Regus expands to Johor

KUALA LUMPUR (July 6): Regus Plc, the world’s largest flexible workspace provider expanded into Johor due to robust investment activities in the southern state, according to a report in The Edge Financial Daily today.

“We are targeting the manufacturing, logistics, biodiesel business and other project-based business,” Regus Management (M) Sdn Bhd (Regus Malaysia) country manager Vijayakumar Tangarasan said in a recent interview.

Regus Malaysia opened a business centre in Johor Baru City Square office tower in April this year. Measuring about 8,000 sq ft, Vijayakumar expected demand to come from multinational companies (MNC), small and medium enterprises (SME) and start-ups.

He said business activities have started to pick up in Johor, which is also seeing an improvement in its infrastructure. There is massive development in the state, not only in Iskandar Malaysia, but also in Senai, Skudai and Pasir Gudang, he noted.

“We did not see a slowdown in Iskandar Malaysia last year, but we expect investments to pick up due to the tax relief and other benefits provided,” Vijayakumar explained. “We are going into Iskandar Malaysia in a year’s time. The demand is already there.”

Despite the glut and overdevelopment in Iskandar Malaysia, the robust activities in Johor are expected to provide opportunities for local SMEs and MNCs.

Vijayakumar sees Johor being developed into a logistics hub over the next three years and the Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in Pengerang boosting demand for serviced offices.

He pointed out that Johor’s proximity to Singapore has played a role to increase demand for serviced offices in the state where rental and labour costs are comparatively lower.

Regus Malaysia is looking to expand into Pasir Gudang, Skudai and Tampoi. Apart from Johor, Vijayakumar said Regus Malaysia is also eyeing places such as Melaka and Ipoh.

Currently, Regus Malaysia occupies 24,000 sq ft of office space in the Klang Valley, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Labuan and Johor, and the overall occupancy rate is 80%. Most of its business centres are located in the Klang Valley.

Regus, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has 3,000 business centres in 900 cities. In 2014, Regus reported a profit after tax of £69.9 million (RM414.32 million) on revenue of £1.68 billion. It has a market capitalisation of £2.44 billion.