Regus Group sets up biz centre in B'lore

Targets IT & ITES companies, has expansion plans for major Asian markets

Regus Group, the £463.3 million provider of outsourced workplaces on demand, on Wednesday announced its entry into India with the launch of Regus Business Centre in Bangalore.

Speaking after opening the Bangalore office, Madhusudan Thakur, commercial director-India, Regus, said the group has identified Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon and Mumbai as preferred locations for high quality commercial space and has been testing these markets for national expansion for the last one year.

Through this, the company aims to leverage the growth and consolidation of players in IT & ITES, business services, banking and finance and energy sectors, amongst others, he added.

After an initial soft-launch of the first business centre in Bangalore, Regus has now launched its new business centre in the city.

The new business centre located at RMZ Millenia complex take Regus' number of Indian business centres to five and in Bangalore to two. The new centre will have the capacity to service 144 people, with a combined total of two meeting rooms and one seminar room.

Having established itself in the UK and Europe, Regus has embarked upon ambitious expansion plans for the Asian markets like India, Korea, China, Japan, which are growing rapidly with a 33 per cent increase in revenue.

According to Thakur, Regus plans to offer spaces for businesses of all sizes (from sole proprietors to mid and large-sized companies) across any sector with an unlimited access to 750 Regus business lounges in 60 countries and 3,700 meeting rooms worldwide.

He also said "business property in India has witnessed extreme swings in the last 10 years with the sudden collapse of investor run markets and rise of business process outsourcing (BPO) bringing in strong growth. Enterprises are keen on outsourcing their real estate requirements as means of mitigating financial and property risks. We cater to this changing business need of companies by providing them with flexible and cost-effective workplace options to meet their specific needs."

With property constituting more than 40 per cent of the total investment of many of the companies, workplace outsourcing has become a strategic component of their business plan, he added.

"As per the SmartSpace cost model, by partnering with Regus, companies can now save an office space cost of 78 per cent which will automatically reduce the Total Cost of Occupancy by eliminating up-front capital expenditures and redirecting that money into propelling the company's core business forward," Thakur further added.