Kafe - Internal Newsletter

1 Says The Chairman

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Dear Teammates,

The global update that came last week from Alistair Elliott, our Group Chairman was very encouraging. ‘There is much more to do and there will be no standing still’ is a perfect way he summed up on how we should work together in the months ahead. Hope you have received this note that also had some interesting updates from the Knight Frank network.

In India, we are constantly striving to work more cohesively, and engage with customers more effectively. One of our strategic decisions towards this has been to house the Facility and Project Management businesses under a subsidiary called “Knight Frank Property Services Private Limited”, jointly led by Nellie Samuel and Deben Moza. In both these businesses combined, we have around 800 people serving an impressive list of clients such as BPCL, Clariant, Cadbury, Colgate Palmolive, Nuance, Vodafone, TAS, Star TV, Ion Trading, Bestech among others.

This move has not only helped us focus better towards the Facility and Project Management offerings, but also enabled us to take a step forward towards establishing a unique identity as a premier provider of complete solutions in property management. In the coming months, we will see Knight Frank Property Services Pvt. Ltd. go aggressive to create a robust delivery model, focus on value added services, increase market visibility pan India, and grow market share. A dedicated team of experts has already been put in place to work towards this.

As we bring about more such positive changes, I shall keep sharing the same with you. If you have any ideas, please feel free to reach out to me or any of the senior leaders.

Good luck to all.

Shishir

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the third edition of our very own KaFé! – It gets even better with loads of stories and experiences to be shared.

Given the healthy response garnered by the Frankly Speaking section in the last issue, we decided to make it a permanent member of the family. This time the KaFé team caught up with Poovaya BM as he took us through his daily routine of activities at work and his most challenging roles till date.

The Frank Space section is the one to watch out for, as Sabiha Hasnain throws colour on her life changing experience with the Army in Kashmir. Keeping her company is Maunesh Dhuri, as he delves deeper into the current political scenario of the country.

Kudos to our Shining Knights - the Delhi residential team for being awarded the “Expert champions” in their project Godrej Summit for the month of January as well as Kamakshi Sarkar, who made it to round three of the Economic Times Young Leaders 2014.

Among the buzzing branches, Knight Frank Mumbai seems to be making the right moves towards a healthy life with an hour long yoga session under the setting sun.

This and much more await your time.

Happy reading!

Kala Advisory Team - Bengaluru

Ajin

Poovaya, you are a bundle of enthusiasm in Bangalore office…and it's infectious, too! What keeps you so motivated and inspired in the field of PMC?

The excitement of challenges has always kept my energy levels high. One of my favorite mottos has been“When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going”.

(Maybe my fruit bowl and juice at lunch could be the secret of my energy :) Did someone say Boost? Aargh!)

Tell us about your past experiences, particularly about your stint in Russia. How was it like to work there, when compared to India? I spentaround 11- 12 years there. Kindergarten was in Russia, then back to India for around 10 years and again to Moscow for high school and Master's Degree in Architecture. Plus, I worked for some3 odd years on hotel construction projects.

being threatened by a lot of new players in the market. This year has been comparatively low and we are seeing many clients looking at consolidation more seriously. The uncertainty resulting from the elections will also have an impact on business decisions being contemplated.

How about your hobbies, things you are really passionate about? Cycling is a hobby I try to carve out time for - more for exercise than cross country. I also support my son in his hobby of collecting key chains - he has more than 400 from all over the world at last count.

Tell us about a typical day in your life, out of office. Well, with technology one is rarely out of office. Generally, a day out of officeentails - cycling a few kilometers in the morning, lunch with family & parent, a much yearned siesta post lunch, a lazy evening in the pool or cycling(preferably both) and perhaps a movie later on. But thebest part of the day out of office? NO fruit bowl and juice for lunch!

Cricket or football?

Hockey, undoubtedly! I am from Coorg, remember? We have an annual Family Hockey competition, which is listed even in the Limca Book of Records. Over 300 families participate in it, irrespective of age and gender. My son plays for my family and we won 2 matches but lost in the match played on 6th May on penalty strokes.

Do you think Coorgis make the best pork recipe? Any tip to make that perfect pandi curry?

My tip: Get yourselves a Coorgi spouse who can make it. If not, at least get invited to our weddings where Pork is the main course.

Lastly, where do you see Knight Frank PMC headed towards in the next few years?

