Here’s the dilemma:

Milton Keynes now has the second highest growth in the number of small businesses in the UK – equal to that of London according to new figures released from accounting group UHY Hacker Young.  It is without doubt, the place to do business.  Indeed, many high profile brands agree.  Abbey, Amazon, Dominoes, Argos, Traffic Master, Daimler Chrysler and Rightmove are just some of the household brands that have moved to the new city.

However, whilst growth of business is so promising, that brings with it high priced commercial property.  Alliance and Leicester have reported, in their 2009 Cost Monitor findings, that Milton Keynes is the second most expensive town to rent retail property space.  It makes perfect sense.  Where there’s demand, there is a price increase.

So, how does the small business take advantage of the opportunities Milton Keynes has to offer without being crippled by the over inflated property rates?  This is, after all, one of the most recession-proof towns in the country according to the Sunday Times.  Milton Keynes is a town to get in with.

Milton Keynes may strike up instant images of concrete and roundabouts.  And yes, there are a lot of both.  However, Milton Keynes is very fortunately located.  The town is surrounded by breath-taking Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire countryside. It is in a beautiful part of the UK. 

What this means is that small businesses have a choice.  Rural alternatives are popping up all around the city in contemporary business hubs offering something a great deal more pleasant than the expensive, congested concrete jungle.

Liscombe Park is one such business park.  Set in the idyllic, rolling hills of Soulbury, just 15 minutes from Milton Keynes town centre, this nest of offices gives the small business a flexible get-in, get-on work set-up without the hefty price tag. 

It’s not just the rates that make this property option appealing.

Liscombe Park developments have designed their offices with work-life balance in mind.  ‘Time to think, Time to Achieve’ is what they promise.  It’s easy to believe them as you journey up the grand, tree-lined driveway, passed the equestrian land with horses grazing, arriving at a community of converted barn-offices.

At Liscombe, you can hold meetings outside while you picnic.  You have free parking.  You have an exclusive, luxurious health club with pool and spa facilities next door with subsidized membership for tenants*.  There is no traffic.  It’s easy.  It feels calmly dynamic.  You get a sense that this is how working is meant to be.

Business tenants of these outskirt locations to Milton Keynes truly get the best of both worlds.  In quarter of an hour they’re in the bustling centre, networking with their neighbours.  In quarter of an hour they’re back out, able to breathe and do business in a way that feels far less stressful.  My advice: Do it now before the herds follow.

For more information on Liscombe Park, visit www.liscombepark.co.uk.

* Subsidised Health Club Membership can be negotiated for new tenants at Liscombe Park.