It’s not always simply a case of location, location, location!

Location is usually the most important factor for companies looking to source new office space but for some businesses, there are other more important – and sometimes rather bizarre – criteria to consider when seeking a new home for their business.

Officebroker.com is the UK’s largest online provider of commercial office space to both serviced office space providers and businesses looking for serviced or conventional office space anywhere in the world.

The company which was founded by entrepreneurs Jim Venables and Andy Haywood five years ago and has grown into a multi-million pound enterprise with offices in the UK and the US, has released details of some of its more curious office requests. They include:

A London-based company which asked for an office with its own bomb shelter which would withstand any terrorist attack including nuclear or germ warfare

A music industry mogul who requested diamond studded toilet seats for a certain demanding diva client

A pregnant MD who asked for space for a built-in baby scanner

Numerous requests for offices with space to accommodate employees’ pets – including one MD who asked for a built in tank to house his large collection of piranhas

A colonic irrigation company which needed additional space for ‘waste’ storage

A company which said it would only take office space in a building with attractive receptionists

An MD with a keen interest in taxidermy who wanted a gallery adjoining his office to display his collection of stuffed animals

A car valeting company which asked for a built in office to wash cars

A rural office which needed be at least a mile from the nearest farm so that staff would not be distracted by ‘country smells’

A high-maintenance MD who asked for her office to be fitted with a personal spray tan booth

A Feng Shui obsessed MD who requested an office with all windows and doors facing east

An office room with just six bar stools inside - nothing else! The company then wanted to sit on the stools and look at images projected on a wall

An IT company that insisted that there were to be no bars or outlets selling alcohol within walking distance of the office

“Every business has its own specific needs and, as the UK’s largest online provider ofA commercial office space and with the mission to become ‘the global place to find your office space’, we are obviously used to matching office accommodation with our clients’ needs,” says Jim. “Our expertise in this sector is second to none although we have to admit that there are times when even we wonder whether we are going to be able to meet some of the more bizarre client requests.”

“Nevertheless we will always go out of our way to try and meet clients’ needs and, because our property portfolio is so extensive, we are almost always able to oblige,” he continues. “However, as far as the request for attractive receptionists was concerned we did have to point out to our client that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ and it was not really for us to judge whether personnel were deemed attractive or not!”