Does a Regus Office Beat Signing a Lease of Your Own?
Picture the first week in a new office you signed for yourself. The desks haven’t arrived, the internet installer has a four-hour window on Thursday, and somebody has to find out who empties the trash. None of that is the work you started the business to do.
That gap between signing and working is what Regus sells its way around. You pick a room, you get a key card, and the furniture, Wi-Fi, utilities and cleaning are already there. The question worth asking is whether that convenience costs more than it saves, and the answer depends far more on how your team works than on the sticker price.
Regus says its network runs to more than 120 countries, and the same booking app covers all of it.
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What a Regus office comes with on day one
Start with the private office, since that’s the product most people compare against a lease. According to Regus, its individual offices come fully furnished and equipped, with high-speed Wi-Fi, utilities and cleaning included, plus professional reception and administrative support, use of the business address and mail handling, a communal kitchen and 24/7 keycard access. Regus also lists five days a month of coworking access elsewhere in its network as part of that package.
The terms are the other half of the offer. Regus says contracts can run from a few weeks to several years, and that its office access plans are available month to month, with discounts for commitments of six months or longer.
Some things cost extra. Regus lists printing, call handling, mail forwarding, custom layouts, extra furniture, additional meeting room time and catering as add-ons.
Doing the math against a lease
Regus doesn’t publish one flat price, because rates vary by city, building, office size and contract length. So rather than quote a number that may be stale by the time you read this, here’s a method you can run in about twenty minutes with real quotes in hand.
On the lease side, add up everything you’d pay over the term you’d be locked into: base rent, any service or maintenance charges, electricity, internet, cleaning, furniture and setup, insurance, and the fit-out you’d need before anyone could sit down. Add the hours someone would spend managing suppliers, then divide by the number of months.
On the Regus side, take the monthly quote for the office size you need, then add only the extras you’d realistically use, such as printing or extra meeting room hours. If you’d need a conference room once a month for a client pitch, price that in too, since Regus says full-day meeting room bookings are discounted by 30% compared with hourly rates.
Now compare the two monthly figures. Then ask what happens if you need to grow, shrink or move in a year. A lease that’s slightly cheaper per month can turn expensive quickly if you’re paying for empty desks or breaking a contract early. Flexible terms are the part of the Regus price that’s hardest to see and easiest to undervalue.
Picking the right setup
Regus sells several distinct products, and choosing the wrong one is the most common way to overpay.
Virtual office. If you mostly work from home but want a professional address, this is the starting point. Regus offers tiers that begin with a business address and mail handling, add call answering, mail scanning and discounted meeting room rates on the middle tier, and include recurring workspace access each month on Virtual Office Plus. Regus notes the address can be used to register a company, though some jurisdictions have their own rules.
Coworking. A hot desk is first come, first served, and Regus says you can book one by the hour, day or month. A dedicated desk keeps the same spot for you and, according to Regus, includes lockable storage so you can leave equipment overnight.
Office and coworking access plans. For people who move around, Regus sells plans with 5, 10 or unlimited days a month, either in coworking areas or in private day offices, usable across its locations.
Private office. For a team that comes in most days and needs a door that locks, this is the closest thing to your own lease, minus the setup.
Meeting rooms. These can be booked by the hour, half day or full day with no long-term commitment, and Regus says rooms come with presentation or video conferencing equipment.
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The people who get the most from it
Small teams that are still working out how big they’ll be next year are the obvious fit. They get a proper office without betting on a headcount.
Companies opening in a new city do well too. A satellite office for three people rarely justifies a full lease, and a Regus office lets you test a market before committing. The same goes for businesses that want a presence somewhere without staffing it, which is what the virtual office tiers are built for.
Then there are the people who split their week across several places: consultants, sales reps, founders who move between home and client sites. An access plan gives them a desk wherever they land, and Regus says registering in its app adds a 10% discount on on-demand bookings made there.
If you have a large team that will stay put for a decade and wants to design every inch of the space, a traditional lease may still win. That’s a narrow group, and most small businesses aren’t in it.
Squeezing more value from your membership
Book coworking ahead of time when it matters. Regus itself recommends reserving if you need a guaranteed workstation, because demand at each center varies, and the app shows live availability.
Use what’s already in your plan before buying extras. If your private office includes five days a month of coworking elsewhere, that’s your travel workspace covered. If you’re on a virtual office tier with discounted meeting rooms, hold client meetings there rather than in a coffee shop.
Think about contract length once you know your plans. Regus says longer commitments of six months or more come with discounts, so a team that’s settled can bring its monthly cost down without giving up the option to move later.
And review your setup every few months. Plenty of teams start on an access plan, realize they’re in every day, and move to a private office. Being able to change is the reason to choose Regus, so use it.
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