EUROPE
IFA HI ’ s staff housing business , too , has proven an essential asset . Named Domus , the venture has identified a gap in the market for highquality and cost-effective worker accommodation , and IFA is close to finalising its first project which will house 6,500 staff in Dubai , to be expanded over the next few years .
“ In Dubai , 85 percent of the population is expat ,” Sita says , “ and a large percentage of those people are blue collar workers that need to be accommodated , fed , and transported . Nobody else is offering that at the level of quality Domus will .”
In the company ’ s client advisory business , an experienced group of consulting and operational professionals looks after IFA HR ’ s global portfolio , managing $ 1 billion worth of assets and overseeing pre-development , pre-opening , and operational services .
“ We carved this service out based on the asset management of our own hotels ,” says Sita . “ Obviously we own a number of hotels both in the region and globally , and so my client advisory team looks after the day-to-day asset management of those properties . That ’ s our core business , and in the seven years I ’ ve been here , we ’ ve grown that business .”
Supply chain
Logistics and procurement can be complicated in the hotel industry . Sita ’ s colleagues in IFA Hotels & Resorts Middle East has a team responsible for the delivery of hotel & residential projects , which is undertaken with the operators ’ input through third party procurement companies that specialise in very large contracts .
“ In our business , procurement covers a number of different areas ,” says Sita . “ For example , in our facilities management business – which involves various flexible B2B and B2C services – we are procuring parts for all of the buildings we operate . That ’ s a big network . We have a team to look after procurement ; it ’ s not a very large part of our business , but it ’ s very important . We pay a lot of attention to it and we certainly try
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