● Flatpay UK · London Office Search Prepared for CEO Review
● Flatpay UK May 2026

London office
search.

A scaling business, a defined budget, and one building that fits the brief.
Eight chapters
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FTE Forecast
Scaling past 600 FTE by August 2027.
Sep 2025 → Aug 2027 · Personio actuals + forecast
Total & in-office FTE
24-month view · forecast to 605 FTE
Total FTE
In-office FTE
600 400 200 0 FORECAST → ← ACTUAL 17 50 120 219 269 436 488 605 154 190 374 463 SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG 2025 2026 2027
1.3×
BDR : Sales Manager ratio
  • The headcount is driven by the BDR-to-Sales-Manager ratio — at 1.3×, the highest of any Flatpay market.
  • That ratio is high because of lower gross conversion in the MCC channel: more bookings, and more BDRs, are needed per signed deal.
  • As we scale Sales Managers, BDR headcount grows disproportionately — which is what bends the total-FTE curve upward.
  • At the end state this is roughly 200 Sales Managers and, on that ratio, roughly 250 BDRs.
Location & Market Dynamics
Real estate prices vary massively across London — the West offers good value.
Grade A headline rents by area · £/sq ft
River Thames Ealing £47–53 King's Cross £85–115 Shoreditch £60–95 Stratford £45–55 Paddington £70–110 Marylebone £80–150 Fitzrovia £85–135 Clerkenwell £75–120 Prime City £80–130 Mayfair St James's £110–250 Soho £80–125 Covent Gdn £70–105 Kensington £80–150 HAMMERSMITH White City · Olympia £50–75 ◆ FLATPAY FOCUS AREA Vauxhall · Battersea £65–85 Waterloo · Southwark £60–100 Canary Wharf £50–70 N Greater London · Grade A headline rents by area
Area Grade A headline rent · £/sq ft
Mayfair, St James's£110 – £250
Marylebone£80 – £150
Victoria, Westminster£80 – £150
Knightsbridge£80 – £150
Fitzrovia£85 – £135
Prime City£80 – £130
Soho, Regent Street£80 – £125
King's Cross£85 – £115
Clerkenwell, Farringdon£75 – £120
Paddington£70 – £110
Covent Garden£70 – £105
Waterloo, Southwark, London Bridge£60 – £100
Holborn£65 – £95
Bloomsbury£65 – £95
Shoreditch£60 – £95
Vauxhall, Battersea£65 – £85
Hammersmith, White City, Olympia£50 – £75
Docklands Prime — Canary Wharf£50 – £70
Stratford & Dalston£45 – £55
◆ Hammersmith, our focus area, is among the lowest-cost Grade A submarkets in inner London — while keeping a central-west location.
The Ark · Hammersmith
Three ways to take space in The Ark.
Lease from 1 Dec 2026 · 10-year term · 5-year break · headline £47.50/sqft per annum
THE ARK · 11-STOREY BUILDING (SECTION) 8th floor 8th (B-C) 7th floor 7th (B-C) 6th floor entire 5th floor entire 4th floor 3rd floor 2nd floor 1st floor Ground · Lobby AVAILABLE
Available floors & units
Floor / UnitSizeDesksDensityCondition
8th floor (B-C) 8,759 sq ft10286 sqft/deskCAT B
7th floor (B-C) 9,193 sq ft10290 sqft/deskCAT B
6th floor (entire) 21,539 sq ft25086 sqft/deskCAT A
5th floor (entire) 22,536 sq ft26286 sqft/deskCAT A
All four floors above are available. The permanent options below combine the 7th, 6th and 5th floors; the 8th floor (B-C) feeds the temporary bridge space from August.
Four options · cost breakdown (all £/sqft figures per annum)
Option Floors Sq ft Desks Headline rent
£/sqft PA		 Anticipated rent
£/sqft PA		 All-in
£/sqft PA		 Est. rent-free
months		 Effective all-in
£/sqft PA · RF incl.		 Effective cost
PA
A 7th (B-C) + 6th floor 30,732352 £47.50£45.00 £81.85 18£75.10 £2.52m
B 6th floor only 21,539250 £47.50£44.00 £80.85 20£73.52 £1.74m
C 6th + 5th floor 44,075512 £47.50£42.50 £79.35 20£72.27 £3.50m
D 6th + 7th (B-C) + 8th (B-C) 39,491454 £47.50£45.00 £81.85 16*£75.85* £3.23m
All £/sqft figures are per annum. All-in cost = anticipated rent + business rates (£22.00/sqft) + service charge (£14.85/sqft). Effective all-in applies the rent-free discount to the rent only — business rates and service charge are payable from day one — amortised over the 120-month lease. Option C meets the March 2027 plan of 374 desks. * Option D is indicative — a four-floor split demise typically attracts a smaller rent-free incentive, which raises the effective rate.
