General FAQs

• What is a Business Centre?

  A business centre is an office service provider, which helps companies to have a professional market presence in a prestigious environment. As well as office units of various sizes, which can be rented flexibly in terms of time, this includes renting coworking spaces or meeting rooms on an hourly or daily basis – with catering if wished. In addition, there is the possibility of having access to local telephone or secretarial services.

• How does a COLLECTION business centre work?

  A COLLECTION Business Center is a bit like a hotel where firms set themselves up: companies rent fully equipped offices or conference rooms in a prestigious, central location. They determine the duration of the rental period and decide whether and when they want to use office services such as telephone or secretarial services. They then just pay for what they use. There are no long-term commitments to contracts.

• What advantages do companies enjoy when they rent space in a COLLECTION business centre instead of maintaining their own offices?

  Anyone who decides in favour of a COLLECTION Business Center quickly has an office of the size they want, with suitable equipment and professional service, all with no economic risk. There are no investments or arrangement fees. There are no tenancy agreements to tie them down for a long time either. This means firms have the chance to open up new locations short-term without high costs or staffing expenses and can close them again if they need to. Foreign firms benefit from staff who know the local language and are familiar with German business practices. Cost savings of up to 50 percent in comparison to conventional office solutions are possible.

• What makes COLLECTION Business Center different to other office service providers?

  The 5-star concept: COLLECTION offers rooms with high-quality fittings and the best office locations with optimum transport connections. Services such as taking orders, translation services and office equipment meet the very latest requirements. Tastefully furnished premises, superb design, groundbreaking innovation, modern service focus and unique attention to detail are the hallmarks of every COLLECTION Business Center. 

• What is a virtual office?

  A "virtual office" is an "office without a physical space" — and is one of the services offered by COLLECTION business centres. Companies that do not have their own offices lease the secretariat services and the representative address of the COLLECTION business centre. Employees at the business centre accept calls in the name of the specific company or connect callers to the appropriate contact. If desired, the company name will be listed at the building entrance. Offices and conference rooms can be hired by the hour for meetings. A virtual office is a rewarding facility for freelancers in particular who work at home and must always be reachable.

• Who uses COLLECTION Business Center?

  Clients come from all sectors. Major corporations from Germany and abroad who are expanding are just as likely as medium-sized businesses and small entrepreneurs who just need a desk on an hourly basis. Above all, start-ups whose success is not yet foreseeable make use of the concept’s flexibility. Also companies who have not yet found their own suitable office premises in the locality rent space at Business Centers.

• So many companies under one roof: How safe are trade secrets?

  Every company works in their own offices. Anyone dealing with sensitive data closes the door – and sticks with their own people.  The infrastructure, which meets established data protection regulations, is provided by the COLLECTION Business Center: from the network to the telephone and individual door locking system. The staff on reception take care of visitors and check who is entering the office area.

• WHERE DOES THE IDEA OF RENTING OFFICE SPACE WITH SERVICES ON A FLEXIBLE TIME BASIS COME FROM?

  The first business centre providers were US companies who couldn’t use all of their office space back in the seventies – and rented it out to other firms on a time basis instead. Additional incentives to rent developed, such as free parking, a shared cafeteria or infrastructure such as a telephone system or fax machine. A branch of estate agency evolved from this “house share” idea for companies and has become ever more professional, especially in the last twenty years – and has become more and more popular in the mobile working world. These days, the idea is being copied all over the world. The business centre market is becoming increasingly diversified.

• WHO IS A BUSINESS CENTER AND VIRTUAL OFFICE SUITABLE FOR?

  A Business Center is suitable for

  • Start-ups,
  • Small Enterprises,
  • Medium Sized Companies,
  • The self-employed,
  • Branch offices,
  • international companies,
  • project focuesd companies und
  • corporations

  from every sector.

• WHAT GOOD REASONS ARE THERE FOR AN OFFICE IN A BUSINESS CENTER INSTEAD OF CONVENTIONAL OFFICE SPACE?

  According to a study by Ernst & Young, business centres are generally cheaper than a classic office when renting up to 20 workspaces. The cost benefits range from 24 to over 200 percent, depending on the number of workspaces that are rented. Rental agreements, which are flexible in terms of time and space, can be concluded and therefore the risk of being tied to long-term tenancy agreements can be considerably reduced. Business centres therefore make a considerable contribution to the minimisation of the risk associated with overheads.

