Denis galbraith wasn’t looking for just any building to house his new Wellington West Capital Inc. branch in Barrie, Ont., two years ago. He wanted a place that would tempt other investment advisors to join his practice.

It wasn’t long before he found something that suited him perfectly: a stately three-storey mansion in the city’s centre that had seen better days. It was also up for sale.

“It used to be the steakhouse in town, going back to the 1970s and 1980s. Then it changed ownership and it sat there, not doing much of anything,” he says. “I was going to change firms [he was with Raymond James Ltd. after a long stretch at Midland Walwyn Capital Inc.], so I thought, ‘Why don’t we give Wellington West a unique presence in Barrie?’”

Galbraith bought the building and spent the next five months renovating inside and out, but he retained much of the mansion’s original character. Today, the Barrie branch is home to six advisors, two estate planners and nine support staff. “We wanted to create a warm, inviting environment for clients and staff,” he says. “Based on the feedback we’ve had, it has been a great move all around.”

For advisors — particularly those such as Galbraith who run independent practices — the business’s location, type of building in which it is housed, as well as the layout and interior design, are crucial to attracting, retaining and serving clients. A stunning workplace won’t replace good service, but an individual’s experience when visiting the premises can be a deciding factor in whether he or she becomes a client.

Here are some things to keep in mind when finding a home for your business.



First steps: Getting help

The first step in determining where to locate your business and how to design an office is to determine the needs of your business. Who are your clients? What are their needs? What are your practice’s short- and long-term requirements for space and resources? And what image do you want to project? Money will be factor, of course, as costs will vary depending on where you locate.

It will also make a difference if you operate under an independent model or run a branch office of a major firm. Many of the larger integrated dealers have policies governing office locations. In that case, the firm will be help you establish your business and provide guidelines.

George Karkoulas assists advisors in locating and negotiating leases for new branch offices for Raymond James and has final approval of new locations. Raymond James has 37 branches across Canada for its independent advisors, with three more scheduled to open by the end of December.

“We provide advisors with guidance [in choosing a location and building], but they create their own culture. We don’t design it for them,” says Karkoulas, who is the company’s senior vice president of the independent financial services division in the firm’s private client group based in Toronto.

Raymond James imposes some restrictions on locations. “We don’t allow an advisor to locate his or her primary office at home,” Karkoulas says. Home offices don’t project enough of a professional image. And an office above a bar or a restaurant doesn’t fly, either, although Karkoulas says none of the firm’s advisors has ever proposed such a location.

Another consideration when developing an office is to retain an architect or interior designer early in the process. “I would tell anybody to spend the money and get somebody who knows what you want your office to look like and who can capture what the vision is for your firm. It makes a huge difference,” says Rob LeSourd, CEO of J.F. Mackie & Co. , an independent brokerage firm housed in a 24-storey office tower in downtown Calgary with a view of the Rockies.

LeSourd hired an architect when J.F. Mackie was looking for office space and deciding on a design for the business, which is home to seven retail and two institutional advisors, as well as about 10 support staff.

“[The architect] had the creativity, the sense to recognize, ‘Hey, if you knock down these walls over here, you’ll have this spectacular view’,” LeSourd says. “He saw a line of sight: boardroom here, desks here, windows on both sides to get that kind of warm feeling.”

@page_break@LeSourd has renovated the office since moving in five years ago, bringing in the same architect to maintain consistency of office layout and design.



Where To Locate

The clients’ needs are the primary consideration in choosing a location. Most of the time, you’ll want to be close to where clients work, so they can easily meet with you during the day. If, however, your client base is predominately older and retired , you may want to consider locating closer to where they live.

You will also want to consider the ease with which clients and staff can get to the office. Is the location you’re mulling over close to major highways, streets or intersections? Is it served by local public transit?

And if attracting new clients and new advisors is a goal of your practice, that, too, becomes part of the equation. In Galbraith’s case, the Barrie office is easy for new clients to find because it is situated just a few blocks from city landmarks, City Hall and the art gallery. If you are recruiting other advisors, you want a location they would find desirable, which may be close to where they are already working.

Other elements to keep in mind are:

> Prestige vs convenience. There’s often an element of prestige involved in a downtown address. But suburban locations are often more practical for clients to get to and leasing costs tend to be lower.