Working there was quite different. Construction took place during winterin temperatures way below zero degrees. Sometimes work went on even in - 38 degrees! We had to heat rooms overnight to be able to carry out plastering the next day.

Overall, the exposure to international vendors was a big positive of my experience in Russia.

What is your opinion regarding the present state of PMC in India? As regards India, the established players are expanding but also

I believe we are all working towards increasing our PMC presence across the country and I am more than sure that we will be able to look back at this period with a lot of satisfaction. The competition should have more sleepless nights, if not already!

I must say here that I am enjoying the collaborative spirit and the ONE TEAM approach across verticals in Knight Frank - that is definitely a factor that will help PMC.

(As told to Kala Ranjini & Sangeeta Sharma Dutta)

“The competition should have more sleepless nights, if not already!”…. BM Poovaya opens up to the KaFé team in a candid chat on work, cycling and more…

K’aFFaires

Know what’s happening in the branches

Mumbai Goes Healthy!!

Mumbai employees have been indulging in an hour long yoga session on the office terrace with a view to keep fit while at work.

5 Shining Knights

Team Residential–NCR - awarded the trophy for “Expert champions” in their project Godrej Summit for the month of January'14.

Names from left to right:-

Back Row: Shivang Suraj, Ishan Relan, Shadab Ahmad, Gaurav Deshpande, Varun Kapoor, Kewal Goswami

Front row: Girish Gupta, Akshay Pupreja, Farhien Shah, Harsh Pahwa, Adeeb Ahmad

Here's congratulating our Knight in shining armor – Kamakshi Sarkar, ManagerBusiness Development, PMC on completing phase II of the Economic Times Young Leaders 2014- the largest platform for the most promising young Indian corporate managers.

The programme is one among many successful leadership initiatives in the country that test aspiring leaders on personality, numeric, analytical and logical thinking, and problem-solving skills in teams – before meeting a jury of blue-chip CEOs.

A total of 3417 candidates took the phase 2 test – of which 334 candidates have made it to the next one.

We wish Kamakshi the very best for the next level!!

8Knight Club

New Joinees last month

Feroz Shaikh Senior Manager – Compliance Commercial & Compliance Mumbai

Ramesh Kotha Operations Manager Facilities Management Services Hyderabad

Karan Bhawnani Regional Head – West, Residential Agency Mumbai

Vivek Nair Associate Consultant Research & Advisory Services Mumbai

Amit Israni Manager - Occupier Solutions Group Office & Industrial Mumbai

Mehul Gala

Manager – Industrial & Asset Services Office & Industrial Mumbai

Neeraj Gogte

Deputy General Manager – Projects Project Management Consultancy Mumbai

Fakira Qureshi Accounts Executive Accounts Mumbai

Akshay Pupreja

Manager - Residential Agency Gurgaon

Harsh Pahwa Manager - Residential Agency Gurgaon

Sagar Karuna Manager - Documents and Process Control Project Management Consultancy Gurgaon

Thomas D'Souza Deputy General ManagerProject Management Consultancy Chennai

K-Facts

Knight Frank research highlights of the month

Land Act

In light of various developments in recent times including large-scale infrastructure development, introduction of SEZ’s, increase in the number of public and public-private partnership (PPP) projects and widespread agitation by farmers and indigenous land holders around the country, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (“Act”), has been passed to replace the antiquated Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Sentiment Index – Q1 2014

The real estate sentiment index is jointly developed by Knight Frank India and FICCI. The objective is to capture the perceptions and expectations of the industry leaders in order to judge the sentiment of the real estate market.

International View

Showcasing a selection of the finest luxury residential properties and developments from around the world.

10 Frank Bytes

mentions across Print, TV and Online

11Frank Space

Indian Political League-The League of Extra-ordinary Statements

by Maunesh Dhuri, Copy Editor - Research and Advisory Services, Mumbai

They are everywhere – television &radio shows, newspaper headlines, billboards, social media. You often see several of us discussing them at office gatherings, ATM queues, grocery shops, traffic jams and even on our Facebook walls. No I am not talking about the next star-cast of the Big Boss show, but the star-cast of the extravagant spectacle that is the Indian Elections.

Without a doubt the Lok Sabha 2014 elections have been the Elections of the New Era. Literally being imposed to watch so much of the election coverage, one does wonder will these elections ever come to a closure!

