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Regus opens first drop-in business lounge

11 Sep 2007 by Mark Caswell

Regus business loungeThe Regus Group, global providers of serviced offices and meeting facilities, has opened its first drop-in business lounge near London Bridge, with plans to roll out the concept in international cities and major transport hubs.

The lounge is located within 3More London, a building which also houses law firm Norton Roses' London headquarters, and is around five minutes walk from London Bridge station and adjacent to City Hall. The location was chosen for its proximity both to the City and West End as well as London Bridges' major transport links, and is aimed at visiting business travellers tired of working in busy cafes or distracting hotel lobbies.

The More London complex has become a magnet for large corporations and hotels in recent years, with Ernst & Young locating their headquarters within the complex, and Hilton opening one of its latest lifestyle hotels last year at 5 More London Place (see the February 2007 edition of Business Traveller for a full review of the hotel).

The lounge itself is located on the 1st floor of the building, with guests arriving into a reception area before proceeding into the business lounge. It feels much like a modern airline executive lounge – indeed while I was there a visitor commented that it felt "like a BA lounge". There is a relaxation area with leather chairs, coffee table and a large number of newspapers and magazines – the whole lounge has wifi access, available for free to all guests. Regus has also created "thinkpods" – self contained work areas with slide-out desks and noise-cancelling headphones.

For those without laptops there are several iMacs, and documents can be printed either via the computer terminals, or directly from a Blackberry or PDA. Food and beverage includes complimentary tea, coffee and juices, and healthy snacks such as fruit and yoghurts. There are also a couple of LCD screens showing financial and news channels.

At present the lounge costs £15 per visit, although as Regus rolls out the concept to more of its 950 locations worldwide (100 of them in the UK), it is likely that an annual membership will be added. The company plans to launch a second drop-in lounge in San Francisco before the end of the year, and is currently in talks with airports and railway stations about extending the service to transport hubs. Mark Dixon, CEO of Regus, said it was decided to launch the drop-in service following feedback from its 200,000 customers worldwide.

"We're getting to the point where more work is being done away from the conventional office as business people find themselves traveling for meetings", said Dixon. "They are more flexible about how and where they work but they still need to use their time in a productive way, be it to finish off a presentation, catch up on email or to meet with clients. Our new business lounges are a direct response to this need."

Aside from the business lounge the floor at 3More London contains facilities more in keeping with Regus' core business, including serviced offices, and seven meeting rooms available for hire. The company has recently launched an "Office 4 A Day" offering, enabling visitors to drop by and use a fully equipped office from £19.99 per hour.

For more information visit regusbusinesslounge.co.uk, where Regus is currently offering free trial vouchers for the drop-in lounge service.

Report by Mark Caswell

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