The flexible workspace provider is gaining ground across London, Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, with four additional franchise partnerships
With the flexible working trend gaining momentum, leading global workspace provider IWG is expanding across the UK with four new franchise partnerships, bringing Regus serviced offices to ever-greater numbers of people.
At the moment, IWG has about 320 centres across the UK, split between six brands: Regus, Spaces, HQ, Signature by Regus, No18, and Basepoint. But over the next three to four years, more than 30 new Regus centres will open across the country with help from IWG’s new franchise partners.
These include Kash Group of Companies, which will launch ten centres in South Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire; AMA Workspaces Limited, which will open five centres in southwest London; SME Group Plc, which will unveil ten centres across northwest London; and Q-Boid Limited, which will open five centres in Northamptonshire as part of the deal.
Each location was chosen with great care. “Due to the way we track inbound enquiries for office space, we have a good idea of where we have a requirement,” says Julian Chambers, UK Head of Partnership Growth for Regus. “And through our existing business we have the demographic hallmarks of what makes a great location for IWG, including population density and numbers of office workers.”
On his vision for growth, Chambers adds: “Initially the franchise partners will sign a minimum of five centres over three years in a close geographical cluster. Beyond that, we’re aiming for these franchisees to grow and open up whole regions with 20, 30 or even 40 centres each.”
Given that IWG is present in almost 3,300 locations, 110 countries and 1,100 towns and cities across the world, the new UK franchise partners will benefit from the company’s strong heritage, industry experience, market awareness and customer understanding.
“IWG is a market leader with a great franchise model,” says David Bell, Director at AMA Workspaces, about the new franchise partnership. “It is the number-one global brand with unparalleled brand recognition. We look forward to partnering with IWG and being part of the workspace revolution.”
For Regus, being able to “take the brand to locations where we have no presence” is exciting, says Chambers. “It is allowing us to reach even more of our customers and provide them with a choice of quality serviced office.
“Partnering with IWG gives business owners the ability to participate in this growth story. Projections show that 30% of corporate real estate could be flexible workspace by 2030, up from 2% today. This makes the serviced office market one of the most exciting growth areas in the whole of the UK.”
With digitisation and new technologies transforming the world of work, people want the personal productivity benefits of working wherever and however they want, whether they are a start-up or a large multinational.
Why did IWG choose to focus on Regus for its UK franchise expansion? “It has the widest brand recognition and broadest appeal,” says Chambers. “However, if and where appropriate, we are ready to deploy other IWG brands.”
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