Historic buildings often have a certain charm that can capture the imagination. Whether you'd want to operate your small business from one, however, is another question. Transforming cold, draughty, rundown buildings into energy efficient, comfortable work spaces can be a challenge, not to mention costly, especially on top of the other demands of running a company. However firms based in old buildings find that it can give them a unique selling point.
Mesh Office Seating, a distributor of ergonomic office chairs, is based in what was a Victorian lace mill, known as Riverbank Mill, in Newmilns, Ayrshire. The company had been located in the nearby town of Darvel, however it grew quickly and Gareth Gillespie, founder and owner of the company, began looking for larger premises. A couple of years ago the mill came onto the market and he bought it, along with a warehouse opposite.
At the time the building was derelict, cold and damp, and Alisdair McGready, managing director of the company, was initially sceptical. "I thought he was mad, it was a tip," says McGready. "Each floor had to be gutted, everything that was there had to be ditched." When renovating the premises, which is spread across three levels, they tread a fine line between creating a contemporary office space and preserving the original features of the building. "Although we wanted modern offices we tried to be sympathetic to what was there originally," says McGready.
The windows, for example, needed to be double glazed but they were keen to retain the style. "They look like they are the original ones but they are modern," says Nicola Gillespie, public relations manager and Gareth's sister. They also installed an eco-friendly evaporative cooling and heating system, which provides both air conditioning and heating. The system ties in with the company's eco-friendly values. Each room or area has an individual control. The advanced energy saving system cost £80,000, though the company bought it at a discounted price. "It's a large initial outlay but the running costs are relatively cheap," says McGready. "In five or six years we will have recovered our money. On the adverse side, to make it work, you've got to insulate everything very well." The external walls have been insulated and plaster boarded and the internal brick walls have been sandblasted and retained to keep the character of the building.
The cost of heating the whole building is now less than it previously cost to heat one floor. The company paid for the work themselves. "We looked into getting some grants but some of those things took time to come through and in the meantime there were staff shuddering around a heater," says Gillespie.
Running a business while overseeing a major renovation project may sound exhausting, but that's exactly what Andrew Baud did. Fed up of commuting into London, he bought an old weaver's shop in 2007 in Shutford, North Oxfordshire to set up his PR business Tala communications consultants. The original building dates back to around 1750, and it was used as a finishing shop. It was one of the central locations for the production of plush and shag weaving, which was established in Shutford in 1747.
When he bought it it needed a lot of work: "It was single glaze, had rotten frames and the roof was leaking. The walls had no insulation. We spent quite a lot of money getting the building up to scratch," says Baud. "We worked in it for about a year in its original state and it was pretty grim. You'd go home smelling musty, it was all a bit damp. It took four months for the main parts of the work to be done. I worked out of my car for two weeks during the worst of the work."
Every effort has been made to increase the building's energy efficiency with the installation of thick insulation, double glazing, overnight storage heaters and low energy spotlights. "Last year we installed solar panels. It isn't a listed building so there were no issues. When it's been a sunny day I will go and check the solar boxes to check how much electricity has been generated," says Baud. The panels went in last July so he says they need to wait to see what difference it has made to their bills.
The refurbishment cost around £30,000, and the panels were a further £15,000 on top of that. With the extra cost and the disruption caused by refurbishing an old building, it raises the question, wouldn't it have been easier to move into a newer building? "I did look at the options but it was so much more appealing to have something with character," says Baud. "It was nice to move into an older building and one that could be adapted to what we needed. I think a residential or commercial building of age is more likely to hold its value, especially if you've invested time and money to make it as fantastic as it can be. I wouldn't be proud to take clients back to something that's run of the mill. We've created a really nice environment to work in."
Angus Boag, development director of Workspace, which provides space to SMEs and specialises in retrofitting old, landmark buildings to suit the needs of small business, says: "What you can do with old buildings, particularly if they are robust, is make sure they are naturally ventilated." For example, rather than installing air conditioning, having grills will encourage air flow which can cool the building down at night.
Working from an historic building can be a real asset to a business. Baud says: "I used to be apologetic that we were based in the countryside but it's a real selling point now."
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