Impact to manage restored Grand Postal Building under 5-year deal

The five-year management contract to be signed soon will be Impact’s first move to manage space outside its own complex at Muang Thong Thani. The agreement with Thailand Post will also specify the profit-sharing arrangement between the two parties.

Impact has already clinched a deal to manage a 20,000-square-metre convention centre in Patong, a major beach resort town in Phuket, but it is under construction with completion expected in 2015-17. The facility is being developed by local businessmen.

Paul Kanjanapas, managing director of Impact, said yesterday that the company would spend more than Bt100 million to restore and redecorate some details of the Grand Postal Building to make it more functional and modern. Sales are targeted at more than Bt100 million in the first year and are expected to grow 20-30 per cent annually.

The new venue would be a boon for the country’s meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibition, or MICE, business because many foreign event planners have been asking the company for new venues. About half of the users of the Grand Postal Building would likely come from those who had used Impact Muang Thong Thani.

Unfazed by the political demonstrations, Paul is confident the 80-year-old architectural landmark would get a warm reception from both corporate and government entities. It is being positioned as a four- or five-star hotel that can serve all functions that customers want. Its strength is its good location. This area is being promoted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration as a new tourist destination.

The company is still optimistic about business in the remaining months of this year, despite the threat of political clashes. There have been no cancellations of events scheduled for Muang Thong Thani.

In its fiscal year to March, the Muang Thong complex has firm bookings for more than 1,000 events and more than 800 are still on track. The number will be on the rise in the coming years.

Located on Charoen Krung Road, the Grand Post Building was formally opened on August 4 by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn after it was renovated and redecorated. It offers more than 3,000 square metres for Impact to manage, with various sizes of function rooms and also space to launch activities.

For example, the 1,054sqm Postal Heritage Hall on the ground floor can accommodate up to 576 people in classroom-style seating and 440 in banquet-style seating. 

The company projects its revenue at Bt2.5 billion for fiscal 2013 and Bt3 billion for fiscal 2014.