Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Mark Dixon is one of Europe’s best known entrepreneurs. Since founding Regus in Brussels, Belgium in 1989, he has achieved a formidable reputation for leadership and innovation. Prior to Regus he established businesses in the retail and wholesale food industry. A recipient of several awards for enterprise, Mark has revolutionised the way business approaches its workplace needs with his vision of the future of work.
IWG, the world’s largest versatile workspace provider, has reported an annual loss of greater than £620m but expects a giant bounce in demand as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic subsides as hybrid working – from dwelling and places of work – turns into the norm. Mark Dixon, the IWG chief government, mentioned: “We anticipate a …
IWG CEO Mark Dixon says the office isn't going away, it's just shifting out of big city centers. And, with rival WeWork flailing, he sees consolidation ahead in the serviced office sector.
We run a pretty de-risked portfolio anyway. And that is one of the big differences between us and WeWork, Knotel, etc. We avoid risk. If you avoid risk, you grow more slowly. But franchising reduces some of the risk, yes, but we are doing it to grow more quickly. For us to do more centers in North and South Dakota and the Highlands and islands of Scotland, we need franchise partners to do that. We want to be in every town and city and village and provide a workplace. And we need franchise partners to do that. It is not so much about risk. It is about growing more quickly, it is about having more capital sources, and it is about then having more local management—all three things.
We anticipate a massive surge in growth when we eventually emerge from the unprecedented downturn that the Covid-19 pandemic has created.