LeSourd says his location in downtown Calgary means most of his high-end entrepreneur clients can get to appointments on foot. In a city with little available parking in the downtown core, that’s a big plus.

> Parking. Availability and cost of parking are important factors — most advisors say primary factors — in choosing a location.

LeSourd says the lack of assigned parking is perhaps the worst aspect of the location his firm moved to five years ago. “If clients come into the core and have to find parking, it’s very difficult and costly,” he says. “If I were looking again, I might consider a smaller building where I could obtain some reserved parking.”



Type of building

A commercial tower, a storefront or a stand-alone location? Deciding on one of these is usually an important consideration when finding a new office. Each has factors in its favour.

Older clients may find navigating stairs difficult so, if you serve older clients, a storefront office may be the best choice because of its ground-floor location. It would also have the advantage of visibility, as a commercial sign can be put on the building to drive traffic.

On the other hand, an office in a tower may provide a more corporate feel, which gives clients a feeling of reassurance. Other key considerations are:

> Space. You’ll need a good idea of how much space your business needs today — and tomorrow, if you plan to expand.

When LeSourd acquired his office space, he took an extra 2,000 square feet, which he then sublet. “You want to leave your options open,” he says. “You want to make sure if a great opportunity arises, you’re not making a business decision based solely on whether the premises allows for it.”

Of course, if you have no plans to expand in the future, you should be realistic about the space you need or you’ll be stuck paying for the extra. Galbraith was happy with the space limitations of the old Barrie mansion. “The square footage allowed me to take it to the size of branch I want,” he says. “I don’t want to be any bigger than eight or nine advisors.”

> Technology. “Communications is an important element,” says Kevin Hook, the vice president of corporate finance at Winnipeg-based Wellington West, which has 19 branches across Canada. “Buildings and offices have to accommodate the latest technology.”

You’ll want to work with a professional to choose a building that will meet your business’s technical needs.

> Air quality. A building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning are other vital considerations. “Because you work long hours, you want to have [good air quality],” says Kathy Aziz, vice president of financial planning services at Kerr Financial Corp. in Montreal, which has offices on the 15th floor of a high-rise tower. Aziz was in charge of finding the location, into which the fee-only planning firm moved in early 2004. “The building’s ventilation was redone when the whole building was renovated five or six years ago.” That was a plus for Aziz.

> View. A magnificent view can have a big emotional impact on your clients, and give your business a sense of permanence and prosperity. Kerr Financial, for instance, enjoys the lovely prospect of the McGill University campus, which happens to be the alma mater of the firms’ founders, Rob and Gitta Kerr.



Office layout

Decisions made early in terms of where to put offices, boardroom, kitchens, etc., will have consequences on how people — and work — flows through the space.

“This space is very efficiently laid out,” Aziz says of her office. “At some places we looked at, the space wasn’t as efficiently laid out, despite being the same size as this place.”

You also need to consider how you, your staff and your clients will actually use the space. Some advisors prefer to use their offices strictly for work, choosing to meet clients in boardrooms and not in cluttered offices. Others like to meet clients in their offices, and this means keeping desks tidy and confidential files stored away.

This was an important decision for LeSourd when he was in the process of laying out the J.F. Mackie office. To facilitate staff interaction, he built a “bullpen” area, made up of desks arranged in an open-concept arrangement, instead of private offices for each advisor. Although clients can see this area and people at work in it, they don’t have access to it.

The rest of the premises has a warm wood and leather feel, with a main boardroom, a library and smaller rooms for meetings with clients. “It’s a different environment [from] the window, desk and door set-up of your typical office,” LeSourd says.

> Traffic flow. It’s crucial to keep in mind how you want traffic to flow through the space. At Rogers Group Financial Ltd. in Vancouver, the client’s comfort was kept foremost in mind when the firm renovated its offices several years ago. For instance, it opted for wide hallways free of cabinets and clutter, so advisors and clients can walk abreast.

“[This allows] you to have a conversation about the weather or traffic or family,” says Alan Kotai, portfolio manager and vice president. “You can start the social discussion at the reception area [and continue it all the way] to the office.”

At Rogers Group, each private office has a glass window next to the door to balance privacy and openness. “It’s important for clients not to feel boxed in,” Kotai says.

