Tag: franchisee

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

The Pérez Gil Family: Accor & Hilton’s Spanish Partner

1 February 2016 – Expansión

Routemap / Hoteles Temáticos, which works with giant players in the hotel sector through franchise contracts, expects to double in size and revenues over the next four years.

The Pérez Gil family is making closer ties with large international hotel groups. The family, which already has a partnership with the French company Accor, has now signed a similar agreement with Hilton. A new partner, but the same modus operandi: a franchise agreement that allows Hoteles Temáticos, the company owned by the Pérez Gil family, to manage hotels and, in exchange for a fee, use Accor and Hilton’s brands and distribution channels, which have 25 million and 74 million users, respectively, in their loyalty programs.

This summer, Hilton will open the doors of its first hotel in the centre of Madrid – until now the hotel giant had just one hotel in the city, next to the airport (pictured above) – under the Double Tree brand, which will debut in the capital. The 4-star property will have 61 rooms and will be located on Calle San Agustín, opposite Congress. The work to renovate the building, which housed offices until now, will cost around €4 million. In parallel, the Pérez Gil family has paid €8 million for 50% of the property.

In addition to this project with Hilton, which will allow the family to raise its profile in the US market, Hoteles Culturales is finalising several other new additions. It currently operates three hotels under franchise agreements with Accor in Madrid and Barcelona, as well as a complex containing 16 apartments in the capital and another (unbranded) 3-star property in Alfaro (La Rioja). “Our objective is to increase our portfolio from 400 rooms to between 800 and 1,000 rooms by 2020, and for our turnover, which currently stands at €10 million, to grow to €25 million”, says Guillermo Pérez Palacios, Director General of Hoteles Temáticos and the son of Antonio Pérez Gil, who used to be the Chief Operating Officer of NH, when the chain founded by Antonio Catalán had six hotels.

Royalties

In the short term, Hoteles Temáticos will focus on Barcelona and Madrid…but Bilbao, San Sebastián, Porto and Lisbon also feature on its radar. The company is looking for management contracts, and, depending on the opportunity, investment contracts. And the door is also open to new partners, even though the involvement of international brands can increase investment costs by up to 20%, due to the high quality and safety standards such brands demand.

Agreements with overseas brands include the payment of royalties for the use of those brands and their distribution channels. Nevertheless, the formula has its benefits: “The consistency of the brand makes up for (the associated costs) and helps to make investments more effective”. At the Hotel Ibis Styles Madrid Prado, the Pérez Gil family’s first franchise contract, 55% of reservations are generated by Accor’s sales channel. According to the franchisee, brands allow hotels to increase revenues per room by between 10% and 15% compared with those charged by independent hotels and domestic chains. “Brands have allowed us to reduce our dependence on online travel agents”.

Original story: Expansión (by Yovanna Blanco)

Translation: Carmel Drake