Why growing companies stay, and why they leave

Occupiers choose a park for the space. They stay, and grow, for the people around them. Most places only talk about the first part.

The brochure answers one question

Look at almost any workspace, campus or estate website and you’ll find the same things: square footage, specification, availability, minutes from the motorway. It’s useful information, and it’s the same information everyone else publishes. When the offer looks identical on paper, the decision drifts towards rent and commute, and that’s a hard place to win from.

Companies experience a park through the conversation in the café, the neighbour who solved the same problem last year, the founder dinner where someone met their first investor. That’s the part of the offer a competitor can’t copy, and it’s usually the part the brand leaves out.

Renewal is a feeling before it’s a decision

The moments that matter most commercially come later. A large occupier decides whether to renew. A growing company decides whether its next unit is on site or across town. Both look like property decisions, and both are shaped by how people feel about being there.

We believe people give places meaning and places shape how people feel. If the people who work there describe it as an address, the lease is the only thing holding them. If they describe it as somewhere they belong, staying is the easy choice, and they start recommending you to the companies they work with.

What it looks like when a place gets it right

For a decade, we’ve worked with the University of Southampton Science Park on connecting its occupier community to the value of the park. Its “Home of the gamechangers” positioning puts the companies at the centre of the story, and its tenant magazine kept more than 100 resident companies, and those thinking of moving in, connected to the park’s community and identity.

The magazine does two jobs at once. It helps the companies already there feel part of something bigger than their own unit, and it shows prospective occupiers what they’d be joining.

Three places to look on your own site

• Where the community lives. Is it spread across the whole site, or concentrated in one building, usually the incubator or innovation centre?
• Whether occupiers say your name. When companies on site share their news, do they mention you, or only the nearest town?
• What leavers tell you. When a company moves off-site, is it for space, or for somewhere that feels more alive?

Seeing the gap clearly

Our feel.forward™ diagnostic reads what anyone can see, from occupier reviews and LinkedIn posts to your website and the places you compete with. It shows how far your brand is from the feeling you want occupiers to have, and which gaps to close first. Our sample report for Larchmere, a fictional science park, shows what that looks like in practice.