Cluttons has offices and partners across the Middle East
DUBAI
Cold start, liCenCe or franChise? So far, most agents have preferred to expand through licence or franchise arrangements, rather than setting up their own offices. For Fine & Country, of course, franchising is part of the company’s DNA anyway, but entering a market with a local partner also helps to overcome the difficulties such as different regulations business cultures. Bill Siegle says most of the firm’s
overseas businesses are licensed. “They trade under our name and have to adhere to our guidelines. Our partners join us because of our brand; it gives us profile.” He’s upfront about the fact that, “we put up less investment and bear less risk”, both strategically, and operationally. However Andrew Hawkins says he
prefers to differentiate two kinds of business, strategic and tactical. “There are two elements to our international business,” he says. “First, offices where we want to have a wholly owned operations, that’s strategic, looking to future business as much as to current business volumes. The other is more just looking for turnover, where we will work with partners.” For instance in St. Tropez, Chesterton
We’re in a global economy and the growth rates for India and the Far East, are so much more attractive than in the UK and Europe.’ Bill sieGle senior Partner ClUttons
works with a partner; that’s an office that does a lot of business with the UK. In the Middle East on the other hand, Chesterton owns its Abu Dhabi office and it has also decided to take 100 per cent ownership of the offices in Australia and Singapore, |in the strategically crucial Pacific Rim. Branding is important, which is the
reason that franchising works well in this area. For its international offices, the group has decided to use the Chesterton brand, rather than Chesterton Humberts. “Humberts is very much a UK brand,” Andrew Hawkins says, “whereas Chestertons is a worldwide brand.” In some countries, local regulations may
require the presence of a local partner. For instance in the UAE and in Oman, foreign companies need a local sponsor, although the UAE sponsor for Cluttons is not, in fact, active in the business, Bill Siegle says. But whether or not a local partner is a
regulatory requirement, he says, “You would not go into an area cold. The ideal thing to do is to identify a business or individuals locally that you can tie up with. You get the benefit of their local knowledge and they get the benefit of your international links.” He believes the
company’s existing network is the best way to find new partners, for instance, existing partners in the Middle East already know a number of businesses in India which might be suitable. “We don’t go out and headhunt, necessarily,” Siegle says; “We tend to evaluate opportunities that arise, rather than try to create them.” Once the right partner has been
identified, the process of due diligence and contracting can be quite fast. Cluttons, for instance, has signed up some of its partners in less than three months from the initial meeting. It’s helped by the fact that it has a fairly standard format for its licences; “We do have to have a certain
uniformity,” Siegel says. Mike Bidwell, CEO of Fine & Country,
says that when he is looking for partners, “a key criterion has to be the quality of the estate agent”. They must be an asset to the Fine &
Country brand, established, leaders in their field, with a professional code of conduct, and specialising in the right kind of property. If there’s any prospect that a partnership might have a negative impact on the Fine & Country brand, it’s not worth taking the risk.
PROPERTYdrum JUNE 2010 49
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