Knight Frank eyes India for its first GCC

Global property consultancy Knight Frank is evaluating India as the location for its first Global Capability Centre (GCC), with plans to consolidate existing centres of excellence (COEs) in Malaysia, Mumbai and Poland into a single state-of-the-art facility by 2028. The move, announced during the inauguration of the firm’s new office in Chennai, underscores India’s rising role within Knight Frank’s international operations and wider real estate strategy.

“We have been discussing it for the past six to seven months. In fact, one of my colleagues is coming to India in a few weeks to do the initial scoping. Currently, we have got three centres of excellence in India, Malaysia, and Poland, and the idea is to put them all together in 2028. We are considering India as the location to establish the GCC. We see it as a huge opportunity, and it will be a state-of-the-art facility,” said William Beardmore-Gray, senior partner and group chair, Knight Frank LLP.

Why India: talent, market size and operational logic

Beardmore-Gray said India’s growing importance to the firm’s global business, long association with the market and the depth of local talent are driving the consideration to base the GCC in India. India is already Knight Frank’s third largest market after the UK and Australia. The company highlighted the country’s expanding office stock — which crossed the one billion square feet milestone last year — as evidence of a mature and rapidly scaling commercial real estate ecosystem.

The existing COEs have distinct regional strengths: Malaysia supports occupier services, while Poland focuses on technology applied to the residential and occupier services businesses. Bringing these capabilities together in a single GCC is intended to centralise and scale expertise across Knight Frank’s global footprint.

Market metrics and investor interest

• India accounts for the firm’s third-largest market after the UK and Australia.
• National office stock surpassed one billion sq ft in the prior year.
• Bengaluru’s annual office take-up has been cited at 25 million sq ft, more than double London’s long-run average of 12 million sq ft.

Beardmore-Gray pointed to broad investor interest from Japan, Singapore and the Middle East, and said opportunities span multiple real estate segments — office space, industrial and logistics, warehouses, data centres, hotels and infrastructure. The proposed GCC is being framed not only as an operational consolidation, but as a long-term investment in talent, capability and innovation to support those sectors.

Outlook

Knight Frank aims to complete the integration of its COEs into the GCC by 2028, subject to scoping and further planning. The initial scoping visit to India is expected within weeks. If established, the GCC would centralise occupier services and technology capabilities and position India as a strategic hub for the consultancy’s global operations. As Beardmore-Gray put it, “Looking ahead over the next few years, we believe India will play an increasingly important role in our global growth strategy.”