London Executive Offices, the serviced office company that changed hands in a £475m deal last year, plans to plough more than £10m into a revamp of its business, including improvements across its property portfolio, new technology and a rebranding.
The company, which is dropping its LEO name in favour of The Argyll Club, has already started an eight-figure investment programme that chief operating officer Conal O’Hara said will cover a new app and website, its rebranding and changes at several of its properties across the capital.
“We have 38 buildings in central London, and a number of those are real Monopoly board, history assets, such as 33 St James’s Square and 1 Cornhill,” O’Hara said. “They’re in need of an offering that’s refreshed but still plays to their heritage. It’s investment in our lounges, communal areas and customer offices – refreshes and refurbishments of a number of our signature assets. Our customers will be able to feel and see that investment.”
Alongside the rebranding, the company is unveiling a new set of memberships, including one that will give occupiers access to seven of its clubs across the city.
As the serviced office and co-working sector grows, O’Hara said The Argyll Club is close to agreeing new deals with landlords to team up on additional properties.
“I think we’ll continue to see more traditional, conventional landlords entering the sector,” he added. “We’re in discussions with a number of conventional landlords about partnering with them to have some sort of offering – they provide the real estate and they leverage our brand, our database of contacts and our operational experience in providing a product.
“You’ve seen some reasonably high-profile propcos entering the sector with their own brands, but there are a number of asset managers and landlords out there who want to partner with us.”
As LEO, the company was sold in 2018 by Queensgate to an Asian family investor, later reported by EG to be Celvam Management. Queensgate had bought the business five years earlier, when it was known as Executive Offices Group.
O’Hara said the rebranding as The Argyll Club is a move away from a name that “doesn’t embrace everything that we’re about”.
Argyll was once used by the company as the brand for its top tier of membership. “The reason for adding ‘club’ is that we see ourselves not just as a serviced office – not just offering a room where you come and work,” O’Hara added.
“With our customer service, our teams, our concierge, our tech, you can take an office or a portfolio membership and use a number of our buildings and get more than just a place to work.”
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