The name WeWork is probably better known to the general public than that of IWG. Yet your group is by far the world leader in hybrid work. How have you built up this sustainable growth in almost 35 years of existence?
Mark Dixon - Our company was built much more cautiously. WeWork is something of a phenomenon. When you spend 14 billion dollars, you quickly build up a huge reputation. Then a lot of that money is gone. On the other hand, if you start with a small amount of money, we have grown patiently to end up where we are today. In other words, we're now bigger than WeWork, which is almost 20 times bigger. IWG (International Workplace Group) is the leader in over 120 countries, not just in France or even the United States, where we are by far the number 1 in a market that accounts for half of our sales, but all over the world. What's more, unlike our competitors, who are only present in major cities, we have established a number of subsidiaries in other countries. solid national networks. In France, as elsewhere in Europe, we are increasingly present on the outskirts of major cities, in service towns and even in small villages, meeting the expectations of professionals who want to work close to home to avoid unnecessary travel.
With 800 new sites opened last year, your annual growth is almost equivalent to the total number of sites opened by all your main competitors. How do you explain the sharp acceleration in your growth in recent years?
MR D. - Digital technology is changing everything: the way we shop, the way we order a meal, the way we drive, even the way we date. The world of work has changed dramatically over the last five years as it has become increasingly digital. And this trend is global, in Europe and the United States as well as in Africa and Asia. Today, the workplace is everywhere and nowhere. At the same time, companies have changed the way they think about employee productivity. Our development is in line with this evolution, which explains the strong growth we are experiencing worldwide.
More specifically, how are you supporting this development?
MR D. - Our role is to provide professionals with the means to work effectively. A lot of people think that IWG is just offices. But what we do every day is help 8 million people to work better. At a time when companies are looking to support their employees at home, we're offering a new way of working. a range of products adapted to teleworking such as secretarial and support services, an IT environment and insurance. In fact, this is our fastest-growing offering at the moment. At the same time, because you can't hold meetings in your own living room or work alone all the time, our customers have access to all the centres in our network around the world, where we organise lots of social events, cocktails and conferences to encourage people to meet. So, from your home to the major business centres in the heart of Paris, London or New York, via our sites on the outskirts, IWG offers a comprehensive range of solutions. This, too, explains the acceleration in our development.
Professional nomadism also means all those places where people pass through, such as airports and railway stations. Are you expanding your offer in this area too?
MR D. - Absolutely. Particularly in the United States, where we will be deploying small work pods in the middle of airport terminals in partnership with Jabbrrbox. Pods located as close as possible to the boarding gates and not as remote as airline lounges. Moreover, airline lounges are often crowded and noisy, with limited and poorly equipped business centres. In contrast, these pods will be very quiet. Passengers can sit there and work in peace and quiet for half an hour, or take a video conference. We are currently installing 35 pods at Chicago airport, one of the biggest hubs in the US, under the joint Regus and Jabbrrbox brand names. The wider project involves the deployment of 200 units in several American airports. Developing a similar offer in Europe could also be interesting.
Given all these opportunities, how big could IWG be in the next five or ten years?
MR D. - We have almost 5,300 sites around the world, with around 4,000 already open and the rest under construction. After inaugurating 800 sites last year, we hope to do even better this year, not counting the pods in airports. And that's just by keeping up this pace of growth, our size would be three times greater in ten years' time. And we'd like to go even faster!
Do you see a limit to this growth?
MR D. - How far can we go? To begin with, I'd like to complete as many things as possible before I retire. But look at McDonald's. It took them over 40 years to get to where they are with 42,000 restaurants worldwide. It took them a long time to build that network, to find partners and then to expand around the world.
Do you think IWG could become as big a name as they are?
MR D. - Yes, that's right, the equivalent of a McDonald's or Marriott for hybrid working. We're building that momentum today. As the world becomes an entirely digital universe, we will continue to grow.
You mentioned Marriott. Like the major hotel groups, IWG also has a diversified portfolio of brands. Which are your priorities?
MR D. - In fact, like Marriott, we have many brands that cater for niche customer segments, 18 brands in total with different price points and different types of workspace. Spaces is more lifestyle, Regus is more business, and HQ represents our low-cost offering. It's these three that we're mainly developing. But alongside that, we also have a luxury brand, Signature, and exclusive business clubs with No18.
To continue the parallel with the hotel industry, is lifestyle, for example, also a trend in the professional world?
MR D. - Yes, and we recently announced the launch of a new concept with the design brand YOO. No18 and Spaces are also lifestyle-oriented. No one would have thought that office property would be so similar to hotels. But it is, there are many similarities. Like the hotel groups, we are following an asset-light development strategy, based on franchising and management contracts. Like them, it's also about experiences. Customers choose a hotel because it offers the best experience at the best price. And our business is not just about providing workspaces, but hospitality, welcome and support for mobile professionals.
To finish with the comparison you made with Marriott, their loyalty programme is based on experiences offered to members around sport and music. Could your membership programme follow suit?
MR D. - Marriott Bonvoy is all about personal benefits, for the actual user, without the company benefiting. But, yes, we are thinking how to develop a membership programme that offers different types of business-oriented experience.
