News & Articles

Photo credit: Jordan Bissell

Shared office space provider, Regus, is going strong in their location on the fourth floor of the Wells Fargo building in Duluth. We had the opportunity to learn a bit more about what they do from Area Manager, Brandon Monson.

From a variety of choices, from lake- view window offices, to holding a desk in an office with others, Regus uses their options to tailor to an extremely diverse group of clients. Affordable shared office space options including internet, office cleanings, pre-furnished spaces, and phone-answering service are just a few interesting things to name about them.

Reader:  So how long has Regus been here?

BM:  Regus in Duluth has been open about two years, and I’ve been here since about mid-January. Regus Corporate, has been around for about thirty years. They’ve merged a couple times, but are about the largest flexible office space provider in the whole world. 3,000 locations in 120 countries, and 1,000 in the US alone. So they really know what they’re doing, and they’re great at replicating it.

Reader:  Have you always been at this location?

BM:  Yep, the Duluth branch has always been here, this floor was a call center, but a couple of years ago we ripped it down to the studs, completely re-did the space. A lot of money, time, and effort went into it, but we think the space reflects that. Our clients really seem to like and appreciate the atmosphere. 

Reader:  How big is your space?

BM: So we have about eighty work stations, and it’s about 10 -15 thousand square feet.

Reader: What kind of clients rent space from you?

BM: It’s Class A work space, not to say it’s better or worse than anything, it’s the least unclean kind of space you could rent commercially, we’re open to a ton of different clients. We have everyone from lawyers and physicians, to a psychic and a permanent make-up artist. 

Reader: How many offices do you have at this location?

BM: Some spaces are meant for a couple people to share, but I think we have about sixty different rooms.

Reader: What kind of thing should people expect?

BM: We do business mail, we also do phone answering for our clients, allowing them to seem as professional as possible.

Reader: So it everything a standardize price to rent, or?

BM: It depends on the quality of the office, the size, we have all shapes and sizes, so we rent each one for it’s own each price to businesses one at a time.

Reader: How long have you been with Regus? What is your position?

BM: I’ve been with Regus since about January of 2017, I am the Area Manager. Hopefully the idea is to create a second location in the Twin Ports after this location fills up. We definitely have the population to support two locations up here. In the meantime, I help out with the St. Cloud, Fargo, and Mankato locations too.

Reader: Are you from Duluth originally?

BM: From the area my whole life. Went to school on the Iron Range and in Virginia, moved down here for school in 2008 and never left. I got my BA in Philosophy with a Minor in Coaching Sports at UMD. I started to go to school for teaching, gym and then history, and decided I was an okay teacher, but really loved sales, so I got into Sales Coaching and Sales Management.

Reader: How many employees do you have at this location?

BM: Just two, Alexia and I. 

Reader: And how many Regus locations are there in Minnesota?

BM: 16 or 17.

Reader: I understand along with the offices space, you also have some community space too for clients?

BM: We like to host meetings, parties, and gatherings, so we have this larger conference room, our lobby area, and some smaller conference rooms all available for that too. 

Reader: What is different about Regus compared to other similar office spaces?

BM: What really separates us, comes down to two things. We are the most flexible office space provider you can get, you can rent offices or conference room spaces by the day or even by the hour. As far as regular full time clients go, we’re the only nice office space in town you can rent on a month-to-month lease, and we don’t do a business credit check, so it’s a great opportunity for new businesses just getting off the ground. 

Reader: What kind of services to you offer to your clients?

BM: We include everything; utilities, cleaning, phone service, internet, receptionist service to great your clients, mail service, so everything you need to run your business is included in the renting space. 

Reader: What lead to Regus moving abroad to other countries?

BM: So it actually started in the UK in Luxembourg, there was another similar company in the US they bought, and after a few merges with various companies, they’ve combined the best ideas from each and become the leader in the market. 

Reader: What drew you to Regus?

BM: How I got involved was, I really worked a lot of Sales positions where I was just out there to help myself, and now as I’m getting older, this Regus opportunity seemed better for me because it gives me the opportunity to help small businesses. Each Regus office operates a little bit differently, but the Duluth Regus is really about helping small businesses grow and giving them an affordable place to do that. Any clients we have, we will help to host networking events, or lunch-and-learns, a lot of just for free or at cost, to our existing clients, just to help those small businesses as much as we can.

Regus is ever-growing and still has available offices to rent as well, if you or another business you know needs a home, give them a call and tour their beautiful space.