What has made these elections even more exciting is the consistent dose of hysterical and mostly hilarious statements from our beloved politicians. So ladies and gentlemen brace yourself and get ready to discuss some of the most hilarious and not-so political statements by our policymakers.

The copyrights for Rahul Gandhi's 'This Morning I Woke Up at Night!” comment are already purchased by De Niro and is set to be a suspense-thriller for kids (pun intended ;-)

Who can forget Priyanka Gandhi's award winning sister's act, where she went on to say that Rahul Gandhi is a visionary like her father Rajiv Gandhi. We all are keen to know what Sonia Gandhi has to say about it. For all we know what a great visionary Rahul Gandhi has been; when

most of his speeches are big youtube sensation only for the wrong reasons.

Suddenly Mr. Modi felt left behind and came along with his self-tested theory of the plausible reasons for a state's good governance. He openly cites a 56 inch chest the very reason for good governance, a statement that has significantly boosted gym memberships throughout the country.

Often believed to bean epitome of the tragedy of Indian politics – Mr. Kejriwal and his party-men have made the electoral run-up even more exciting by quoting controversies at every pit stop of their campaign. Kejriwal's iconic statement, 'All media is sold, Will put all the Media wallahs in jail!' created furore and much amusement among the people. From random slaps to public flaks, Mr. Kejriwal has made a name like no other. His constant endeavour to do something different has certainly caught the public eye, but most importantly the man is known for making statements that are quirky and highly obscure.

We need to understand the context of some of these controversial statements. But when it comes to Azam Khan, there prevails no sanity. This guy needs to consider his profession altogether, not to forget his one-liners and catchy phrases can even give some of the country's best stand-up artists a run for their money.

News channels too joined the fray and even though exit polls were banned, their efforts for some masala news added to the overall drama and played a perfect supporting cast. Senior journalist Punya Prasoon Bajpai's in a somewhat collusive interview with Mr. Kejriwal made the statement “Bahut Krantikaari, Bahut hi Krantikaari” shortly after its public release the statement became a plot for several television and online satires. Frankly speaking Arnab Goswami's interview with Rahul Gandhi only added to UPA's misery. Among the many tweets that featured the one that takes the cake was, “For once, Rahul Gandhi made Indians realise that a silent PM is better than a dumb one!”

On a whole the 2014 elections are indeed reminiscent of Bollywood masala flicks that have everything in stored for the general viewing. The high and lows of the electoral drama; to the over-the- top political statements and shams. And if you've thought the Rakhi-KRK war-ofwords on twitter was the lowest point of Indian polity…then think again! What if these newly daubed public speakers come to power? This might seem as a faroff possibility, but if they do we might have the highest rated season of Big Boss on Lok Sabha TV.

Contributed

Winning Kashmiri hearts!

Sabiha Hasnain, Account Director, Facility Management

Returning to work after a short hiatus is always a pleasure. After a gap of a year and a half, I returned to Delhi from the onerous responsibilities with the Army in Srinagar. My passion for facing daily challenges coupled with of my long association with Knight Frank got me back in the company.

In the professional world, one generally tends to turn his/her back to their colleagues and that is exactly what corporate culture is usually about. However, Knight Frank has been different to the trend. Professionalism apart, the company's ability to carve out its individual culture has helped the brand create a stature.

You may think what was I busy doing in Kashmir which managed to keep me away from Knight Frank for this long? In the period between 2008 -10 Kashmir was being plagued by street turbulences which had transformed the terrorist related internal conflict into something even more serious – an 'Intifada' type people's resistance movement against integration of the strategically located state of J&K. It was one of the most serious threats to India's strategic interests and existence as a Nation. My husband, Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, then located in Bhopal was directed by the

Army to rush to Srinagar and utilize his long experience in Kashmir's badlands to retrieve the situation for the Army and the Nation. On taking up his new post as General Officer Commanding 15 (Chinar) Corps he realized that the handling of the turbulent situation had been too predictive in the past; a game changer model was needed to restore confidence among people, send home a strong message to the Separatists and allow governance to occupy the driving seat.

own little way by reaching out to the entire social fabric of Kashmir to express empathy and concern. Often moving in areas under terrorist threat, I managed to tour extensively and prove our nation's commitment to the people of Kashmir and helped them integrate with their hearts and minds. Traumatized children and older people are the worst victims of any conflict and their well-being instilled confidence in people of the state. I also took up the charge of the Army Wives Welfare Association which looked after the welfare of our brave soldiers and their families at Srinagar and other areas which fell under 15 Corp.

