A GRAPHIC designer from Salisbury says one business decision now saves him thousands of pounds per year.
Brand builder Gareth Robertson operates from a converted garage which he says sees him save an estimated £6,000 a year in commercial rent.
Britain’s entrepreneurs are increasingly turning their gardens, garages, and spare rooms into business headquarters as they look to avoid the rising cost of commercial premises, invest in spaces of their own, and find a better work-life balance.
Gareth, who has been self-employed for nearly 15 years and runs his branding and design practice, Gr-aphic Studio, from home, said: “For the space I have here in my garage, I’d be paying at least £500 a month in rent. So here, it costs me nothing other than the electricity bill to run everything.”
One of the many UK entrepreneurs now running a ‘backyard business’, Gareth says the financial savings are not the only benefit to having a dedicated workspace separate from the main house. He says it has also helped establish clearer boundaries between his professional and personal life.
He added: “It is easier working in the garage studio as this is separate from the main house. I have to leave the house to walk down the garden to work,” he said. “But the temptation to just answer one more email is always there.”
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New research from garden building specialists, Dunster House, found that almost two-thirds (62%) of home business owners have invested money specifically into creating or improving a workspace at home, while more than 1 in 10 (14%) cited the prohibitive cost of commercial renting as a key reason for operating from home.
Proving that the cost of hiring premises is prohibitively expensive for some, recent research from estate agents Savills shows that prime office rents in major markets increased by approximately 32% over the last five years
On average, British home entrepreneurs have invested an average of £5,170 into their home workspace, with more than a third (36%) having invested at least £5,000, the survey by Dunster House reveals.
Christopher Murphy MBE, founder of Dunster House, said: “For businesses that don’t need traditional commercial premises, working from home can remove one of their biggest ongoing costs.
“Rather than spending hundreds of pounds each month on rent, many entrepreneurs are investing that money into a workspace of their own. With home business owners spending thousands on their setups, it’s clear these spaces are increasingly being designed to support serious, long-term businesses.”
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