  But they also offer the necessary potential for spatial expansion by adding offices. Renting offices in a business centre can be done immediately. They can facilitate an immediate entry to the market without lengthy negotiations and dismantling or installing furniture, saving time as well as costs.

  Business centres also offer small businesses the opportunity to open up in especially prestigious office buildings in the best locations, making a considerable contribution to building up a positive image.

  Because charges are all-inclusive, the costs of business centres can be planned a lot more reliably and better than conventional offices. They protect liquidity since no investments in furniture or infrastructure are needed.

• IS IT POSSIBLE TO VIEW THE BUSINESS CENTER ANY TIME OR SHOULD I MAKE AN APPOINTMENT?

  Our Business Centers are open during our office hours (Mondays to Thursdays from 8.30 am to 6 pm and Fridays from 8.30 am to 5 pm).  We recommend making a personal appointment so we are fully available and no viewing appointments overlap. This appointment is totally without obligation and is free of charge. You are also welcome to view our locations virtually, for example on our YouTube-channel.

• WHEN CAN THE OFFICES, COWORKING SPACES OR CONFERENCE ROOMS AT THE BUSINESS CENTER BE USED?

  Our Business Centers are accessible to our office and coworking clients around the clock: 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.  Conference rooms can likewise be hired at any time on all 365 days.

  However, our staff are only there for support during our office hours: Mondays to Thursdays from 8.30 am to 6 pm and Fridays from 8.30 am to 5:30 pm. People hiring our conference rooms can request services at any time, i.e. outside of normal office hours by prior arrangement.

• WHICH LANGUAGES DO YOU SPEAK AT THE BUSINESS CENTERS?

  At least German and English are spoken at every location.

• HOW DO I PAY?

  You can simply pay us in cash, by invoice, direct debit, EC or credit card.

• ARE PETS ALLOWED?

  You can simply pay us in cash, by invoice, direct debit, EC or credit card.

• IS THERE A MINIMUM CONTRACT TERM AND WHAT ARE THE CANCELLATION TERMS?

  In principle, any contract term can be arranged individually. However, most of our Business Center clients choose a notice period of three months or one year.

• DO BUSINESS CENTERS ALSO TAKE DELIVERY OF PARCELS?

  We can of course take delivery of your parcels and incoming post on your behalf.

• DO THE BUSINESS CENTERS HAVE THEIR OWN PARKING SPACES?

  Almost all of our locations have their own parking spaces - our staff will be happy to let you know.

• CAN OUR OWN COMPANY NAMEPLATE BE HUNG IN THE ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING?

  Office, virtual office and coworking clients have the option of booking their own company nameplate at the entrance to our buildings.

• WHAT WORK DO BUSINESS CENTER STAFF UNDERTAKE?

  Our staff will greet your visitors and escort them to your office or conference room.

  They will take incoming calls in the name of your business on a phone number provided especially for you and either put these calls through to you directly or let you know by email that they have taken the calls.

  We would be happy to undertake normal secretarial duties for you. We can of course provide assistance for your conferences and meetings, bring you drinks and take delivery of your post and parcels.

• WILL I HAVE MY OWN CONTACT AND ARE THEY ON SITE?

  Every client has a fixed contact on site. This is usually the centre or office manager who manages the centre on site.

• IS THERE A SEPARATE CONTACT FOR MAJOR CLIENTS?

  We do of course have separate key account managers who function as their own contact. It would be best for you to contact our Sales Department directly at sales@ubc-collection.com to discuss this.

• IS MY DATA SECURE?

  Yes, together with our data protection officer we take all the necessary steps to protect your data.

• HOW DO YOU GUARANTEE THAT MY NEEDS WILL BE MET AMONGST THE LARGE NUMBER OF CLIENTS YOU LOOK AFTER AND THAT THE SERVICE WILL ALWAYS BE HIGH-QUALITY?

  Because we have many years of experience in the business centre sector, we have the relevant technical equipment and a high level of organisational experience so we can organise our processes professionally and optimise them at any time. Furthermore, our trained teams are geared up to take every single client request into account.