Holistic-er than thou

Is this a coincidence, just because both words begin with the same letters? Probably, although some people believe that – sabotage included – all’s fair in business (and love) as well as war. So, are things set to get a bit more bruising on the real estate market? We will not be answering that question this month, but from reading our latest issue it becomes clear that many of the main players on the market are busily going about diversifying their activities. In the article ‘Channelling your inner market leader’, it emerges that retail chains have come to the conclusion that you cannot limit yourself to just one sales channel – you have to move between the whole gamut of ways of reaching the customer. Approach your business holistically (a fashionable word in the sector in recent years) and invest in omnichannel sales – has become the latest injunction we are supposed to follow. Diversification has been chosen as the route to Marvipol’s future success – and the key to its survival in the event of market turmoil (the developer has traditionally built residences, but has recently been moving onto the warehousing and apart-hotel scenes). In the interview (‘Spreading your bets’) with Mariusz Poławski, the company’s vice-president, he explains how he is doing precisely that: diversifying so that a medium-sized company, as Marvipol is, will always be able to cope with whatever the wider property market throws at it. Exclusive office properties in revitalised tenement buildings are also relatively shock-resistant (according to the experts). Are they a product for every-one or just for the chosen few (‘Prestige premises’)? Investors are now eyeing them lustily, in much the same way I gawp into every cake shop window I happen to pass during my spring diet in April.