‘Property and construction run in our family’s blood’
PANKHANIAS REVEAL HOW THEY LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR THEIR AWARD-WINNING BUSINESS
A YOUNG Vraj Pankanhia had dreams of becoming a rally driver.
Though he didn’t get to fulfil that dream, he didn’t do too badly in life, setting up and developing the Westcombe Group, one of London’s leading property development companies.
Speaking at the Asian Business Awards, alongside his sons Kamal and Sunil last Wednesday (23), Pankhania revealed that construction ran in the family’s blood.
The award-winning company is known for creating contemporary, luxurious homes and commercial properties of exceptional design and specification.
“My father started working for the British Army (in Kenya), in the construction industry, building camps. He was a highly skilled person who was always in the construction industry. So property runs in the blood,” recalled Pankhania.
“Then we had the crisis in East Africa, in Kenya, especially after independence (Kenya gained independence from Britain in 1963). The situation changed the world, people were scared, politics was not stable. That’s when we hit the road in early 1960s and ended up in England.”
Pankhania came to the UK in 1968. He became involved in car dealerships during his early years of living in London, where he sold and bought vehicles.
“I was only 17 when I came here and obviously had no money at all. I had to start working and that’s what I started doing. At 18 I bought my first car, a Ford Anglia for £50. I then wanted to upgrade it and funny enough, I sold it for £90, which I thought was a huge profit during that time. That then opened my mind and I started trading in cars,” he said.
His appetite for business grew and he set up the Westcombe Group just two years after he had moved to Britain.
The breakthrough came in 1975 when Pankhania acquired his first property in Westcombe Hill, in southeast London. It was successfully restored into a row of elegant mews houses.
“That (selling cars) was a fairly successful business, but my mind was on properties. But obviously, without money, you get nowhere at all,” he said.
“Until such a time that I had about £1,000 deposit and there was a wonderful bank manager who lent me £9,000. With that money I managed to buy a £10,000 house in Westcombe Hill. We tidied up the building and spent about £1,000 and sold it for £14,000.
“That was the beginning of Westcombe Group and I’ve never had to look backwards, buying buildings after buildings after buildings.”
Pankhania has passed on the responsibilities of running the business to his sons Sunil (who is group operations director) and Kamal (group managing director and chief executive).
Asked what they have done differently to their father, Sunil said: “I think we take more risk and go into the deep end a bit too much than you should sometimes. But that’s the good and bad, I guess.
“The most important thing that we take from them (their parents) is humility. Working hard and being humble. They are the moral compass and put you in the right direction.”
Westcombe creates luxurious homes and commercial properties across the country. The business has grown, with the company converting listed buildings in and around London.
Although the primary focus is on the development of premium residential properties, the group has also diversified into hotels. It has a gross development value of £300 million coming up across its multiple projects. The Westcombe Group’s success keeps growing. They won Property Developer of the Year award at the Asian Business Awards last year and this year, were named Family Business of the Year.
They have won an array of accolades including the Evening Standard’s Best New Conversion award. In 2006, they received the New Homes Award, in the Best Conversion Project category, for transforming Convent Court in Windsor into 64 luxury apartments. Judges described it as an “architectural masterpiece”.
Pankhania revealed that the secret to their success was having the mindset of giving back to society.
“I saw with my father, when he literally had nothing, but whatever he earned he was still able to give something to society.
The last 20 years, while the business has been growing, we’ve set up our own foundation which is now doing charity work globally.
“That is the most satisfying thing and that’s what I’m dedicating my time to these days, while the boys are doing what they should be doing.”
The Westcombe Foundation has sponsored several charitable efforts. This includes the Royal Charity Polo Day (which raised £1 million for Tusk Trust and Sentebale in 2015) and the Hindu Forum’s Diwali celebrations at the House of Commons in October 2017.
The foundation offers support abroad too, in India and Kenya, and also helped to rebuild schools and shelters in Nepal after the devastating earthquake in 2015, which left thousands of people dead.