Regus has opened its first business centre in Ecuador, in Guayaquil, the country’s largest city. The launch is a boost for businesses looking for increased efficiency, new revenues and growth.

The new Regus centre in Guayaquil offers companies in Ecuador access to high-quality, flexible workspace in a prestigious business location. Rather than locking themselves into long-term traditional property arrangements, they can use the office space that they need at any given time. As well as reducing property overheads, this will help them hook into new, more productive ways of working, such as flexible and mobile working. It also offers a scalable and flexible base for companies setting up in Ecuador for the first time.

Research for the latest edition of the Regus Business Confidence Index illustrates Latin American businesses’ appetite for ways to cut property expenses, and make their businesses more agile and flexible. For example:

· 47% of businesses in Latin America thought that paying for unnecessary office space had contributed to corporate distress during the recent economic downturn

· 39% said reducing fixed workspace helps businesses save cost without damaging growth prospects, and 46% said hiring more freelance staff would do this

· Asked to identify what initiatives would make the greatest contribution to stable growth in future, businesses pointed to strategies like more remote working (38%), wider distribution of customers (39%) and outsourcing non-core activities (35%), as well as access to cost-effective capital (37%).

Commenting on the Regus opening in Ecuador, Mark Dixon, Regus CEO, said, “Ecuador presents excellent business opportunities, with growth of over 5% predicted in 2012.[1] We’ve seen demand from companies in many sectors here wanting to use Regus flexible workspace to help them maximise the opportunities for growth in Ecuador, and we’ve responded to that by opening our new centre in Guayaquil.

“The centre opening also responds to the fact that businesses in Ecuador want to work more flexibly. The Regus Business Confidence Index illustrates the extent to which companies in Latin America see greater flexibility as a way to cut costs and improve growth prospects. In addition, over seven out of ten businesses worldwide believe that flexible working leads directly to increased productivity. By bringing Regus flexible workspace to Ecuador for the first time, we aim to help businesses of all sizes reap those benefits.”

[1] “Growth for 2012 – President Correa”, Fox Business, 16 February 2012.