Shortlist · for comparison
BuildingAreaSq ftDesksAll-in £/sqft PAAnnual £Monthly £
5 The Square, Stockley ParkHeathrow18.3k~213£57.99£1.09m£85k
Ealing Cross, 85 Uxbridge RdEaling18.4k~214£75.56£1.46m£116k
The Fold, 20A Stanwick RdKensington16.9k~197£76.00£1.35m£107k
CThe Ark — 6th + 5thHammersmith44.1k512£79.35£3.50m£291k
BThe Ark — 6th floor onlyHammersmith21.5k250£80.85£1.74m£145k
AThe Ark — 7th (B-C) + 6thHammersmith30.7k352£81.85£2.52m£210k
DThe Ark — 6th + 7th + 8thHammersmith39.5k454£81.85£3.23m£269k
St. Vincent HouseCovent Garden14.6k~170£82.26£1.26m£100k
3 ShortlandsHammersmith16.2k~188£84.45£1.43m£114k
Building 11, Chiswick ParkChiswick17.5k~203£86.09£1.57m£126k
The Aircraft FactoryHammersmith13.2k~153£89.56£1.25m£98k
245 Hammersmith RdHammersmith15.0k~174£91.00£1.43m£114k
All buildings — including the four Ark options — are ranked by all-in £/sqft, lowest first. Desks for the non-Ark buildings are estimated at ~86 sq ft per desk, the same density assumption used for the Ark options.
Move-in timeline
Aug '26
Sep '26
Oct '26
Nov '26
Dec '26
Jan '27
Feb '27
Mar '27
Apr '27
Space
Temporary space
7th, 8th & part 1st floor · from 1 Aug
Permanent — chosen Ark option
from 1 Dec · Option C provides 512 desks
Desks
required
249
271
295
305
326
343
360
374
392
Forecast in-office desks required at month start · Option C's 512 desks covers the full plan with headroom.
Building Type
Leased buildings come with additional one-off costs to factor in.
Estimated one-off costs for the Ark transaction · ~£2.3m all-in
01
Dilapidations (end of lease)
£200k
Fixed cost at the end of the lease or break — whichever comes sooner.
02
Project management fees
£25–45k
PM manages the fit-out — keeps contractors on budget, on time, and scrutinises each line item to minimise costs.
03
Agency fees
£10k
Landlord covers the majority of Tally's fee; the remainder is linked to savings achieved.
04
Legal fees
£8–14k
A commercial property solicitor will be instructed to draft the lease.
05
SDLT
£300–330k
UK Stamp Duty Land Tax, payable to HMRC at lease completion. This transaction size pushes into the highest bracket; the figure falls as headline rent and rent-free improve.
06
Deposit
£700k
Deposit required to cover the Landlord's exposure to fit-out costs and Flatpay's covenant.
07
Fit-out cost
£1.0m
Non-cash expense; the fit-out cost is offset against the negotiated rent-free period.
∑
Total one-off
~£2.3m
Indicative range £2.24m–£2.30m, driven mainly by SDLT and fit-out.
Option C · total cost including one-off costs
Cost lineBasisAnnualOver 10 years
Occupancy cost — excl. one-off Effective all-in £74.54/sqft PA × 44,075 sqft £3.29m £32.85m
One-off costs — amortised £571k (dilapidations, PM, agency, legal, SDLT) ÷ 10 years £57k £571k
Total cost — incl. amortised one-off Occupancy + amortised one-off £3.34m £33.42m
Fit-out — £1.0m Funded by the negotiated rent-free period rather than paid as separate cash, so it is not a line item above. Absorbing it reduces the net rent-free from 20 to ~13.6 months, which raises the effective rate from £72.27 to £74.54/sqft — the figure used in the occupancy line above.
Deposit — £700k Paid as cash at lease completion but refundable at lease end, so it is excluded from the 10-year cost above. Upfront cash at completion is therefore ~£1.07m (SDLT, deposit, PM, agency and legal fees).
Commute
Most options are comparable on commute — Stockley Park is the outlier.
Average employee commuting time · minutes · 183 office-based staff
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Average commute · minutes St. Vincent House COVENT GARDEN 38 min The Fold KENSINGTON 39 min Soho Works (1WC) WHITE CITY 40 min 3 Shortlands HAMMERSMITH 41 min ★ The Ark HAMMERSMITH 41 min Ealing Cross EALING 45 min 5 The Square, Stockley Pk HEATHROW 57 min CURRENT OFFICE ≈ 41 MIN
◆ The Ark at 41 minutes matches the current office commute — six of the seven options land within a 38–45 minute band. Only Stockley Park, at 57 minutes, materially worsens the journey.
Calculated from Personio home postcodes for 183 office-based employees; 70 Field Sales staff excluded as they work in regional territories and do not commute to the office.