Managed office platform Kitt has launched an online booking marketplace for fast-growing occupiers in London, with a strategy under way for expansion into the US.
After securing tenants for the Flat Iron Building, SE1, Cannongate House, EC4, Link House, EC1, and Valentine Estate, SE1, Kitt is now trialling its new Kitt Search offering with two clients in Atlanta. In New York, it is in talks with potential landlords to kick off its initial offering with 10 buildings.
Kitt Search is designed for tenants with 20 to 150 desk requirements ranging from 700 sq ft to 16,000 sq ft, on a flexible, all-inclusive basis.
The new product is set to benefit fast-growing companies with “unpredictable” needs as well as speed up the transition process, targeting a four to eight-week closing time.
Kitt co-founder and chief executive Steve Coulson said: “It usually takes about 12 months from realising the office to moving in. If it is a 25-year lease, then spending a year to do that is fine. But if the client is looking for a two to three-year lease, a 12-month relocation period just doesn’t make sense.”
Kitt Search also seeks to factor in the shift in tenants’ needs for office fit-outs post-pandemic.
Coulson said: “Pre-Covid, the idea of an office would be fixed in everyone’s minds. If you had asked business leaders, eight in 10 would respond that they need an office space for their team to work, have a few meetings each day and a kitchen because people like making coffee.
“Covid has forced these business leaders to understand that offices add significant strategic value to their businesses. We’ve done more than 75 different offices now and I would say that every single one was completely different to the other.”
Coulson noted that the greatest changes for office space requirements have seen a shift away from “chicken coops” to open-plan, collaborative space, as well as the creation of several localised hubs, instead of one main HQ.
He added: “The build, the use and the tech to enable a remote experience is what we think is really important.”
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