Joint venture offers 'softer' approach to corporate PFI

Serviced office provider Regus and property investor MEPC are teaming up to offer what is said to be an easier approach to private-sector PFI, making the leap into property outsourcing much less daunting.
Under the new venture, corporate owner-occupiers will be offered the opportunity to sell their properties to MEPC, then lease them back with business services supplied - on contracts as short as six months.
Regus communications manager Colin Peck told i-FM: "This is a significant extension of our established 'Netspace' concept, which is designed to deliver more cost-effective business services for clients in their own accommodation - thereby enhancing the value they obtain from the money they spend on property."
This moves the Regus/MEPC team directly into the infrastructure marketplace, increasing the competitive stakes for the likes of Citex and SI CBX, as well various project-specific companies (see our related report on ICL's property plans).
This latest "total property solution" will target traditional blue-chip organisations, with the ambitious link-up aiming to capture a significant slice of the £140bn owner-occupier market.

Toby Courtauld, MEPC's director of corporate development, said the venture would be able to avoid the pitfalls that have hindered corporate PFIs in the past, while also offering an alternative to traditional property sale and leasebacks.
Regus group property manager Chris Boulton offered a different spin on the motive: "We are focussing on cherry-picking quality properties from the portfolio."