SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - When Singapore reopened its economy and physical events could resume from mid-November last year, international property agency One Global Group lost no time in holding the VIP preview of Graphite Square, a UK project at Vauxhall, by Australian developer Third.i Group.

“The turnout at the Four Seasons was double what it would have been just before the pandemic,” relates James Puddle, founder and CEO of One Global. “And it gave us a new lease of life. We ended up doing double-digit sales at just the VIP preview alone.”

Since then, One Global has been “very busy” with either a project from Australia or the UK almost every weekend. When Graphite Square was launched in Singapore on the last weekend of February, One Global was the appointed marketing agency too.

It was during the 2½-month “circuit breaker” from April 7 to June 18 two years ago that Puddle and his business partner, Avril Lee, COO and key executive officer of One Global, decided to use the time to strengthen the foundation of their business, and to diversify by setting up different divisions offering different services.

“When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, it took everyone by surprise,” recalls Lee. “It was quite a scary time. We were expanding, but we were very reliant on marketing through events, exhibitions. Obviously, that became a major problem when we couldn’t hold physical events during the circuit breaker.”

When One Global was founded in 2017, it established Singapore as its headquarters. However, two years later in 2019, it opened an office in Hong Kong. That proved to be fortuitous in terms of timing, says Puddle. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, when the international property market in Singapore slowed, it picked up strongly in Hong Kong.

“We found ourselves in a situation where there was a lot more sales and revenue coming from Hong Kong,” adds Puddle. “We had to adapt quickly and we were doing a lot of things virtually from Singapore.”

One Global therefore had to scale up and employ more staff remotely. “It was difficult getting staff, and finding the right people, especially when done remotely,” relates Lee. During this period, the group’s team in Singapore also expanded to include proptech and market research.

The number of staff at the group level increased from about 10 to over 50 today, with half of them located in Singapore, adds Lee.

As part of the diversification strategy, One Global Expat was set up during the pandemic era in Hong Kong first, followed by Singapore. It was created to cater to the housing needs of the expatriate community in Hong Kong and Singapore, according to Lee.

Forming partnerships

One Global decided to form partnerships with other specialist providers to supplement its own offerings, in order to provide their clients with a “full suite of services”, adds Puddle.

For example, One Global has a partnership with Life Residential, a London-based specialist in property lettings and management in the UK. Incidentally, Life Residential shares One Global’s office premises in Hong Kong and Singapore. This way, One Global can refer its clients who require property management and letting services to Life Residential.

Likewise, One Global formed a partnership with an interior design firm to help clients with fitting out or refurbishment of their property.

A partnership was also established with wealth management firm St James Place. “We were very fortunate to be on their panel, so that we are able to handle the needs of any of their clients across Asia who are interested in investing in property,” says Puddle.

Setting up new business arms

Recognising the return of interest in Australian property among Asian buyers in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, One Global set up a new boutique luxury property agency to promote Australian property across these three core markets. One Global Australia was launched late last year, with Darien Bradshaw as its executive director.

“We wanted to create a boutique buying experience for investors looking to purchase homes in Australia,” says Puddle.

One Global Australia’s initial focus will be on four cities: Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The majority of Asia-based buyers are focused on apartments in key cities in Australia that are generally in the A$1 million ($1 million) range, observes Bradshaw. Of course, there are also buyers who are exploring purchases anywhere from A$500,000 to penthouses of A$20 million, he adds.

In January 2020, One Global Private Office was launched. It provides bespoke real estate advisory services to family offices, developers, private funds and institutional investors globally, says Puddle. The private office has a team across Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.

Last month, One Global Commercial Business — the Singapore property arm of One Global — was launched. “As a group we’re growing in several different areas and we feel that now is the time to launch a service geared towards Singapore property,” says Puddle. “One Global Commercial Business will focus on the secondary market and provide our clients with a level of expertise they won’t get anywhere else.”

One Global Commercial Business is headed by Clarence Goh, its new chief commercial officer. Goh joined the business from PropNex, where he was handling the auction business.

One Global will also be conducting property auctions at its 127 Devonshire Road office on a monthly basis.

New offices

Besides an office in Hong Kong and Singapore, One Global has a small office in Kuala Lumpur too, as well as in Dubai and Cape Town, South Africa, which is a joint venture with another company that is operating under the One Global brand.

Puddle is also in the process of opening an office in the UK. “We didn’t need it before,” he says. “But now we want to go back to our roots, which is Singapore and the UK, and we’re looking to expand in these home markets.”

Last year, One Global achieved its highest growth. “It was our best year, but not for Singapore,” says Puddle, adding that the rest of the business grew — a sign that its diversification and people-focused strategy is paying off.