IWG signs new Regus, Spaces and HQ partnerships in Kenya, as demand for hybrid working rises

The four new locations are part of the drive to provide top-class facilities in a wide variety of locations as hybrid working becomes a reality for more workers.

The Pod, in the affluent suburb Lavington in Nairobi and the first building in Kenya purposefully built for co-working, will be an impressive 7,000 square metres. The location will house a fully functional Regus workspace in one tower and a Spaces centre in the adjacent tower, complete with co-working spaces, private offices, meeting rooms and creative spaces.

These openings follow a partnership agreement with the building owner, David Onyonka from TSG Realty, who has invested in the IWG platform to create branded flexible workspaces in their buildings in Lavington, home to impressive malls and up-and-coming Grade A buildings, LEED-certified, green buildings.

A second partnership in Nairobi with Ronal Samani from Lanor International Limited – a member of AMS Group and IWG’s partner in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ghana – will see a Spaces centre, 1,514 square metres on the 11th floor, in one of Nairobi’s best buildings, The Global Trade Centre. Expected to open in August 2023, the centre has already received strong interest from enterprise customers.

An additional partnership has also been signed at Mombasa City Mall in the affluent coastal area of Nyali, Mombasa. The first retail building in Kenya to incorporate a co-working space - with an impressive 1,000 square metres - will provide an HQ workspace complete with co-working spaces, private offices and meeting rooms. The new workspace follows a partnership agreement with the building owner, Anish Doshi from Africa Workspace Hub Ltd, who has capitalised on the rapidly expanding demand for hybrid working to deliver an HQ workspace with IWG in their Nyali location, home to impressive hotels and tourist attractions.

Unprecedented demand from companies of all sizes and workers looking for hybrid working solutions means IWG will add 1,000 new locations over the next year. Hybrid working offers companies a significantly lower cost base with an average saving of $11k per employee.

IWG, the world’s largest provider of hybrid working solutions with brands including Spaces, Regus and HQ, is opening unsurpassed workspaces in Kenya as the demand for hybrid working rapidly accelerates. Nairobi and Mombasa are some ofKenya’s fastest-growing regional locations. Demand for workspaces in the area has performed strongly, with the number of enquiries for space in IWG locations continuing to increase sharply.

The building owners decided to invest in the IWG platform to maximise the return on their real estate space by capitalising on the growth of hybrid working. With an annual investment of around £50m into its technology platform, IWG provides partners with access to all the company’s expertise, design and fit-out support, and sales and marketing capabilities.

The new Nairobi and Mombasa locations will include facilities such as private offices, meeting rooms, co-working and creative spaces. Regus and HQ offer co-working spaces, offices, and meeting rooms for businesses of any size in almost every city, town and major transport hub globally. The Spaces brand offers creative workspaces with a unique entrepreneurial spirit; located all over the world, these designer workspaces have full programmes of carefully created business and networking events. Perfect for those looking for communities of like-minded individuals.

The new centres will provide space for established firms and start-ups across a range of industries, while IWG’s ‘Design Your Own Office’ service allows companies to tailor their space entirely to their requirements.

IWG is the world’s leading provider of flexible workspace – with 3,500 locations in more than 120 countries and members able to access all locations and business services via the IWG app.

As the ongoing shift towards hybrid working accelerates, conventional office occupancy will continue to fall as businesses require less traditional space and turn to flexible workspace instead. In 2022, IWG welcomed hundreds of new partner locations and is on track to add around 1,000 over the course of the next year. IWG already counts 83% of Fortune 500 companies among its customer base.

Mark Dixon, CEO and founder of IWG, commented: “We are establishing a stronger and much-needed footprint in Kenya. As important business hubs, Nairobi and Mombasa are fantastic places for us to boost our expansion plans. The need for high-quality flexible workspaces continues to soar as hybrid working becomes the new normal. We are very pleased to work in partnership with David Onyonka from TSG Realty (The Pod, Lavington), Ronal Samani from Lanor International Limited (Global Trade Centre) and Anish Doshi from Africa Workspace Hub Ltd (Mombasa City Mall) to develop the Regus, Spaces and HQ brands under management agreements that will add cutting-edge workspaces to their buildings.

"Our centre openings in Nairobi and Mombasa come at a time when more and more companies are discovering that flexible working boosts employee happiness and satisfaction while helping the environment. Our workplace model also increases productivity and allows a business to scale up or down at significantly reduced costs.”

IWG’s multi-brand expansion strategy is designed to appeal to every type of business and entrepreneur. IWG creates personal, financial, and strategic value for businesses of every size, from some of the most exciting companies and well-known organisations on the planet to individuals and the next generation of industry leaders. All of them harness the power of flexible working to increase their productivity, efficiency, agility, and market proximity.