Client-meeting areas and offices should be on the perimeter of the space — which will probably have windows and a view — with kitchens and washrooms in the centre.

There are other traffic flow issues to be considered. For example, will you have to walk through the reception area — where your next client is waiting — for a refreshment break? Is there a washroom for clients?

A good designer can help you avoid some of these pitfalls in laying out the office, although the space won’t always allow you to structure things in the ideal way.

> Reception. The reception area is where your business makes its first impression on clients, so its design is crucial. Ease of entry and exit, comfortable seating, closeness to refreshments and washrooms are all key considerations.

At Rogers Group, for example, the glass reception doors are kept fully open during office hours so older clients don’t have to tug on the heavy doors. “We have a warm reception area, with furniture that’s easy to get in and out of, nothing low-slung,” says Barb Simpson, the company’s chief operating officer. “We also offer different seating options — a couch where a couple can sit together, two chairs side-by-side and a single chair — so clients will feel welcome whether they’re coming in as a couple or on their own.”

The firm had a small kitchen installed just off the reception area so the receptionist wouldn’t have to run to the main kitchen to bring clients cups of coffee or glasses of water.

“If a client gets a good reception from the minute he or she walks in the door, everything runs smoother,” Aziz says.

> Storage. In these days of privacy and compliance concerns, storage can’t be overlooked. Kerr Financial created a central filing room, which is locked every night.

Each advisor then designates one drawer in his or her office to hold work-in-progress documents. Those drawers are also locked at night, and spare keys to them are kept in another location, in case a document is required when an advisor isn’t around. “We wanted to make it easy to follow a ‘clean-desk policy’ … because if it isn’t easy to do, the process will fall off,” Aziz says.



Interior Decorating

Some advisors may consider interior design a “soft” issue, but the design and décor of an office will give clients a general sense of whom the advisor is and whether this is a person to whom they want to entrust their money.

Sometimes a classic, corporate look is all that’s needed. But Wellington West’s Galbraith wanted a warmer, more personal feeling. “I hired an outside commercial interior decorator who brought colours and flair you wouldn’t see in an institutional-type office,” he says. The old bar from the mansion’s restaurant days was refurbished and moved into the boardroom, and the vintage wooden banister beside the stairs leading to the second-floor offices was stripped and stained to match the rest of the décor.

The premises projects an inviting but professional image. For example, the boardroom is located on the ground floor to make an impression on clients and to provide a place for advisors to meet with older clients without forcing the clients to climb the stairs to the offices.

At J.F. Mackie, advisors and clients often meet in the library, which has comfortable chairs, good lighting and a desk for presenting materials. The walls are painted a pleasant green and the rooms enjoy a lot of light. “Our offices are by no means lavish or fancy or over the top,” LeSourd says. “But they do have a warm and inviting feeling.”

Ostentatious design and lavish furnishings should be avoided because they can give clients the impression that the business’s money is going into its décor. Instead, a design and furniture that is high-end, professional and in good working order should be selected.

> Furnishings. In choosing office furniture, functionality and comfort should be the foremost consideration. Limit orders to one or two suppliers so continuity can be maintained when offices are expanded or replacements are needed.

At J.F. Mackie, furniture was put to the test before a decision was made. “The designer brought in samples, and we test-drove the chairs. We let everybody try them out and picked different models for the boardroom and the bullpen,” says LeSourd.

> Artwork. Artwork in the office should be tasteful, but there is always room for the personal. In fact, family pictures or mementoes from summer vacations in an advisor’s office are good conversation starters and help clients relate to the advisor.

In his office at Rogers Group, Kotai prominently displays his diplomas and certificates so clients can see his educational achievements and note that he has been adding to his credentials.

> Maintenance. It’s vital to keep offices clean and everything in working order. Dusty furniture or a sloppy reception area make a bad impression on clients. “You do have to maintain your premises,” says LeSourd. “We paint every 18 months because things get dinged. You have janitors and people pushing chairs around. You bang walls. And with the darker colours we’ve chosen, chipped paint stands out.”

Galbraith is happy that he sacrificed the corporate look for a warmer atmosphere in his business premises.

“That was done on purpose,” he says. “We were comfortable enough with where we were going [with the business]. It was all about the client; really, that drove everything.” IE