The entire period was a mix of good and bad experiences, but it did teach me the true meaning of human life. It almost seemed that I regained maturity which also gave me the yearning to get back and be with those I always enjoyed working with; newer challenges relationships awaited me and with the this kind of an experience backing me I'm glad I came back.

He devised a new doctrine called 'The Hearts Doctrine' which spelt out the need to balance the use of hard military power with a soft human touch to reach out to those sandwiched in the conflict. This involved the need to introduce education, medical management, women empowerment, skill development, employment opportunities and direct outreach to the public to hear and redress their grievances.

As his wife I wanted to contribute in my

Cheers to another journey with Knight Frank!

Contributed by

A Flowery View

Pictures contributed by Kaushal Vartak, Associate – Research

Those who wish to send their contributions in the form of articles, photos etc., please email the same to KaFe@in.knightfrank.com by June 2014

WITH KNIGHT FRANK

O P P O R T U N I T I E S May 2014

We are currently looking for exceptional people to help us grow, and are seeking individuals who are passionate about what they do both in and out of work.

If you would like to refer your friend(s), please share his/her profile with the concerned HR Manager mentioned below. Do check the Referral Policy on the Intranet or connect with Team HR. Manager Residential Agency, Mumbai Consultant Advisory, Gurgaon

• Explore the market, independently generate new business leads and proactively reach out to prospective clients

• Understand the client's requirements and facilitate sale/purchase of high end residential properties

• Undertake Orientation, Site Inspection and negotiation for the short listed properties

• Manage complete documentation pertaining to the transactions and ensure complete compliance

• Engage and Manage Channel Partners like Relationship Managers in Wealth Firms and Banks

• Manage Relationships with Sales Team of leading Developers

Requirement

• Graduate in any discipline + Degree in Business Administration (Marketing) would be an advantage.

• Hands on experience of 4-7 years in Real Estate Senior Manager – Occupier Solutions Group, Gurgaon/Mumbai/Bangalore

• Explore the market, independently generate new business leads and proactively reach out to prospective clients

• Identify and advise clients on commercial real estate in line with their Corporate Real Estate strategy

• Identify strategic location for clients, and structure and execute commercial transactions independently

• Provide value added services such as Location Analysis, Space Planning, Relocation, Expansion & Consolidation, Site Selection & Feasibility, Lease Re-Negotiations etc.

• Manage the documentation, agreement and closure and ensure complete compliance

• Have relationships with key decision makers in leading corporates, Occupiers and leading developers, promoters and landlords

• Keeping updated with the latest developments/commercial properties available locally

Requirement

• Graduate in any discipline plus a Degree in Management (Marketing) would be an advantage

• Hands on experience of 6-8 years in real estate transactions

Senior Manager – Industrial and Asset Services, Mumbai/Pune/Gurgaon

• Explore the market, identify new clients and advise them in taking informed decisions on industrial land acquisition/ disposals or optimally utilizing their existing real estate assets

• Sourcing properties/conducting site inspections/negotiation and closure of deals for warehousing requirements locally and surrounding areas.

• Exposure to real estate financial modeling

• Understanding of competitive bidding, auction process

• Identify client requirements and execute commercial transactions independently.

• Manage the documentation, agreement and closure and ensure complete compliance

• Keeping abreast of latest developments on mergers/acquisitions etc.

Requirement

• Graduate (Preferably Engineering) in any discipline plus a Degree in Management (Marketing/Finance) will be an added advantage.

• Hands on experience of 6-8 years in real estate transactions

Consultant – Advisory Services, Gurgaon

• Conduct feasibility surveys, Due Diligence exercises, Development option studies, Demand assessment studies, City analysis etc. as part of consultancy services solutions to real estate & infrastructure developers, investors, government agencies

• Develop financial models to determine feasibility of real estate projects

• Appraisal/Valuation of Land Parcels and various other real estate projects

• Provide support in Business Development activities

• End-to-End Client interaction and business networking

Requirement

• Chartered Accountant/MBA (Finance) with a hands-on experience of 2-4 years in real estate consultancy.

• A knowledge of local and wider property markets, legislation norms, taxation rules, Land Norms will be a definite advantage

HR CONTACTS

West

Team Human Resources, Knight Frank India Pvt. Ltd.