CHENNAI: Writer Corporation is not just about moving goods; it is about orienting lives as well in these times. Starting the business as a mover, it has now entered the hospitality segment.

In an interview with The Hindu, Denzil de Souza, Managing Director of the Mumbai-based P. N. Writer and Co. Pvt. Ltd., said "relocation alone is not our business, we are also expanding to other related areas.'' Writer was now venturing into travel and lifestyle businesses, he added.

Mr. De Souza said the company was planning investment of Rs. 500 crore over the next five years in various businesses such as relocation, record storage, media storage, disaster recovery and cash management.

The major chunk of its investment, amounting to Rs. 200 crore each, would go into its domestic and lifestyle businesses.

The balance would go into its international business. Funds for diversification would be generated through internal accrual and loan from State Bank of India.

New products

In the domestic businesses, Writer was planning to introduce newer products such as disaster recovery and office moving.

Companies in the media, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and information technology (IT) sectors were engaging third parties for storing their data in tape format.

This enabled them to reduce their risk levels.

Writer was planning to expand this business in a major way. "Most of the companies are looking at saving their data not within their premises. So the offsite offline is growing. This model is an affordable and secured system for the companies," Mr. de Souza added.

To tap this market, Writer was setting up a disaster recovery centre called `Information management and logistics facility' in Chennai at a cost Rs. 20 crore. The facility would have climate-controlled storage, CCTV, access control and modular racking system. The company was in the process of identifying the location. Similarly it was planning to set up media storage centres in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore.

Diversification

Writer was also diversifying into unrelated areas like travel and lifestyle business. This business helped `relocating people' in tasks varying from booking tickets to finding house and schools.

The company was also planning to construct a retreat spa with 100 villas at Shillim near the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

The project, spread over 2,500 acres, would go on stream in late 2007 and provide education programmes on stress-related issues for executives.

The company had tied-up with Hilton for managing and marketing the project, Mr. de Souza said.

Writer reported a turnover of around Rs. 150 crore last year. Out of this, 50 per cent came from the `relocation business'.

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