Short term office / accommodation

[Rames]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some local knowledge and a quick answer to a fairly basic question ...

Im a British expat living and working in Dubai, and have been tasked with
' checking out Singapore' with a view to establishing a branch or similar over there.

I have no experience of Singapore at all !!
So, plan A ... visit for a month or two, check out office locations, check out accommodation for employees, and schools for their kids, rents etc for all of these ... check out various suppliers ..etc etc etc

Q. Can I rent an office for a month or two without being a resident or without having a registered business in Singapore ?
(e.g in Dubai , cant rent / lease anything without residence visa)

Q. If poss, any chance of renting an office / studio all in one ?
(dont need anything fancy .. cheap 'n cheerfull is ok !)

Q. The location of the business proper is not important. What is important is the proximity of suitable staff housing, schooling, shops, hospital etc.
Which areas would you advise ?
(initially we will have 15 - 20 staff, may expand by 1 or 2 over a period of years, but staff levels should remain constant)

Thanks in advance..

[jpatokal]

Q. Can I rent an office for a month or two without being a resident or without having a registered business in Singapore ?
(e.g in Dubai , cant rent / lease anything without residence visa)

No. Setting up a company with a local director and renting it in the company's name is possible, but you'd want 1 year plus for decent rates.

Q. If poss, any chance of renting an office / studio all in one ?
(dont need anything fancy .. cheap 'n cheerfull is ok !)

Only a few purpose-built units like this, eg. Central. Ordinary apartments can be used as offices (with restrictions) if you jump through a few hoops, but only if you have just a few employees.

[Rames]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. However i may not have made myself clear.
I am looking for short term office just for myself for a period of a couple of months. No employees, not actually doing any business. just need a base (somewhere to hang my hat and put my laptop) while I spend time
familiarisng myself with Singapore etc etc..

The business proper will follow at a later date.

Thanks again

[ScoobyDoes]

Talk to me nicely and i can probably give you a spare office within our unit anywhere between now and up until maybe the end of February. We can work out the <cough> necessaries later but i have plenty space.

We're a bit out of town though near Jurong East MRT.

Accomodation wise then a hotel might cost around S$3k per month.

[Rames]

Hey, thanks for the offer, I may well take you up on that.
would there be any access time restrictions, like evenings and weekends ?

I anticipate being there in around 8 - 10 weeks, and will prob use office for 3 or 4 days then away for 3 or 4 days ..and so on for a couple of months.
Will be splitting my time between Dubai, Singapore and Shanghai.

Work out a monthly rate, and let me know.

[ScoobyDoes]

I'll only need to enter you into our biometric scanner at the door and access is open.

All the important stuff in the office is locked away and what's not is not worth stealing. We can work out something with regards rent that covers access, electric, telephone and coffee etc. a bit closer to the time if you are stil interested or haben't found anything better/more suitable or located for you.

But you basically anticpate being here at the end of November to middle of December?

[Rames]

Hi,
Yes, thats about as accurate as I can be at the moment.
We are currently going through a whole load of legal and logistical stuff
which should be complete in around 4 weeks. Will be able to give actual dates then.

[enterp]

Hi rames

Some quick answers to yr questions:-

Hi all,
I'm looking for some local knowledge and a quick answer to a fairly basic question ...

Im a British expat living and working in Dubai, and have been tasked with
' checking out Singapore' with a view to establishing a branch or similar over there.

I have no experience of Singapore at all !!
So, plan A ... visit for a month or two, check out office locations, check out accommodation for employees, and schools for their kids, rents etc for all of these ... check out various suppliers ..etc etc etc

Office rents can range from $2 to $30 psf depending on location. Location will depends on the type of biz that u are in, eg air logistics, you will need to be in the eastern part of singapore near the airport

Q. Can I rent an office for a month or two without being a resident or without having a registered business in Singapore ?
(e.g in Dubai , cant rent / lease anything without residence visa)

Yes you can, there are plenty of service office available for rent


Q. If poss, any chance of renting an office / studio all in one ?
(dont need anything fancy .. cheap 'n cheerfull is ok !)

Will you be needing fax machine? or juz internet connection?

Q. The location of the business proper is not important. What is important is the proximity of suitable staff housing, schooling, shops, hospital etc.
Which areas would you advise ?
(initially we will have 15 - 20 staff, may expand by 1 or 2 over a period of years, but staff levels should remain constant)

singapore is very accessible and is connected by very good transportation system islandwide. hospitals are located mostly on the central, eastern and western side of the island. housing, food and shops will depends on the location, if u are staying in a HDB estate, food and shops are mostly a walk away.




Thanks in advance..