IWG sees ‘substantial room for growth’ as group revenues nudge £3bn

Flexible offices operator IWG, which owns the Regus and Spaces, brand has reported its “highest ever” revenue in its 35-year history. The group reported revenues of more than £2.9bn for the year ended 31 December, up by 8% year-on-year. EBITDA increased by 30% to £403m, driven by higher revenues and a focus on costs. Chief executive Mark Dixon said: “While 2023 was a record year for both revenue and network size, we continue to see significant growth potential. With 1.2bn white-collar workers globally and a potential audience valued at more than $2tn, there is substantial room for growth and as a company, we have a laser-like focus on capturing more of this market over the coming months and years.” IWG added 867 new locations across its portfolio in 2023, with a focus on its partnership model. The group now has some 3,514 locations around the world. Dixon said the group completed more than double the amount of partnership deals in 2023 than it did in 2022. “The long-term shift towards the hybrid model is one of the mega-trends of our time and represents a colossal financial opportunity for IWG,” said Dixon. “The reasoning for the transition towards hybrid working is clear and compelling for companies of all sizes and their employees with positive impacts on, productivity, lower costs, increased flexibility and above all significantly enhanced worker happiness, while investors, landlords and building owners are increasingly seeing IWG as the ideal partner to capitalise on the long-term shift towards the model.” “I am consistently struck by the growing role and positive impact, hybrid working is having on business performance, the environment, and individuals’ happiness,” he added. Looking ahead Dixon said IWG’s strategy would be on expanding the business but growing its margin, with a continued focus on the strict control of costs. “We will continue to make significant investments into our world class platform as well as focusing on the rapid growth of network coverage in partnership with the property industry and investors using capital-light expansion methods such as management agreements, partnering deals and franchising,” he said.