Regus, the provider of workplace solutions, has announced opening of a new business centre in Hyderabad. The new location, in the iconic domed Ilabs building at Hitech City, doubles Regus’ footprint in the city, and comes at a time of growing demand for workplace solutions from both international and local firms in Hyderabad. The level of demand is such that the centre was at over 90% occupancy the day after the official opening.
With India’s galloping levels of growth, Hyderabad businesses are seeking new ways of working and the rapid expansion of India’s economy has coincided with escalating demand for innovative workspace and world class infrastructure available in Regus’ India locations.
Earlier this year the Regus Business Confidence Index, which surveyed over 500 business leaders across the country, found that Hyderabad is one of the India’s most bullish cities, with over 83% of companies there expecting to increase profits over the next 12 months. At the same time however, many companies are focusing on smart investment in growth– 85% will cut or freeze property and workplace related spending in 2011.
Madhusudan Thakur, Regional Vice President, South Asia, Regus, says “Hyderabad has become a global hub for technology companies, in sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals and biotech. We have seen increasing demand from both leading international players looking to establish a presence in the city, Indian SMEs and local entrepreneurs who are looking for a high quality yet cost-effective workplace infrastructure.”
One of the international customers who are using Regus to enter Hyderabad is American Headquartered iCool Technologies, a business and technology consulting firm, that has been in India since 2008.
Jay Madan, Managing Director and Founder said “Our relation with Regus goes back to when we started our India operations in Pune in 2008. We also have an office with Regus San Diego. Hyderabad is a key city from our business strategy perspective. Thanks to the excellent service and personnel at Regus, no request went unanswered and was usually, accommodated within the budget and in a reasonable time frame. Regus offered us the perfect platform for setting up our operation in the city.”
An example of the type of start-up that is using Regus Hitech City is LocalBazaar.com, a website that enables consumers in Hyderabad browse and explore all the shopping options in the twin cities. Its founder, local entrepreneur Anil Dandamundi, commented “Hyderbad is a vibrant environment for start-ups such as localbazaar.com, and thanks to Regus I can have a professional ready-to-use workplace in which to base my business, and the flexibility my company needs to grow.”
Thakur says, “We are delighted to be able to offer our customers here in Hyderabad the highest quality international-grade workplace facilities without burdening them with huge upfront capital expenditure. As a result of the demand for flexibility, we are seeing our business in India expand dramatically. Hitech City doubles our footprint in Hyderabad, and is an important step in our India growth plan for 2011. We plan to rapidly grow our national network across India in the next two years.”
Regus’ optimism about its prospects in India is backed by forecasters’ and businesses’ expectations for 2011. The IMF predicts growth of 8.75%, in real terms, in 2010/2011 and states that India’s growth is ‘among the highest in the world’.
