International real estate advisor Savills has today released a research paper in which it suggests ways that governments, who own or control large real estate holdings, could monetize their assets. The report is issued alongside figures that record a drop in the value of projects developed under Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) since the beginning of the global financial crisis in 2007 from E29.6 million to E15.74 by 2009 – one of the ways in which governments have preserved economic activity.

Savills research suggests that some governments own some of the best located sites that remain unexploited, and unlocking the potential behind these should release a source of income for the state. Historically, the UK as a developed property market has been most active in PPPs with over two thirds of total EU projects followed by Spain with 10% and Germany 5% share.

In terms of total value of projects Spain, Portugal and Greece have accounted for almost a quarter of the PPP projects since 1990, while the UK still accounts for more than half of the total value. However with PPPs as well as privatisation models such as sale and leasebacks and Tax Increment Financing governments can look to examples in Europe, US and Australia of successful strategies.

Eri Mistostergiou, director of Savills European research, says: “The recent disposal of government owned assets has found political and social opposition and criticism, causing delay across several European countries. We firmly believe that there are a number of options for governments that will improve service delivery, strengthen balance sheets and in some cases generate economic development and job creation.”

Alex Dawson, UK director of Savills public sector says "The cuts in public sector spending emphasise the need for rationalisation and provide opportunities to optimise the use of surplus assets. Partnerships to utilise the assets of the public sector by working with the skills experience and finance of the private sector should be encouraged between all public sector organisations and the private sector, to deliver benefits to all.

Savills suggests reviewing occupancy levels, consideration of sale and leaseback opportunities, encouragement of Tax Increment Financing in particular for infrastructure and regeneration projects, the introduction of effective legislation for PPPs and reformation of the planning system to favour economic activity are all areas in which public administration agencies should explore to exploit the value of property holdings.

Source: savills.co.uk

Savills secures no.1 slot in agency league table for eighth consecutive year.

Savills has been ranked as the UK’s number one property services firm in leading trade publication Property Week’s annual survey of property advisors for the eighth consecutive year and since the survey was established. Published 3 June 2011 the survey places Savills above competitors CBRE and Jones Lang LaSalle who took second and third place respectively.
The survey reports that Savills UK turnover increased by 16% in 2010 compared to the previous year, standing at £333.3m with CBRE at £239m and Jones Lang LaSalle at £215m.

Savills also retained its fourth and fifth place positions in the European and Global league tables respectively.

Jeremy Helsby CEO of Savills says: “This is another superb result for Savills and we are very proud to have maintained our number one position.

“The resurgence of investment activity in prime global markets, most notably in London and a number of Asian capitals, led to another strong set of results last year and we look forward to further success as we continue to improve our worldwide service to our clients.”

Property Week’s 2011 survey provides a guide to the annual performance of the top 58 property firms. It notes that the combined turnover for these firms is £210 million more than that recorded in the previous year.

Source: savills.co.uk

Savills and Willmott Dixon launch joint venture to develop private rented housing - Friday, 24 June 2011

Two major players in the UK property market have today confirmed the launch of a joint venture to develop a national portfolio of private rented housing.

Leading international property adviser Savills and Willmott Dixon, the UK’s second largest privately owned construction and development company, plan to operate across England through a series of regional partnerships with local public sector bodies and private sector landowners. The plan is to work with land owners to maximise the value of their land assets and bring forward sites that would otherwise be undeveloped.
Taking forward a concept originally developed by Savills, the partners have developed a business model for the creation, delivery and long-term ownership of private rented housing. In particular, the initiative is aimed at the growing number of ‘in-betweeners’, often skilled people between the ages of 25-35 years who are excluded from home ownership yet ineligible for social housing.
Locations are being targeted where there is a clear shortage of good quality rented housing available and the mix of purpose-built houses and apartments will be designed to meet local needs.
Philip Callan, director of consultancy at Savills, said, “Although owner-occupation remains an aspiration for the majority, financial and practical considerations are increasingly delaying home ownership. This is creating a growing demand for, and shortfall of, good quality, well-managed private rented accommodation.
"Our private rented model is designed to provide a new housing option – new purpose built rented housing with the certainty of availability and high quality customer centred management. Our robust business model will offer investors a long-term index-linked income stream, and private and public sector land owners the opportunity to unlock significant value from under-utilised land assets."
This joint initiative between Willmott Dixon and the housing investment team at Savills confirms both companies’ commitment to developing new investment-focused solutions for housing needs. Both parties will hold an interest in each of the partnerships with Savills sourcing the funding and managing the interests of the other equity participants.
Andrew Telfer, chief executive officer of Willmott Dixon Regeneration, said, “Following last year’s Comprehensive Spending Review, which made significant budget cuts to the Communities and Local Government department, we needed to respond with innovative funding mechanisms to develop new housing that does not rely on housing grant or subsidy. We believe we have developed an exciting and unique model that will create a fundamental shift in the UK housing market.”
“We aim to work with a number of public and private sector partners who can join our partnership as members, bringing in their land assets. We hope it becomes an attractive means to provide much needed housing for the skilled young professionals that local authorities want to retain.”
Andrew Telfer continued, “We’ll be able to use the land assets with the development, financial and property skills that our joint venture brings to create a new public private partnership model.”

