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LONDON: When Indian Hotels, which operates the Taj chain, wanted to buy its first hotel in the UK, St James Court, in 1982, JRD Tata tapped Hindujas for investment.
“It took us just two hours to give them (Tatas) the cheque they needed,” said Gopichand Hinduja, chairman of the Hinduja Group, recalling the meeting JRD had with his older brother SP (Srichand) and him.“We believe in growth with partnership and faith. We trusted them,” Gopichand added. Subsequently, Taj took a controlling interest in St James Court.
Circa 2014, Hindujas go from being investors in the sector to owning a hospitality property. Not far from St James Court, the group bought OWO (erstwhile old war office), an uber luxury hotel-cum-residence, for 374 million pounds. During a morning walk at St James Park, a stone’s throw from their residence in London, the four brothers heard that OWO, the old war office of Winston Churchill, was up for sale. They were the last ones to bid for the historic building. But, as destiny would have it, they bagged the marquee asset.
“In the family, we always keep our eyes and ears open. If any opportunity comes, you will see a surprise that we have bid and we have (bought),” said Gopichand’s youngest brother Ashok Hinduja. “When we target something and decide on it…then irrespective of anything, it comes to us. We have seen this since Ashok Leyland,” Ashok added.
It took seven years to transform the heritage building into a mixed-use property, with an investment of 926 million pounds.
OWO, which recently opened its doors, comprises 120-key Raffles Hotel, 85 branded residences, 11 restaurants and bars, among other facilities.
While the Hindujas have a large presence in sectors like automotive and banking, they have remained a fringe player in hospitality (they are an investor in Mumbai’s JW Marriott hotel). OWO is the family’s first majority owned and first such developed heritage property; Dubai’s Onex Holding has a 49% interest.
Though the group is not looking at aggressive expansions in hospitality, “if something luxury, iconic, heritage comes up, whether in India, France or wherever, we will look at it”, said Gopichand’s son Sanjay Hinduja. “But, it has to be something different, unique, not run of the mill… (to) create a hotel, that’s not of interest,” Sanjay added. He, along with his sister-in-law Shalini Hinduja, has been overseeing the OWO project right from the beginning. The Hindujas have started to monetise the residences and hope to recoup the investment in five years.
With hotel room rates ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 25 lakh a night, Gopichand, when asked which was his favourite suite in OWO, replied: “The one which is 25,000 pounds (nearly Rs 25 lakh) a night.” That’s the Haldane suite, which was Churchill’s former office.
Gopichand said “We discussed with Raffles— why will anybody pay 25,000 pounds for a night? They said, there is a category of people to pay.” Well, it seems OWO —which is London’s most expensive hotel—doesn’t want to depend on its history but wants to create history.
(The writer was in London at the invitation of Hinduja Group)
“It took us just two hours to give them (Tatas) the cheque they needed,” said Gopichand Hinduja, chairman of the Hinduja Group, recalling the meeting JRD had with his older brother SP (Srichand) and him.“We believe in growth with partnership and faith. We trusted them,” Gopichand added. Subsequently, Taj took a controlling interest in St James Court.
Circa 2014, Hindujas go from being investors in the sector to owning a hospitality property. Not far from St James Court, the group bought OWO (erstwhile old war office), an uber luxury hotel-cum-residence, for 374 million pounds. During a morning walk at St James Park, a stone’s throw from their residence in London, the four brothers heard that OWO, the old war office of Winston Churchill, was up for sale. They were the last ones to bid for the historic building. But, as destiny would have it, they bagged the marquee asset.
“In the family, we always keep our eyes and ears open. If any opportunity comes, you will see a surprise that we have bid and we have (bought),” said Gopichand’s youngest brother Ashok Hinduja. “When we target something and decide on it…then irrespective of anything, it comes to us. We have seen this since Ashok Leyland,” Ashok added.
It took seven years to transform the heritage building into a mixed-use property, with an investment of 926 million pounds.
OWO, which recently opened its doors, comprises 120-key Raffles Hotel, 85 branded residences, 11 restaurants and bars, among other facilities.
While the Hindujas have a large presence in sectors like automotive and banking, they have remained a fringe player in hospitality (they are an investor in Mumbai’s JW Marriott hotel). OWO is the family’s first majority owned and first such developed heritage property; Dubai’s Onex Holding has a 49% interest.
Though the group is not looking at aggressive expansions in hospitality, “if something luxury, iconic, heritage comes up, whether in India, France or wherever, we will look at it”, said Gopichand’s son Sanjay Hinduja. “But, it has to be something different, unique, not run of the mill… (to) create a hotel, that’s not of interest,” Sanjay added. He, along with his sister-in-law Shalini Hinduja, has been overseeing the OWO project right from the beginning. The Hindujas have started to monetise the residences and hope to recoup the investment in five years.
With hotel room rates ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 25 lakh a night, Gopichand, when asked which was his favourite suite in OWO, replied: “The one which is 25,000 pounds (nearly Rs 25 lakh) a night.” That’s the Haldane suite, which was Churchill’s former office.
Gopichand said “We discussed with Raffles— why will anybody pay 25,000 pounds for a night? They said, there is a category of people to pay.” Well, it seems OWO —which is London’s most expensive hotel—doesn’t want to depend on its history but wants to create history.
(The writer was in London at the invitation of Hinduja Group)
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