Fit-out prices are set a £1,000 a work station. Meeting rooms and reception areas are extra. A total of about £20,000 is likely for a typical office floor.

Design is only part of the package. Perhaps more compelling for small owner-managed firms is the bricks-and-mortar offer, which London & Regional terms strata. This system is a commercial property equivalent to common-hold   the latest form of residential ownership for new blocks of flats that recently became law in the UK.

Strata is widely used in Australia, Hong Kong and Israel, where buildings are sold floor by floor on 999-year "virtual freehold" leases. Each office occupier gains a stake in a management company to own the freehold and be responsible for maintenance and repairs to the building.   The attraction for small companies is that they can buy into an expensive location at a much cheaper cost.   Instead of renting, they buy a property asset and get all-important autonomy. There are no nasty landlords to deal with and owners have the freedom to sub-let the property.

"We're convinces strata is the way forward," says Darren Gershinson, director of London & Regional. "It opens up the market to more people because they don't have to buy and entire building."

Even firms with small cash reserves can buy. Abbey is one lender that provides mortgage finance up to 75 per cent of purchase at two percent above bank base rate. To make it tax efficient, firms can purchase through a pension scheme. This is the icing on the cake.