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The chemical brokers' story

Peter gave up his desk job and Sally stopped teaching in 1988 so that they could move out into the country to the large house with a large garden which they had always wanted.

Peter had considerable experience in the chemical industry and they decided to work together and set up their own chemical broking business. Having moved to the country they wanted to work from home rather than travel every day into the "Big Smog".

They recognised that they would need a London office rather than their home address in order to establish their credibility and came to Business Centre. Business Centre provides them with a London address, telephone and fax numbers. They call every day they are working to see what mail has arrived and to give instructions for dealing with it. Business Centre takes orders for goods from clients who call.

Since Peter and Sally joined Business Centre, they have moved home three times, but their company address and telephone number has remained the same throughout all of those years. When the weather is good, they do the gardening or go out for the day, knowing that Business Centre will keep their business running for them.

"There is always someone there, which is important to us," said Sally. "Business Centre can take delivery of samples - which can arrive in kilos - and speak to our clients, particularly when they want to put in an order, and they even bank our cheques for us!"

The celebrity agent's story

Hamish decided in 1997 to leave a large firm of theatrical managers and agents to concentrate on managing one major TV star.

He came to Business Centre for discretion and confidentiality in all his secretarial work, which he could no longer give to a typing pool. He composes correspondence in long hand and marks amendments on contracts and invoices, and then faxes them to Business Centre for transcribing.

He is of the generation where computers are black magic, although he does recognise their uses - so Business Centre provides him with an e-mail address and manages his e-mails in order that his more computer-literate contacts can keep in touch with him.

The solicitor's story

George is a solicitor specialising in employment cases, working from his Suffolk home. The nature of his business requires confidentiality and discretion and he has been with Business Centre since 1999.

George makes the most use of Business Centre by transferring his calls. Often he is unable to answer his phone because he is out, on the line advising clients, or because he just needs a break from his work!

Being a one-man band, he can only deal with one call at a time, which is when we can take messages for him or field his calls. The Business Centre address ensures that he does not get any unwelcome visitors at his Suffolk home address.

George also uses the Business Centre's offices so that he can meet his clients in London when necessary.

The salesman's story

Having the services of Business Centre since 1999 leaves this talented salesman free to do what he is best at: extracting money from people in exchange for what they want!

He conducts all his selling on the phone, lets Business Centre know what has been negotiated, and leaves Business Centre to do the rest. Business Centre greets his customers in reception, ensures the paperwork is completed correctly, accepts customers' payments, which are recorded and banked, puts in the orders and then lets customers know when the goods have arrived.

Occasionally he uses a Business Centre office to meet with his customers in professional surroundings.

The luxury villa agent's story

For many years Business Centre's advertising headline has been: "You run your business, we run your office." But Malcolm took this rather more literally than most clients!

Malcolm acts as an agent for many villas of extreme luxury and his clients are, necessarily, very wealthy people or highly paid celebrities, since the villa rentals per week are very high. He sees his role in the business as talking to the villa owners, sitting by their pools in the sun, sipping champagne - or something like that!

Since 1989 Business Centre has placed Malcolm's ads, taken the responses, sent out the brochures, taken the bookings, prepared the contracts (in English or in French) and received the signed copies back together with the deposit cheques which it has banked for him. Prior to the departure of the holiday-makers, Business Centre makes many detailed arrangements, such as the menus and wines, instructions to the villa staff, and even such details as how many clothes hangers and of which types are to be in each wardrobe in the villa! At the end of the rental period Business Centre deals with any damages, telephone or other bills, and the return of the net deposits - and often, the booking for the following year.

The Vancouver fur trader's story

Business Centre's advertisements in international newspapers have resulted in many strange responses from places all over the world, including the hinterland of Brazil, Pacific islands, Zanzibar and a scientific station near the South Pole.

One of the strangest involved the CEO of a large, quoted, fur trading company, who picked up his favourite newspaper in Paris, saw the advertisement on the flight to Toronto, kept it during a weekend stopover and picked up the telephone to respond to it when he finally arrived at his vacation home on Vancouver Island. By that point, the trader had lost all track of time.

The telephone in our London office was answered by one of our staff working overnight on a computer task. When the trader realised that it was 3 in the morning on a Sunday in London, he was so impressed that he signed up for Business Centre's services as his European office there and then - and that was in 1992!

We provide his company with its London address, accept their mail, open and sort it to their instructions, provide telephone answering and e-mail services, give them an office when they need it, talk to their fashion trade clients in English or in French, make many of their business and travel arrangements, and do their UK accounts - all for a fraction of the cost of having their own staff and premises in London.

The delivery and collection service story

Two entrepreneurs decided to start a service in London designed to break into a specialised market dominated by one very large company but with many small firms pecking at the periphery.

They asked Business Centre in 2004 to do ALL of their administration, invoicing and accounts. We produce, from information provided by their sales staff, daily collection and delivery schedules which are e-mailed out regularly for the use of their drivers. Their use of computers is advanced and sophisticated with much of the work being web-based utilizing high speed transmission. We deal with all of their telephone calls, their mail, their banking and their purchase payments. Their turnover rose by leaps and bounds; they are now much larger than any of their smaller competitors, and by the end of this year they are expected to have made serious inroads into the business of the market leader.

The retired senior executive's story

A senior executive of a well-known national organisation, wishing to continue his academic activities even after his retirement, found the perfect solution at the Business Centre.

After considering a number of business centres and serviced offices, he quickly realised that we could provide him with the exact secretarial assistance that he needed to maintain his interests but without any of the problems that would normally be associated with renting, staffing and maintaining his own office.