Contracts could lead to opening of three studios

Benoy has won a string of major contracts in India after joining business secretary Vince Cable on a trade mission to the country.

Chairman Graham Cartledge is predicting the deals will be just the tip of the iceberg as the practice pushes into the sub-continent with renewed vigour.

He said Benoy would consider opening as many as three studios in India on the back of the increasing workload.

Some 92% of Benoy’s staff are now working on foreign projects, more than half of them in China where Cartledge joined prime minister David Cameron on another trade mission last year.

The new contracts in India include a 30,000sq m retail centre at Delhi Airport and two mixed-use schemes of 80,000sq m and 50,000sq m in Gurgaon, near the capital.

A fourth deal, for a prime site in Mumbai, will see the firm designing a premium mixed-use development with two five-star international hotels, offices and a 35,000sq m shopping mall.

The deals come as Benoy opened its Pacific Mall in a smart suburb of Delhi last week.

Benoy has been in India since 2005 and, though the property market dipped during the recession, the practice has enough completed projects to convince clients it is a solid “brand”.

Cartledge said the downturn was a good thing for what had become an overheated market as only the serious players were still standing. Many of these have now become good clients.

“As the market picks up for us we feel more confident about the sort of work we are securing there,” he said.

The work is largely done from Benoy’s London or Hong Kong offices, though it has a service office in Mumbai.

Indian clients prize personal relationships so Cartledge is considering setting up more site offices which could become studios if there were the contracts to justify them. This is the same model Benoy used in China.

“Our strategy is not to open an office on a speculative basis but to win contracts first, secure fees and build our position on a strong cash flow basis,” he said.

Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai are the most likely contenders for offices.

The practice’s current projects in India include the redevelopment of a historic building on Strand Road in Kolkata and Market City, a 210,000sq m mixed-used development in Pune which is due to open this summer.