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British Airways joins corporates on the move towards suburban India

Ratna Vira in New Delhi

When British Airways recently moved its headquarters for South Asia to a large, modern office in the DLF Plaza Tower in Gurgaon, the airline joined the increasing band of corporates that are moving their offices out of metros to the suburbs.

The airline has occupied over thirty thousand square feet for its Global Business Unit and Sales Unit for South Asia. The Gurgaon office, according to BA, is a state-of-the-art facility ready for the 21st century.

The new office represents a cultural and technological transformation for British Airways in India. All workstations, training and conference facilities have been equipped with new technologically advanced and Y2K-compliant computer and multimedia systems -- to meet the technological requirements of the new millennium.

The offices are also secured with Y2K-compliant intelligent access control systems. The challenge posed by noise levels in the open plan office system has been overcome with the installation of an ingenious sound attenuation system provided by Bose Systems, the leading international sound systems manufacturer.

All of the more than Rs 100 million spent on this office has not gone into technology. In fact, the 130 people working at the new premises have access to the highest quality of amenities and comfort, including a unique roof-top facility with a swimming pool and health club for use by the staff.

Designed by Hafeez Contractor, the DLF Plaza Tower is almost entirely self-sufficient -- for instance, it has complete power back-up.

Strangely for a town that periodically declares itself to be a "power-cut free zone", the many corporate centres and residential complexes being built in and around DLF Qutab Enclave in Gurgaon are relying on captive power generation to meet their needs!

Late last week came the latest announcement declaring sufficient electrical power for Gurgaon -- the power failures and cuts, however, continue.

Gurgaon is increasingly being seen as the preferred translocation region south of Delhi by leading corporates. Apart from British Airways, Pepsi, Coke, ICI, GE, Compaq, Hindustan Lever and DuPont are some of the large organisations moving south of Delhi.

However, for British Airways, the shift is part of a global strategy. As Kevin Steele, BA General Manager for South Asia says, "Moving to out-of-town offices is a trend which British Airways is following worldwide... As a growing business, we need additional working space which is of a high quality. The new offices in Gurgaon provide an improved environment, better training, communication and other facilities."

The emphasis on space and technology reflects British Airways' preparations for South Asia and the new millennium. BA has projected itself as the Global Airline. The Global Business Unit reflects this perception -- that the new facility is part of the marketing efforts of a global airline.

Designed as a catalyst for introducing new ways of working, the new offices at Gurgaon form a key element of British Airways's programme to deliver enhanced customer service, significant cost savings and productivity gain.

The airline, however, recognises that Gurgaon is still regarded as "far away" by many residents of Delhi. The BA sales shop on Parliament Street in New Delhi will be retained for customer service -- customers may not wish to travel out of town to access the airline's services.

Interestingly, in an unrelated earlier move, the British Tourist Authority moved into its new offices in Gurgaon and finds itself across the road from the new BA corporate centre.

The move of the larger corporate houses to this area is likely to fuel the emergence of allied and support services in the more basic market and office complexes like the DLF Qutab Plaza close by.

The residential housing market in Gurgaon, however, remains in a slump with prices at an all-time low. There are no sufficient takers for attractive housing projects in the area as there seems to be a glut of apartment complexes being built.

Despite the shift of their offices to Gurgaon, few of British Airways' employees are moving out of Delhi. As Rayana Sequeira, heading BA's public relations department, puts it: "I work in Gurgaon, but I live in Delhi."

Moving to out-of-town offices is a worldwide trend for British Airways as it provides the space for a bright, open, stimulating and creative work environment. It is also cheaper to have this kind of area for a corporate office in Gurgaon as compared to a central business district in Delhi.

British Airways is also looking at lowering transaction costs through its software and technology development units in India that would service some of BA's worldwide operations. Although the new Gurgaon offices will have some "global" work being transacted, the airline is looking at Pune for its new "global" centre.

The airline is not willing to commit itself as yet to using India for processing of its worldwide data operations, as some other transnational businesses have done.

New state-of-the-art facilities with large open work areas, shared facilities and common circulation -- encouraging interaction between staff and customers whilst avoiding disruption to individuals. A work culture that is characterised by openness with minimum hierarchy and bureaucracy and improved access to information.

The intention is to in turn deliver better team working, improved decision-making and increased personal productivity. And, to translate this into sales, BA is planning a major marketing and promotional exercise for the peak season that is about to begin.

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