Franchisor of London’s largest chain of residential estate agents, Winkworth, announced a new venture into the international residential property market with the signing of a master franchising agreement in India and the opening of a new office in Bangalore. A master franchise for India has been agreed with Narayanan Soundararajan with the aim of seeing Winkworth franchised offices opening across all major cities in India.    

Besides the Bangalore office, which is to be opened and financed by Soundararajan this month, two more offices in Chennai and Delhi are planned for 2013 on the same basis. Soundararajan will manage the Winkworth Indian franchisor offices and, with extensive experience in real estate, is expected to be a great asset to the Winkworth team. Having worked as managing director for the Royal Bank of Scotland in India during his career in investment banking, Soundararajan also has considerable experience of working with an established and respected brand in a foreign market.    

The firm said that the main aim is to create a network of franchises in India based on the UK model of franchised estate agency, with customer service being paramount.    

Focused primarily on the domestic Indian housing market, the new franchised offices will work for only one party in each transaction rather than for both sides, marking a departure from the existing practice in India.