Citibase

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Citibase are the, MOST DIFFICULT UNINTERESTED landlord we have ever had…. Within months of taking residency at the Ditchling Road, Brighton space, we were broken into THREE times in THREE weeks. Citibase did absolutely zero to prevent or support this, and it was only after the police were called for the 3rd time telling Citibase it was bordering on wasting police time did they act. We were left £30k out of pocket, and it took months for Citibase to accept any responsibility. They were very unsympathetic and didn’t care at all about the stress, worry, cost, and impact on staff or the business. They argued all the way down the line, shouted down the phone, and even went on to imply it was an ‘internal job’! To become a client of this company, is the longest, most drawn out process. You need to provide crazy amounts of information, personal and business, then have documents signed in the presence of lawyers (at your cost). They will not let you move in one hour before your tenancy starts, which if you want to save on business interruption and move in at the weekend for example, you will need to pay. Everything with this company is at a cost, if you decide to employ a new team member despite the fact you have rented the adequate amount of space, you will need to pay for them to be ‘on-boarded’ which is essentially giving them a plastic door access key…and so the sundry cost continue! The location is ok, and it does have parking however getting post delivered can be tricky as it seems the postcode covers 3 different building on the same site. The office furniture is old and needs replacing, the chairs provided are uncomfortable, broken and dirty. The building is run down and in poor state of repair, vulnerable and unsecure. The toilets consistently have excrement in the bowls, urine on the floor, no tissue paper, or soap to wash your hands. Kitchens are tiny and filthy. Carpets are dirty, never vacuumed, bins never emptied, windows filthy. The broadband is expensive, and is not particularly stable or quick, it is outsourced to a third party who take an age to resolve any issues. You will pay more than double that of a central Brighton carpark per month to park your vehicle here. If you are lucky enough to get a space you may find its sold to ‘a new and bigger client’ without warning. We sold our business and transferred some products to its sister company – we reached out to Citibase to make them aware. They said we needed to set up a new agreement and go through that tiresome process. We took advice and our solicitor said a simple ‘Deed of Assignment’ would sort this, Citibase refused this point blank. When we told them this was unacceptable, they then dug their heels demand a new deposit and agreement and threatened to lock us out of the office if we did not comply. Without warning or any further discussion, they then rented the space to another company. Our belief is they simply wanted to keep the deposit of the sold company– be warned! Citibase are a very difficult bunch of people to deal with, they are a ‘grab-a-buck’ organisation, their customer service is non-existent, they care so little about their customers or the property. The number of companies that come and go is astounding. In the long 2 years we’ve been contracted they have had 3 centre managers, each seemed demotivated, miserable, and frustrated. We are all delighted we’re now finally out of contract and leaving.