Season's greetings
Happy Christmas to everyone! I hope you have had a good year and are looking forward to 2024.
2023 has been an exciting time for Pragma, and an important one. We have developed new services, made important additions to our team, and delivered several large strategic projects across the world.
We continue to work with many of the world's leading airports, helping them improve their non-aero revenues and create engaging new commercial spaces to evolve with market opportunities and customer demands. We have also been working on fascinating projects with property developers and investors in The Middle East, Asia, and the UK, across a range of mixed-use, leisure, and retail-led developments.
Our Impact
Following the global challenges delivered by Covid, it has been incredibly inspiring to see the opening of some amazing new developments around the world, that Pragma has supported.
First up, the incredible `Terminal in a Garden' – the new Terminal 2 at Bengaluru Kempegowda International Airport in India. A unique and eye-catching design, that creates a magical experience that feels totally removed from the traditional functionality of airport terminal design.
Over in Jamaica, Pragma, working alongside The Design Solution, supported the redevelopment and expansion of the commercial offer at Montego Bay Airport, including the creation of the One Love restaurant, a vibrant celebration of the cultural phenomenon and legend, that is Bob Marley.
Continuing the theme of island airports, it was excellent to see the outcome of the new project at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus, delivering an engaging new product mix with a strong sense of place.
From a property and downtown perspective, our global clients value the insightful analytics, robust modelling and new ideas we bring to asset development. Together with our sister firm Benoy, we have been particularly active this year, working with developers and investors in Saudi Arabia and India, as well as the UK, with Andrew McVicker, who leads our commercial property work, helping to support some impressive new assets.
The innovative new mixed-use retail and entertainment destination, Konoz, in the heart of Riyadh, developed by the Saudi-based Abdullah Al Othaim Investment Company will set a new standard in a fast growing city.
In Egypt, we have been supporting new developments in Cairo, and closer to home, supporting the continued evolution of Belfast City Centre, Centre: MK in Milton Keynes, and Stretford, by providing the strategic commercial insight needed for new masterplans to regenerate town centres that suffered pre- and post-pandemic.
We have also been working directly with brands on UK and global expansion opportunities, as they seek to expand their portfolios to match growing customer demand.
From an insights perspective, we continue to provide our clients and contacts with valuable data points and market intelligence from our experiences and observations. This includes our weekly Pragmatist, and in 2023 we published six white papers on topics including the Power of Data, Mixed Use Developments, the EPC deadline, and Single Use Workspaces. We also published the results of our first Pulse Global Survey, our valuable new bi-annual survey of consumer behaviours. In 2024 we will share further results and the second wave of the survey.
Our People
This year we have made some important additions to our team, enhancing our range of services and our capability.
James Miller joined us in April as a Director, who is leading the expansion of Pragma’s products, data, and analytics propositions. James has significant experience in analytics and insight roles within the retail and real estate sectors including Dixons, Experian, and Intu, bringing innovative data-led solutions to our capabilities. In May Matt Webb joined us from London Luton Airport and has led several major airport commercial strategy projects this year, in the UK and Europe. Last month Patrick Cox joined us as Director, bringing his considerable consulting, space planning, and operational experience to the team.
We continue to invest in our consulting team and Shayan Idrees and Charlie Gaisford, both joined us this year as Analysts. There have also been several promotions within the team, including Emily Brown and Alex Foy, who were promoted to Senior Analyst, and Mohamed Hisham and Jemima Scott, who were promoted to Consultant.
We look forward to more exciting opportunities in 2024 and beyond, to support our colleagues and clients in creating positive impact.
In the meantime, we wish you all a healthy and happy holiday period, and successful New Year!
Alex Avery
CEO