Savills announces its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2011.

Key Financial Information

- Group revenue up 10% to £335.8m (2010: £304.4m)
- Group profit before tax up 39% to £20.0m (2010: £14.4m)
- Underlying Group profit before tax up 20% to £20.6m (2010: £17.2m)
- Basic earnings per share up 52% to 12.0p (2010: 7.9p)
- Underlying basic earnings per share up 23% to 11.8p (2010: 9.6p)
- Interim dividend up 5% to 3.15p per share (2010: 3.0p)
- Net cash of £25.9m (2010: £20.1m)

Operational Highlights

Strong growth in transaction advisory business driven by demand for Prime Central London Residential property and continued strength of Asia Pacific markets, particularly Greater China Continued investment focused on the recruitment of new teams and offices across the Savills network Further growth of property and facilities management activities with the total area under management up 17% driven largely by Asia Pacific Fund Management profits up 20% with fee income up 25% Commenting on the results, Jeremy Helsby, Group Chief Executive of Savills plc, said:

“Savills has delivered a good first half performance as a result of the continued strength of our businesses in key transactional markets in the UK and Asia Pacific. At the same time we have increased revenue and profits in Fund Management, substantially reduced losses in the US business and improved our like-for-like performance in Continental Europe.

Our commitment to hiring the best people and providing the very highest levels of service to our clients has helped us to extend our market share in the UK and Asia. We have continued to invest across the business, through selective acquisitions, further recruitment and expansion in core regions. We will continue to take advantage of selective growth opportunities to improve our service offering to clients.

Looking to the second half, we currently see no material change in the outlook for our business, although the potential effects of the current economic and social volatility are likely to have some impact on both Commercial and Residential transaction markets across our regions. In Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore, we continue to expect some reduction in volumes although prime values currently appear resilient. In the UK and continental Europe, we expect transaction markets to remain unsettled although the fundamentals of the Prime London Residential market remain positive. A healthy pipeline of business from our US operations should lead to continued growth from this region in the second half. Despite the current volatility, Savills remains well positioned with long term growth prospects across our core regions.”

Source: savills.co.uk

Savills has boosted its building and project consultancy team with the appointment of surveyors Edward Wilson and Tim Cole who will both be working at the company’s Finsbury Circus office in the City of London.

Edward joins Savills from Drivers Jonas Deloitte where he worked for over three years in the Building Consultancy team. As part of Savills Project Management department he will work with various occupier and investor clients such as WELPUT, LCH Clearnet and Maples & Calder.

Tim has over 5 years experience and joins from DTZ where he worked in project management within the Building Consultancy division with clients such as Prudential, Barclays and the Crown Prosecution Service. Tim will specialise in refurbishments, occupier fit-outs and feasibility studies at Savills on new and existing projects.

Paul Davies, Director in the Project Management team, comments: "As a department we have won several new instructions over recent months and these new appointments are part of our on-going strategy to grow the team and provide the best service and expertise for clients. Both Edward and Tim bring a wealth of experience and will be a strong asset to our team."

Recent project management wins include projects for GDF Suez, Piper Jaffray, Venner Shipley, UCL Partners and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Savills Building & Project Consultancy team provides bespoke nationwide property service to a full spectrum of clients from developers to investors and property companies.

Source: savills.co.uk

Savills boasts London's largest planning team after LPP buy.

The takeover, which completed last week, follows on-off discussions over the past two years.
London Planning Practice's 16 planning specialists have moved into Savills offices at Lansdowne House in Berkeley Square, W1, creating a 60-strong London planning team.

LPP, an independent planning consultancy, was founded in 2003 by Nick de Lotbiniere and Jon Dingle. Clients include Harrods, Minerva, Northacre and Finchatton.
De Lotbiniere, who will head Savills central London operation, said: "This is a great opportunity to blend our capabilities with those of the existing Savills planning team."

Roger Hepher, national head of Savills planning division, added: "The acquisition of the London Planning Practice enables us to have a greater focus in the West End and City, and creates the largest planning consultancy within any of the capital's major property advisory firms."

The London planning team at Savills is working on the Arsenal regeneration area in north London, the redevelopment of Waterloo on the South Bank, a number of developments associated with the Olympics in east London and the Bermondsey Spa regeneration area.

Source: savills.co.uk

Savills has today announced the acquisition of the specialist central London investment and asset management business Gresham Down Capital Partners.

Gresham Down Capital Partners is a limited liability partnership founded by Stephen Down and fellow partners Daniel Hesketh, Robert Buchele, Richard Bullock and Simon Ewart-Perks. The team provides investment advisory and brokerage advice focusing primarily on the Central London Commercial property, as well as asset management services. They will relocate to Savills with three team members moving to its City offices and a further five to the West End offices from mid January. Stephen Down will undertake the role of head of Central London Investment and has been invited onto the Commercial Board of Savills.

