Career view: Santhosh Gowda, Strawberry Star Homes

November 19, 2018 / Keith Osborne
Career view: Santhosh Gowda, Strawberry Star Homes

We speak exclusively to the chairman of London-based Strawberry Star Homes and the international group behind it about his career in property and what has brought him to his very senior position.

Please tell us a little about yourself and Strawberry Star, and what does your job involve?

Since the last 28 years, I have been into property business in global real estate hubs like Dubai and Singapore before setting up Strawberry Star in London in 2008. I believe that volume housing is the way forward for the UK, especially London, if we need to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of homes. It is my vision to build quality homes to offer London lifestyle in the commuter belt towns. LU2ON is the first such development and we are evaluating sites in London zones 3-9 and other commuter belt towns.

As part of this journey, we set up innovative investment structures, which are registered on The International Stock Exchange, Guernsey, to fund our housing vision. The first investment structure – Strawberry Star UK Property Fund LP Inc – was closed at £25m in 2016. The second structure – Strawberry Star Real Estate PCC Ltd – was closed in 2017. This structure currently holds £40m equity and is on track to increase it further as and when we have identified new sites.

We intend to deliver 4,000 homes by 2025 as part of our vision to benefit first-time buyers, home-movers, young families, buy-to-let landlords, and investors.

Do you get to see a lot of detail from all the teams who work for you?

Our company offers end-to-end services to customers, and it means every vertical has to work in conjunction with the eight verticals, which are integral to our business. Be it capital or acquisitions, development, homes, sales, lettings and marketing teams, we maintain regular communication to understand the business progress. While the teams continue to focus on their routine P&L mandates, I work with them to realise the housing vision from the long-term perspective. We have regular workshops and brainstorm to evolve strategies, undertake review meetings to monitor the constant changes in the market, understand market dynamics and align our business to the market trends, to realise our long-term housing vision.

What got you into property in the first place, and what’s your education/training/career path before Strawberry Star?

I always had a passion to do something in the property business and this took me to real estate hotspots around the world where I successfully set up businesses. The experience also helped me gain deep insights into the property market dynamics, understand demand-supply ratio, witness global real estate trends and observe investors’ strengths. By the time I moved to London to set up Strawberry Star, I had great deal of understanding of how the real estate market worked and the factors critical to the success of a company.

I am currently pursuing the Owner President Management Graduate programme (2016-18) at the Harvard Business School, USA.

If you could choose again, would you make the same career decisions or would you change something?

The property sector is one of the best places to do business – I chose this because of my passion and also the vision for housing. My experience in the UK market brought me much closer to the problem, which is universal to many geographies – people finding it difficult to step on the property ladder owing to several barriers. It could be price inflation or unavailability of mortgage or lack of homes that suits the needs of first-time buyers. All these forces are contributing to the widening gap between demand and supply of homes in the UK. We see an opportunity to play an active role in contributing to bridging this gap through volume housing. Our vision is to build homes for first-time buyers at prices achievable for them, but at the same time, offer the best of the facilities like those in London. We have embarked on an interesting journey and I am keen on making a change, especially for the first-time buyers, who are keen on stepping on to the property ladder.

Which of the projects you’ve worked are you most proud of?

I am proud of our involvement with Sky Gardens, an iconic building in the Vauxhall-Nine Elms area of London. Strawberry Star is also part of the prestigious ABP project in London. We take pride in the fact that we are the first property company to acquire office buildings in ABP and this gives us the necessary edge in the ABP project.

Have there been mentors, team leaders or other people who have been especially inspiring?

Many of the top businessmen in the world either hail from a legendary family or are first-generation entrepreneurs. I belong to the second category – it was my dream to become a successful businessman when I was a youth and carefully worked in that direction. This led me to explore challenging business environments in global property hotspots like Singapore and Dubai where I successfully set up businesses. In the process, I gained significant experience in dealing with a diverse set of people, investors, understanding their background and culture, customers and meeting their expectations and at the same time balancing profit and loss. It is always good for any entrepreneur to start from the scratch and learn the basics through hands-on experience.

What makes the new homes industry particularly appealing to work in?

Every individual aspires for a ‘dream home’ irrespective of the location, country or earning capability. Homes are among the basic needs of human society. It has been my vision from day one that housing should become inclusive. I have worked in this line for the last 28 years with success that I cherish. In the UK also, the new homes industry is growing at a rapid pace. Unfortunately, the demand has outpaced the supply and there is immense scope for new homes. We are trying to fill this gap through innovative housing schemes. In the process, I always have the satisfaction of contributing my share to a solution in the housing sector.

Is Strawberry Star finding it difficult to recruit the very best candidates for its different teams?

No, we have been able to attract the best of the talent. At Strawberry Star, you will find employees who have worked in the past for reputed property companies and agencies from around the world. We believe in picking the best and offering them career growth, which is in sync with the business growth. They are aligned to our long-term housing vision.

Can the industry do more to promote itself as a great one to work in?

The property market has consolidated into a game-changer for the economy in the UK. Gone are the days when property transactions were considered a family-run business. Today, property sector is among the top performing businesses with high standards of service, business ethics, transparency, accountability and the best of the corporate governance in practice. Property companies have moved beyond the traditional model to adopt technology across the spectrum. Today, we even have listed entities operating in the property market. It is possible only if industry best practices are in place. The property sector has evolved into a mature industry employing thousands of people in diverse roles. When people invest in fixed assets like property, they should have tremendous faith in companies like ours to deliver returns. For companies to succeed, talent and resourceful people form the foundation. Today, we have world-class talent in the property sector in the UK and there is no doubt that more professionals want to join this sector.

Do you have advice for young people who may not be thinking about property as a career path?

The property sector is one of the most stable job markets in the UK. The sector is growing immensely in the UK and the opportunities for job-seekers are immense. If the candidates have the potential and talent in them, they will have an excellent career growth.

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