This is usually the first question we get, and the honest answer is: it depends what kind of space you need. Here's a realistic breakdown rather than a marketing number.

It depends on your brief

A tight, realistic brief — clear budget, clear headcount, clear area of London, some flexibility on building type — moves fast. A brief with five "must-haves" and no flexibility on any of them takes longer, whatever anyone tells you.

Serviced and managed space

If a serviced or managed office fits your business, we can usually get you a shortlist within a few days and have you viewing spaces in the same week. Move-in can happen within 1–2 weeks of agreeing terms, sometimes faster if there's space ready now.

Conventional leased space

For a traditional lease, expect roughly:

• 1–2 weeks to brief the market and get a shortlist of genuinely suitable spaces
• 1–2 weeks of viewings and narrowing down
• 1–3 weeks to agree heads of terms and negotiate
• 4–8 weeks for solicitors to complete the legals, which is usually the slowest part and largely out of our hands

All in, 8–14 weeks from first brief to keys in hand is a realistic range for a leased office, assuming nothing unusual comes up in the legals.

What slows it down

Legal delays on either side, a landlord wanting references or a rent deposit resolved, or a brief that keeps changing mid-search. None of these are things we can fully control, but we can keep pressure on all sides to stop them dragging.

What speeds it up

Having a decision-maker available to view and decide quickly, a realistic budget set from day one, and some flexibility on exact location or building age. The faster you can move when we find the right space, the faster the whole process goes.

The best next step is a 15-minute call to scope your brief properly — we'll give you a genuine timeline for your situation rather than a generic one.