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Taking 'virtual office' concept to new level

Regus opens its third business center in the Czech capital inside Burzovní palŕc

By Julie O'Shea
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 18th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Kenneth Ohlendorff, Regus Group's vice president, says the company moved to Prague in 1996 to fulfill a growing need on the market.
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COURTESY PHOTO
Regus' Burzovní palác business center opened in May in Prague.
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Regus

Tel.: 222 191 100
Web:
www.regus.cz

Burzovní Palác
Rybná 14
Prague 1
118 workstations and two meeting rooms

Prague Empiria
Na Strži 65
Prague 4
155 workstations and five meeting rooms

Prague Praha City Centre
Klimentská 46
Prague 1
129 workstations and two meeting rooms

As the mobile office space trend continues to expand across Central and Eastern Europe, Regus, a leading workplace solutions provider, is keeping the momentum going here with the recent opening of its third business center in downtown Prague.
Located in the historic Burzovní palác, right off náměstí Republiky, Regus’ most recent venture in the Czech capital opened in May. The center touts 118 workstations and two meeting rooms that have filled up fast with businessmen and women looking to capitalize on the company’s popular “virtual office space” concept.
The idea is more than simply just renting a desk and fax machine. It’s about securing top-of-the-line business service while on the road, Regus executives say.
“Our virtual office solutions allow companies of all sizes to benefit from a prestigious business address, as well as access to office and meeting-room space without hiring a staff or committing to a long-term lease,” says Kenneth Ohlendorff, Regus Group’s vice president. “That is very important to our clients who are businessmen, to have access to strategic, professional locations everywhere in the world with high-quality services.”
With a network of 950 locations in 70 countries, Regus regards itself as the world’s largest workplace solutions provider. The company, which started in 1989 with its first business center in Brussels, landed in Prague in 1996 at the Praha City Centre. A center in the Prague Empiria building, the company’s largest, followed shortly after.
The need was there, Ohlendorff says, explaining the company’s decision to move to the Czech Republic. Regus wanted to find a way to get in on the action.
According to statistics released by Regus officials, 90,000 people in the Czech Republic worked remotely in 2004. That number is expected to jump by 8 percent by next year.
Prague “is one of the privileged destinations in Europe for companies’ expansion,” Ohlendorff notes. “The Czech market attracts both national and international companies, which need modern and flexible outsource workplace solutions to grow their businesses.”
Ohlendorff says Regus doesn’t target any particular type of company, adding that the company’s diverse group of clients is what makes Regus so attractive.  
“Our clients are both major international corporations, but also small companies like lawyers, consultants, recruiters, B2B service providers, legal, IT and financial,” Ohlendorff says.
The company’s clients include, for instance, Google, Electronic Arts and a company called Check Point Software Technologies, which established its East European headquarters in one of Regus’ Prague centers.  
Daniel Safar, a manager at Check Point, says Regus’ “professional approach” and the “variety of services” it offers is what gives the workplace solutions provider its competitive edge.
Check Point has been a Regus client for two years. Safar sees mobile office space as a big business benefit. Such a setup, Safar explains, allows businesses to be more flexible.
“It gives … more freedom,” he says.
Ohlendorff believes Regus’ latest center at Burzovní palác epitomizes the type of flexibility its clients crave. The building is situated along busy Rybná, in the heart of the city’s financial districts and close to both metro and trams stops. Once Regus found the spot, Ohlendorff says it took just 12 weeks before the company’s newest center was open for business.
Regus completely renovated its floor, bringing in new furniture and equipment and installing a new data and voice cabling system. The bright, tidy office with many open-air windows is decorated with paintings from France. The large kitchen has a big flat-screen TV tuned to CNN. Staff at the front desk are there to answer client calls or book a reservation at one of Prague’s trendy restaurants. The setup in Prague 1, Ohlendorff insists, is no different than the setup in Prague 4 or, for that matter, New York or London.
Expanding to Czech cities outside of Prague, such as Brno, is certainly possible, but “we have to find the right building and the right place,” Ohlendorff says. “It is too soon to say where and when exactly.”
In addition to its new Prague office, Regus also opened business centers in Sofia and Bratislava this year.
The company is not without its competitors. Ohlendorff, however, points out that the local competition is much smaller and can’t offer clients the same type of global presence as Regus can.
“It is healthy to have competitors, as it forces you to remain innovative and always deliver high-standard services,” Ohlendorff says. “Our expansion strategy in the Czech Republic, as well as anywhere else in the world, is driven by the needs of our clients and of growing markets.”

Julie O'Shea can be reached at joshea@praguepost.com


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