eOffice is a new generation of flexible workplaces, offering the ultimate in serviced office development. The new offices are located in the trendy heart of London, Soho. The stimulating modern environment offers a sociable business setting which is geared towards vibrant, like-minded startups and entrepreneurs. eOffice offers fully serviced offices, trendy meeting and conference rooms (up to 140 ppl) and super-fast broadband coverage (1GB in the building). The building has copious amounts of natural light, something which compliments the open plan interior of this state-of-the-art coworking hub.

eOffice also organises a variety of networking, coaching and business mentoring events in collaboration with leading global institutions. This provides members with a valuable spectrum of resources, contacts and professional opportunities to drive their business venture forward.

For more information about services available please visit the site at http://www.eoffice.net/,or email hello@eoffice.net. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Each November sees the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), an initiative started to connect young people around the world and foster the entrepreneurial spirit. This year it started on Monday the 15^th of November, and events are running throughout the week. People from across 6 continents come to join this growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to innovate and develop new ideas.  The initiative was initially started with the aim of “inspiring young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity”. Activities range from online to face to face, and from small intimate networking events to huge large scale competitions.

If you want more information please click here.

Mark Scott, the franchise director for NatWest and RBS, talks about franchising and why it may be a safer start-up option in the current economic climate. He discusses everything from the type of person franchising is suitable for, to  where you can find franchising opportunities to consider. From a banking perspective he claims that banks are more likely to be open if you are looking to be a franchisee. This is simply because a franchise usually has a proven track record, with numerous other locations replicating success. Therefore the investment is a lower risk.

The average franchise fee in the UK is around £15,000 according to him, a fee that should simply cover the cost of setting you up in business. There should be no element of profit in this fee. The profit comes in the form of ongoing fees agreed at the outset. This is usually a turnover fee, commonly at around 8%.

More information can also be found at the British Franchise Association website.

The program said “the key to success-now more than ever- is INNOVATION. How are designers, architects businesses and schools reinventing themselves to fit 21st century models?” Susan Szenasy of Metropolis hosted, shown above with James Ludwig, Vice President of Design for the office furniture company Steelcase, not a company with a reputation for being cutting edge. That is going to change.

Ludwig made some interesting predictions about the future of the office:

Ludwig’s main thrust is that the only businesses that are going to survive are those that promote collaboration and communication. With technology at hand or coming, there really is no other point in going to an office. “Fixed and mobile devices give information a seat at the table.”

The office of the future will be affected by:

1) A new sobriety: smaller, simpler.

2) Google: will it scan everything, become the repository of knowledge? Will the workplace simply be a pipeline to Google?

3) Telepresence: will high definition video conferencing change the way we collaborate?

4) New Devices drive new postures: will smaller, lighter more flexible wireless tools eliminate the need to sit at a desk?

5) Resource use: Everything will just have to use less.

Peter Yost writes for Building Green, a great resource for anyone interested in green architecture, and a major source for TreeHugger posts. He made some interesting predictions about the future of housing in America:

1) Build with less space. The American home had been growing on average by 75 square feet per year, because people equated space with value; as we have pointed out many times on TreeHugger, the bigger the house, the lower the cost per square foot. But the carbon footprint of a house goes up proportionately with its geographical footprint, and the cost of operating these houses will become prohibitive with rising energy costs.

2. Heat people, not spaces. We should be heating and cooling by task, not whole rooms, let alone whole houses. He even predicted that we might wear heated clothing to reduce the temperature in our homes to less than we might consider comfortable.

3. Fuel will drive change. with increasing energy costs there will be a strong incentive to reduce the use of cars, and access to transit will drive real estate values.

4) Transportation alternatives will become more viable. We will choose our vehicle by task: a bike for short and local, cars when we need them. We will probably look at cars as a service rather than ownership.

5) Water 17% of all the energy consumed in the State of California goes to cleaning and moving water. We have to use less, and we have to stop using drinking water to flush toilets and water our gardens.

TreeHugger

“Pitch It!” is the London School of Economics’ annual business plan competition. Organised by Venture@LSE Careers and the LSE Entrepreneurship Society, the competition gives student entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business ideas to a panel of experts, which will include various investors, academics and other successful entrepreneurs.

Combining serious business with fun, it is regarded as one of the most comprehensive, exciting, challenging and enjoyable programme of events in the UK.

For the competition’s final event, Pier Paolo Mucelli, Founder of eOffice, will be on the panel of judges. eOffice also generously supports the event by donating their Premier Virtual Office package to the winners of the competition, and by donating conference facilities to the runners up.

Find out more on the PitchIt Official Website or join the PitchIt Facebook Group

An exclusive interview with Pier Paolo Mucelli – Founder and CEO of eOffice on yourBusinessChannel, featuring Lyndon Gasking – Commercial Director UK, BzzAgent and Paul Cascey – Research Manager, CFE. They were asked how businesses can address the environment they work in.

Pier Paolo Mucelli explains:

“eOffice, the third work space is a provider of flexible office solutions meeting and conference facilities. Primarily for start-ups, entrepreneurs, freelancers, new businesses. We also have a lot of blue chip companies using our business facilities. We are a dynamic company, fast growing. We currently have four business centres in the U K. We started from the fashionable part of London, Soho, we then expanded to Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol. We have plans to expand the concept internationally.

I think the office environment is a critical part of any budding businesses. You can of course work from home. I mean Microsoft started from a garage, if you remember well, and the office has become a place, where to meet, you meet your suppliers, you meet your team members of course, and you work with your team members and you create a structure and of course you meet your clients. So it is fundamental to have a design which is first of all very well located. Our location of the office is prime location, is very easily accessible, by car, by taxi, by bus, by tube, by train. Beautiful buildings, great interior design and great visibility.”

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