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Regus on the Hunt for Partners to Open 550 Centres Across Spain

8 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Regus wants to expand to the last corner in Spain. The supplier of flexible workspaces has set itself the objective of opening 550 centres in the domestic market and, in order to develop that plan, the company has launched a franchise model through which “we want to be everywhere”, said the Director-General of Regus in Spain, Philippe Jiménez, speaking to Eje Prime.

The franchisees of Regus, as well as their clients “will enjoy the same services as the company’s own centres”, said Jiménez. Currently, there is an “exceptional demand” for flexible workspaces in Spain and the company wants to provide a service that “would be impossible” without this new model, recognises the executive.

“We want to grow quickly and for that, the franchise model is necessary”, explains the Director. In exchange, the company offers its partners the same operating and marketing support that is provided to Regus’s own centres.

Jiménez says that “there will not be any limitations in terms of location”. “We like metropolitan areas in large cities, but also in secondary and tertiary cities too”, he continued. The only conditions that Regus is going to impose are that the franchisee must assume the full investment of the centre and that “the quality of our centres must be maintained”.

“For us, Barcelona and Madrid are the same as any other smaller city”, highlights the executive, who believes that with this expansion, through franchises, the company will provide clients with an increasingly “more efficient and more technological” service.

The new expansion formula that Regus is launching in Spain is a “mandate” that comes from the firm’s parent company, the giant IWG, but one that Jiménez supports. “Having centres all over the place allows you to be more productive”, explains the executive.

A former director of Día will lead the franchise area 

Regus’s new plan in Spain will also have a new director. Luis Herranz will be responsible for managing the expansion of the franchises. Recruited a month ago, the director comes from Día, where he has been working for the last four years. Since 2016, the executive has been the Director of Franchises and Master-franchises at the supermarket chain.

“We are adopting the franchise formula as a key lever in our growth strategy to expand Regus”, says Herranz on the social network Linkedin. It is a “business model that is simple to manage and that generates good returns”, says the director.

In terms of returns, Jiménez says that the flexible office model offers “large cash yields and significant double-digit investment returns”. “The sector of offices as a service is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, and has become the new target for investors and franchise operators”, highlights the Director General of Regus in Spain.

New openings and targets: Murcia, Toledo, Sant Cugat and Gijón

Whilst it searches for its first franchisees, Regus is continuing with its growth plan in Spain. Already present in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Málaga, Bilbao, Palma and Zaragoza, in November, Regus is going to add Murcia and Toledo to its footprint in Spain.

Over the last year, the company has opened 10,600 m2 of new office space. The most recent centres to be inaugurated have been those in Alcobendas and on c/Ortega y Gasset in Madrid; Diagonal Hightech and Sarriá Fórum, in Barcelona; and the Torre Aragonia centre in Zaragoza (…).

The main brand of the giant IWG, which also operates the co-working firm Spaces in Spain, Regus has a presence in 120 countries and more than 1,100 cities with 3,500 centres. The company provides services to more than 2.5 million clients around the world.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake