KENSINGTON International / News / KENSINGTON franchisee Daniel Malek has ambitious plans: becoming market leader in the north of Germany!

KENSINGTON franchisee Daniel Malek has ambitious plans: becoming market leader in the north of Germany!

For two years now, KENSINGTON Finest Properties International has been focusing on its expansion in the north of Germany. Following its branches in Berlin, Bremen, Oldenburg and Hanover, the Swiss real estate company with the international network set up a branch in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg in February 2018.

The franchisee for the regional licence is Daniel Malek, who secured his third KENSINGTON licence with the Hamburg region within just a short amount of time. Together with his long-term business partners, Daniel Malek, who has an insurance background, has written a remarkable success story under the KENSINGTON brand. In our interview, he revealed how he became successful with KENSINGTON and what his plans for the future are.

Mr Malek, your background is in the insurance industry. How did you end up in the real estate sector?
DM: Together with my business partner Dennis Schwedler, I run one of the largest insurance agencies of Mannheimer Versicherungs AG. We’ve repeatedly been approached by clients who were interested in estate agent services in the past. So we basically provided these services on the side. In doing so, I’ve always benefited from the fact that I’ve been running my own real estate projects, including purchase, renovation/refurbishment and sale, for over 15 years, so I was familiar with the processes and the market. And because of an increasing number of recommendations, we decided to put the real estate part on a professional footing.

What made you partner up with KENSINGTON?
DM: Through personal conversations with my long-time friend Sven Binnewies, I developed a growing interest in the KENSINGTON brand. And as it happened, that coincided with an imminent restructuring in our industry and our decision to reposition the real estate activities of our business. Arguments such as the strong brand image, the technical support, the exclusive marketing, the professional handling of property transactions and of course the international network were the decisive factors for acquiring a KENSINGTON licence.

What’s your strategy for your first licence in Bremen?
DM: It’s been clear to me from the beginning that we would introduce the KENSINGTON brand in Bremen in a professional manner and quickly raise awareness for the brand. And for that reason, my partners (Sven Binnewies, Christoph Wiesenbach (Manager and Managing Director of the Bremen office), Dennis Schwedler) and I founded Finest Properties Bremen GmbH. Just a few months after founding the company in August 2017, we already had four self-employed property consultants working for us in Bremen and over 50 property listings. The success curve was simply thrilling, so it wasn’t long before another idea was born: becoming top dog in the north!

What happened next?
DM: The next biggest and most interesting city is just outside Bremen: Oldenburg. With its old Art Nouveau villas, beautiful old town and stylish new buildings, Oldenburg was predestined to be conquered by KENSINGTON, which is why we decided to acquire another licence in February 2018. Just as though Bremen, Oldenburg and surroundings weren’t a big enough challenge already, I soon started eyeing for Hamburg. Having gained first experiences with Bremen and having seen the outstanding results, I was literally burning for expanding into additional licence regions.

With the Hamburg licence, you’ve acquired a regional KENSINGTON licence. How are you planning to conquer the market here?
DM: It’s been clear to us from the beginning that we would drive forward the expansion of the KENSINGTON brand exclusively by granting sub-licences in order to diversify the brand. Even before our Hamburg office was ready to move in to, I already had enquiries from prospective franchisees looking to become successful with the KENSINGTON brand. To develop the Hamburg licence further, Sven Binnewies and I founded Finest Properties Hamburg GmbH for this location. With our first franchisee, Business Administration graduate Lars Axendorf, the KENSINGTON brand will now be established in the Hamburg-Alster region in the form of a private office for selected, high-end properties.

What are your plans for the future?
DM: My vision is that nobody looking to sell, let or project real estate can avoid KENSINGTON within the next 5-10 years. Our aim is to open another 6-10 offices in the Bremen region within the next 3-5 years and to grant another 4 sub-licences in Hamburg to cover the entire market.

 

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