Strong demand for flexible workspaces in Hyderabad as corporates keen to adopt a combination of office and remote work: Harsh Lambah, IWG

As India increasingly moves towards adopting flexible working practices in a post-pandemic world, the demand for co-working spaces continues to experience a sustained surge, spurring facility owners to go on an expansion binge. Businesses are being compelled to adopt a hybrid work paradigm and hunt for flexible locations, thereby creating new market opportunities. Businesses are increasingly understand the need for smart and flexible workspaces and its role in fostering employee collaboration and productivity. As one of India's leading business hubs, Hyderabad is driving strong demand for flexible workspaces – in fact it already accounts for around 8% of the country's overall flex space footprint. As someone who has been at the forefront of driving the growth of flex spaces in Hyderabad, Mr. Harsh Lambah, Country Manager - India, Vice President Sales - South Asia, IWG, shares his views on Hyderabad having emerged a key market in this domain, as well as highlighting other related trends and developments he is seeing here.

1) What are the key trends you are witnessing in Hyderabad's coworking sector?

We arewitnessing strong demand for our centers in Hyderabadas corporates are keen to adopt a combination of office and remote work. Hybrid working has now become the new work paradigm and organizations of all sizes are increasingly appreciating the benefits of this work model – whether it is the reduced commute for workers; the ability to work from multiple workspaces and home or the improved work-life balance. We are witnessing this growing trend in Hyderabad as well and registering a steady rise in demand for our workspaces from both, small-medium businesses and large enterprises. They have shown a high propensity to adopt a hub-and-spoke model of working, which in turn is helping them deconcentrate their workspaces from a single HQ or location into smaller, well-networked workspaces across the city. Businesses are also looking to enhance collaboration within the hybrid work model which is leading to a rise in the on-demand membership of IWG workspaces. On-demand membership is rising 51% Y-o-Y and meeting room sales are up by 95% for IWG in India. This increased demand shows that IWG is witnessing strong growth in the Indian market with accelerating demand for hybrid work solutions as more and more businesses permanently embrace the model. Ourworkspaces are present at locations covering all major commercial areas of the cityof Hyderabad, making us a well-suited partner for businesses seeking to adopt a hub-and-spoke model of office spaces.

2) How important is tech adoption at this moment, and how is it benefiting companies working under a hybrid work model?

The adoption of technology in the way we work has enabled businesses across the spectrum to recalibrate their operations during the pandemic. Technology has emerged as the big catalyst that continues to enable the remote workforce and is helping them work in tandem and consistently, without any drop in productivity or collaboration. As the world shifts towards a more flexible way of working, tech-enabled work solutions are becoming increasingly important. Technology is enhancing the way we work and at IWG, we understand its impact and potential very well. Aseamlessly connected and secure work environment, integral to hybrid working, is underpinned by digital infrastructure and leading-edge work tech. IWG's IT and communications tech infrastructure meet global standards, ensuring robust cybersecurity and hassle-free hybrid working.

3) How does IWG plan to meet the increasing demand for hybrid workspaces? What is IWG's growth strategy in Hyderabad?

In India, our network is spread across 16 cities through 91 workspaces, and we are bullish about our growth plans. Through a successful franchise and partnership model that is now in place, we are focusing on expanding our network in Hyderabad and tier 2 & 3 cities of India with a demonstrable return-on-capital and strong growth prospects. IWG is focused on having more locations in Hyderabad, adding to the already existing centers, thus providing a perfect network of flexible workspaces to cater to this city's growing demand for hybrid working. Our aim is to be doubling of the network to over the next two years.One of our largest franchise deals, signed recently was with Conjoinix, a leading real estate, leasing, and co-working company. The 18-center partnership will expand our presence further in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, J&K, and Gujarat, and marks one of the largest deals by an individual franchisee in the brand's history. We are also witnessing remarkable upward trends globally, as well. Sales of IWG on-demand membership have increased by 93% year-on-year, with the UK, Spain, Italy, and India among the markets driving global growth.

4) Please highlight IWG's network in Hyderabad and its USP.

We are continuously expanding our network and actively seeking more property owners to partner with and co-open locations in the heart of suburbs, closer to where people live. In Hyderabad, one of south India's most important commercial hubs, we have workspaces to accommodate teams of every size, from an individual to the teams of huge organizations. It is easy to customize the work environment to match not just business needs but also the organisation's work culture thanks to IWG's easily accessible services. Not just this – an IWG membership allows clients to use meeting rooms and workspaces anywhere across the world, for a range of duration that spans a single hour to several months.

5) Can you share details about your occupancy rates this quarter viz-a-viz last quarter in your Hyderabad centres? Also, share occupancy trends in terms of your client portfolio.

Over the last 9-12 months, say between June 2021 and now, occupancy levels in Hyderabad have seen a growth of 70 percent and we expect it to continue witnessing strong demand for the rest of the year and beyond. Whilst the demand for centers located in IT hubs of the city has primarily been for IT and ITeS companies, demand in CBD areas is equally distributed between IT and other sectors such as Consulting, HR, Insurance, NBFCs, etc.