(foto v.l.n.r. Stijn von der Fuhr, Dirk Bakker, Bas Ambachtsheer, Joost Vooijs & Kimberley Roersma)
Why don’t we see the commercial office much more as a hotel? A place that’s all about guests. That feels like home, where you receive a warm welcome, the catering has an eye for healthy & fresh and that is clean and pleasant. It’s this vision that Hotel Facility Concepts (HFC) and Colliers share. Together they are committed to a 5-year partnership to prove that things can and need to change in commercial real estate.
Bas Ambachtsheer (CTO Colliers)
‘We both see the world from the perspective of entrepreneurs,’ explains Bas Ambachtsheer, CTO with Colliers, global leader in commercial real estate services and investment management. ‘We see that the office world is changing and the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated this development. Our work patterns have become more and more hybrid. However, many employers, office owners and tenants are struggling with this trend. Because, how to schedule the working week? What arrangements are needed between employees? For which activities do you go to the office and when do you prefer to work at home? As natural as flexibility and hospitality are to the hotel sector - where they are used to changing occupancy levels – just as traditional is the character of commercial real estate. And we want to change this: commercial real estate should breathe hospitality.’
Smart partners
To initiate this change, Colliers and HFC have signed a 5-year strategic partnership. Because partnership is crucial to realize innovative solutions and answers. Bas: ‘As CTO, I am concerned with innovations within Colliers. We have drawn up various programmes to this end, including the preferred supplier programme. Within this programme we want to ensure improved services for our buildings and tenants with the help of smart partners. We want to raise the level of satisfaction of our tenants; HFC has many years of experience in the hotel sector. And precisely at that point, hospitality, our roads cross and have naturally led to our cooperation.’
Pancras Evers (Managing Director HFC)
Be courageous
Both parties have the drive to improve things for the end-user/tenant. This is not the only binding factor, according to Pancras Evers, Managing Director HFC. ‘We see room for improvement and have the courage to take that step. We want to transfer our experience in the hotel world to the commercial real estate sector as offices increasingly become meeting places where people want to be treated as guests. And this is exactly where we can add value to our customers. Colliers is looking for a partner with a different perspective and we were looking for a client that thinks out of the box.’
Office as hotel
To realize improvements for the end-user/tenant, both parties feel it is essential that the visitor is regarded and treated as a guest. Bas: ‘We no longer speak of tenant, visitor or end-user; as of today there are only guests. We approach commercial real estate as a hotel which is all about guests, a total experience and where expectations are exceeded.’
