?

The Prime Minister certainly thinks he knows the answer to that question.

“I know that some people may imagine that all conferences are going be like this, held over Zoom, Teams or what have you and we’ve got to prepare for a new age in which people don’t move around, do things remotely, and don’t commute anymore,” he said.

“I don’t believe it. Not for a moment. the British people will be consumed once again with their desire for the genuine face-to-face meeting that makes all the difference to the deal or whatever it is.”

Pretty clear cut, then, for Boris: After the lockdown is lifted completely, we hope, from June 21, businesses will all be back working full-time from the office in town and city centres once again.

It’s actually unlikely that it will be that clear cut and many businesses will move to that balance of remote and in-office working mentioned by Chris Herd.

Moving Chris Herd’s view forward, what we may see is companies opting to keep their teams based at home or working remotely, while getting them together on a weekly basis, alongside holding meetings with clients and potential new leads.

Which is where meeting room hire comes to the fore…

The benefits of hiring a meeting room

Hiring a meeting room for a day with your team, or for multiple days when on an extended team-building session or when planning a big project, can be hugely beneficial to your business and to your people.

It can be great for meeting potential or existing clients, too – rather than the all-to-common coffee shop meetings we so often see small businesses or freelancers conduct.

Here are six other major benefits that come with hiring a professional meeting space…

1. Great facilities

Have you ever tried to convince the local Costa to let you set up a projector screen for a meeting?

Neither have we, but it’s unlikely to go down well.

When hiring a meeting room, you should get:

• Audio-visual equipment
• High-speed internet
• Flat-screen TV
• Whiteboard

2. A professional image

When meeting potential clients, it’s important to make a good first impression.

Sure, meeting in a coffee shop can work, but by hiring a meeting room, you’ll show your client:

• That you want privacy for your meeting and don’t want to be disturbed
• That you want them to be comfortable and relaxed

3. Quality service

Hiring a meeting room for your team not only gives them a great environment to team-build, brainstorm or work in, they’ll also get well looked after with plenty of sustenance throughout the day.

If you’re meeting a potential client, you can be assured of the same, as well as technical support when using equipment and someone to greet your guests at reception – all included in your meeting room hire fee.

4. A guaranteed space

Of course, you could arrange to meet a client or a new business lead in a coffee shop, hotel or even a pub once the lockdown is lifted.

But what happens when you arrive at your chosen venue to find it packed out?

By hiring a meeting room, you can relax knowing you have a private and comfortable space to do business.

5. Greater productivity

Working from home can sometimes result in procrastination – we’ve all been there.

As part of the creating a balance for your team, why not hire a meeting room space once a week to provide them with a different, inspirational space to work from?

A chance of scene and the chance to catch up face-to-face with colleagues can be a real boost – especially after spending so long in the working from home routine.

6. Versatility

Meeting rooms don’t just have to be about meetings – they can be so much more than that.

How about hiring one for an evening drinks reception for your teams and clients, or booking a large space for a team-building day or fitness boot camp?

Why Bourne Space?

Our meeting and event spaces really do set us apart from other Bournemouth serviced offices.

The meeting rooms across our three Bournemouth buildings can accommodate any need and are available for two to 70 people.