‘Age catches up with everyone’: Mark Dixon lays groundwork for IWG handover

IWG boss Mark Dixon has given the first indication that he could soon leave the helm of the world’s biggest flexible office company, as he sets to work on a succession plan at the FTSE 250 operator. Dixon, 62, told EG he is building a team that can carry IWG forward as he prepares to step aside from the company he founded in 1989. “Age catches up with everyone,” he said at MIPIM, adding that he is looking to “strengthen the management team” with a view to stepping back in the coming years. Dixon would not set a date for his planned departure, but when pushed on whether he would still be at the company in five years’ time, said: “Oh no. No, that would be slow progress.” Dixon retains a sizeable investment in IWG. He bought £91m in shares in May 2020 as it sought to survive the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the group is working towards a long-term target of having 30,000 office locations across the globe via a push towards a franchise model rather than its traditional leasing business.  IWG has about 3,300 offices across 20 countries, and Dixon said it would take “another decade or so” to reach the 30,000 target. “This is a relay. I would love to sprint to the end, but it’s a relay,” he added. “I have to pass the baton to the new management team.”  Consolidation continues Dixon’s plans come amid a period of consolidation across the broader flexible office market. IWG has invested £270m to buy the digital assets of flexible office platform the Instant Group, while UK rival The Office Group announced this week that it had merged with flex operator Fora. Dixon said: “Everyone is looking at the scale. The offer to the customer in the end benefits from scale. Customers don’t want to have one supplier here and one supplier there – they are looking for something that is joined up, something that works and something that’s available. It is being driven by customers.” He added that he expected the trend to continue across the industry, as new entrants to the rapidly growing flex market attempt to negotiate an unstable economic environment.  “I have been through many crises and the important thing is to manage costs. Some of the companies that started up in the past three or four years, their overhead costs are just too high. So those companies eventually have to consolidate.” To send feedback, e-mail alex.daniel@eg.co.uk or tweet @alexmdaniel or @EGPropertyNews