A glimpse into the future of how work is performed can be seen as an increasing number of businesses around the world start to use serviced-office solutions.
While the Asia-Pacific share of the serviced-office market is the smallest internationally, it is also growing the fastest. Regus, the world's largest provider of flexible workspace, knows this as well as anyone. With a listing on the London Stock Exchange and a presence in over 90 countries, the company has bold expansion plans that look to take advantage of the growing Asia-Pacific segment.
Hans Leijten, Regus' regional vice-president for East Asia, explains how the company's drive to find better ways to work will affect businesses in Asia.
What is your position in Asia and plans for the future here?
We have been present in Asia for 17 years, and in fact China was our first country in the region - we opened in Beijing's Lufthansa Centre in 1995. Five years later, we had 20 locations in eight Asian countries, and today we have over 170 locations in 16 countries. There has been a huge growth in demand across the region.
When we first opened, it was generally to provide launch pads into Asia's economies for multinational companies. Today, however, at least 50 per cent, and often as much as 80 per cent, of our business within a given country comes from customers based locally. Going forwards, we are expanding our network to new cities, as well as building up our existing city-wide networks to support 'third place' [workspaces that are neither at home or the office] and mobile workers.
Are you hiring as you expand?