May 21, 2003
Regus gets tough on service charges

In a radical move, Regus, the UK's largest business centre operator, has appointed service charge specialist, Property Solutions, to administer its £7 million a year service charge bill across its portfolio of UK sites and provide service charge consultancy on its 26 largest buildings.

Regus aims to get tough on service charge costs across the 94 centres it operates in the UK, with Property Solutions confident of saving the company up to £1 million a year in charges and administration.

Property Solutions has taken on the process of reviewing, authorising and managing service charge demands from Regus's landlords at all its sites. The company is also offering service charge consultancy at 26 of Regus's highest value centres and will identify other sites where it believes Regus can make substantial savings on its service charge bills, while maintaining high-quality services, thereby improving value for money.

David Barrass, Property Solutions Managing Director, said: "We have ten years' experience specialising in all aspects of service charges so are confident that, as well as relieving Regus of the administrative burden of this area, we will be able to identify significant cost savings and enable them to firm up their service charge budgets to enhance their financial planning."

David Ford, Regus CEO for the UK & Ireland, commented: "Service charges are a significant controllable element of the total occupancy costs in each of our buildings, so Property Solutions' expertise in administering and auditing them will benefit Regus and our customers.

"In looking to reduce our service charge costs, we were impressed by Property Solutions' in-depth knowledge and experience so are delighted to be working in partnership with them."

Notes to editors:

Property Solutions
Property Solutions was established in Bristol in 1992 and is today the UK's largest provider of service charge consultancy services. The principle of this service is to improve the efficiency of the management of multi-let commercial buildings, resulting in better value for money. Building consultancy and building technical services are an integral part of this offering.

Regus
Represented in 240 cities in more than 50 countries, Regus is the global leader in supplying fully serviced offices. Offering 96,000 workstations in more than 420 prestigious locations, it is also a market leader in providing meeting rooms, training facilities and public access videoconferencing studios.

Media enquiries should be directed to:
Natalie Birrell / John Oliver, NB! Public Relations, 0117 905 5343
Stephen Jolly, Regus Group Communications, 01932 895135