Forenom, a rapidly growing pioneer in the accommodation industry, encourages business travelers to stay longer and buy exactly what they need.
The COVID-19 pandemic permanently changed the needs of business travelers. Project workers and international professionals now prefer homelike accommodation and longer business trips, as one-day trips are replaced by digital meetings. When we travel less but stay longer at once, it leads to more responsible business travel for our environment.
Forenom, which has fearlessly developed the accommodation industry for over 20 years, weathered the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic exceptionally well. The company’s portfolio of properties is growing at a rate of over 1,000 units per year, and its revenue in 2022 reached a record high in its 20-year history.
The growth from a temporary accommodation provider founded by two young Finnish entrepreneurs to one of Europe’s largest providers of furnished apartments has happened with a keen focus on customer needs. The company, which has responded to market changes, has succeeded in strengthening its position by developing its operations boldly and proactively, relying on its core principles.
“Forenom fills the gap between long-term rental housing and hotel accommodation with an easy, comfortable, and cost-effective solution. Our furnished apartments still meet this need, but on a larger scale and for a wider target group,” confirms the Country Manager for Finland.
Currently, Forenom serves its continuously growing customer base in the Nordic countries and Central Europe with a portfolio of over 10,000 furnished housing solutions. The company constantly updates its offerings according to customer needs with the goal of becoming the largest player in the long-term accommodation market in Europe.
“Private equity firm Capman joined our operations in 2017, enabling us to scale up and internationalize our services. Together with our corporate culture that encourages bold experimentation and open-minded development, this has propelled us forward,” the Country Director explains about the factors behind the growth, continuing to describe the development-driven organizational culture:
“As the latest example, we utilize artificial intelligence in writing property and city descriptions. Given the number of properties we have, the potential savings in resources are considerable. We quickly seize new opportunities to gain a competitive advantage in the market.”
Enabler of Business Operations
Forenom is known for its long-term customer relationships and uncompromising service culture. The purpose of the company’s operations is to facilitate the smooth functioning of its corporate clients’ business.
“We enable workforce mobility and the smoothness of working life. This means that we are present only where our customers need us. We do not have idle capacity. With the help of our extensive network, we succeed in solving even demanding accommodation needs throughout Europe. When we take care of the practical challenges of mobile work, our customers can focus on their core activities,” the Country Director describes.
Forenom has invested in flexible and efficient customer service as well as digital contactless check-in. The service can be entirely digital if needed, and no physical customer encounters are required.
“We want to combine technology and human touch, not choose one over the other. Our customer service is available 24/7 every day of the year, and check-in to our properties is done with codes, so our customers are never dependent on our opening hours. We are here for our customers, not the other way around,” the Country Director summarizes the success recipe of their service philosophy.
A versatile and flexible accommodation solution enables a homelike environment even on the road. When accommodation is tailored precisely to the need, traveling also becomes cost-effective. “We ensure that our customers get value for every euro they spend,” says the Country Director.
New Life for Old Buildings
Flexibility and efficient resource utilization extend to every area of the company’s operations. The occupancy rate of existing apartments is maximized, and old buildings are revived. Forenom bears the business risk related to renting apartments on behalf of property owners and fearlessly creates new life in vacant buildings.
Image: Kakola is a fully-renovated, historical prison facility for the mentally ill.
Approximately 20 % of Forenom’s properties are in buildings originally intended for purposes other than accommodation. These include, for example, discontinued offices, educational institutions, factory buildings, hospitals, and bank buildings. Only 7 % of the company’s capacity is newly built for them.
“Renovating old buildings has a smaller environmental impact than new construction. The unique history of a building is fascinating, and new business around it enhances the vitality of the entire area. In our hands, for example, the Kakola prison building in Turku and most recently, the hundred-year-old Röykka hospital building in Nurmijärvi have opened their doors in a renewed form for lodgers,” says the Country Director.
(This article is originally published in Finnish here and has been translated into English using artificial intelligence)