Gresham Down works with international and domestic investors as well as UK REITS and High Net Worth investors. Their clients include Delancey, IVG, Aberdeen Asset Management, Starwood Capital, Santander, Societe Generale, Rockspring and UBS. In the past 24 months the team have been involved in over £2 billion of transactions across London and last year they acted for Irish Group Warren and Partners in selling the Goldman Sachs’ headquarters at River Court in Fleet street to Joseph Lau’s Chinese Estates for £280 million.

Mark Ridley, chairman of Savills, says: “We have taken significant steps to boost our Central London presence and this acquisition marks a further movement towards growing a greater market share.”

John Rigg, head of Savills Central London division, says “Stephen leads a dynamic and highly regarded team, together we will expand our business as we continue to service our domestic clients but also work with our global colleagues in bringing international capital to London.”

Stephen Down comments: “A move to Savills will allow us to build on a bigger platform linking with talented individuals. We see Savills as being the only property advisor who shares a similar culture and entrepreneurial spirit, and with its outstanding network we are committed to building our Central London service for our clients.”

Savills has announced the acquisition of the central London investment and asset management business Gresham Down Capital Partners.

Gresham Down Capital Partners is a limited liability partnership founded by Stephen Down and fellow partners Daniel Hesketh, Robert Buchele, Richard Bullock and Simon Ewart-Perks. The team provides investment advisory and brokerage advice focusing primarily on the Central London Commercial property, as well as asset management services. They will relocate to Savills with three team members moving to its City offices and a further five to the West End offices from mid January. Stephen Down will undertake the role of head of Central London Investment and has been invited onto the Commercial Board of Savills.

Gresham Down works with international and domestic investors as well as UK REITS and High Net Worth investors. Their clients include Delancey, IVG, Aberdeen Asset Management, Starwood Capital, Santander, Societe Generale, Rockspring and UBS. In the past 24 months the team have been involved in over £2 billion of transactions across London and last year they acted for Irish Group Warren and Partners in selling the Goldman Sachs’ headquarters at River Court in Fleet street to Joseph Lau’s Chinese Estates for £280 million.

Mark Ridley, chairman of Savills, says: “We have taken significant steps to boost our Central London presence and this acquisition marks a further movement towards growing a greater market share.”

John Rigg, head of Savills Central London division, says “Stephen leads a dynamic and highly regarded team, together we will expand our business as we continue to service our domestic clients but also work with our global colleagues in bringing international capital to London.”

Stephen Down comments: “A move to Savills will allow us to build on a bigger platform linking with talented individuals. We see Savills as being the only property advisor who shares a similar culture and entrepreneurial spirit, and with its outstanding network we are committed to building our Central London service for our clients.”

Source: savills.co.uk

Savills has recently boosted its investment team with the appointment of Director James Williams, who will be based at the company’s Grosvenor Hill office in London, W1.

James has over 10 years experience in the investment market having previously worked at DTZ advising a broad range of institutional investors and property companies. At Savills, James will lead the industrial investment team in London alongside head of business space investment and national head of investment, Richard Merryweather.

Richard comments: “James has built up a strong reputation and following from a number of major clients in the industrial investment arena and his wide and varied experience in this sector will be a valuable new addition to our national investment team.”

Savills national investment team, which is 50-strong, has expertise across the entire investment spectrum such as business space, retail, leisure, hotels and healthcare. The team operates from strategically located offices throughout the UK including London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and Scotland.

Source: Savills

Savills has secured its position as the UK’s number one property services firm by turnover, in leading trade publication Property Week’s annual survey of property advisors, for the ninth consecutive year and since the survey was established. Published on 8 June 2012 the survey ranks Savills as number one above competitors Jones Lang LaSalle, CBRE and Knight Frank who were placed in second, third and fourth place respectively.

According to the survey, Savills increased its UK turnover to £352.3 million in 2011, which is a 5.7% growth on the 2010 figure, while Jones Lang LaSalle had a reported turnover of £335.6 million and CBRE stood at £236 million.

Savills also retained its fourth and fifth place positions in the European and Global league tables respectively.

Jeremy Helsby, CEO of Savills, says: “To maintain the number one ranking for a ninth consecutive year is a fantastic result and a real testament to the strength of the Savills business and dedication of our staff.

“We delivered another strong set of results last year despite the changeable markets and look forward to building on our success further as we continue to grow the business both geographically and by sector.”

Property Week’s 2012 survey provides a guide to the annual performance of the top 60 property firms. It notes that the combined turnover for these firms has increased by £128.3 million, compared to the 2011 results.

Source: Savills

Savills has announced the relocation of its City Office to 15 Finsbury Circus, London.

City related teams across the agency, investment, building, management and rating will relocate from 25 Finsbury Circus as of Monday 8th June 2015.

Philip Pearce, head of Savills City Office, comments: “With a longstanding presence in the City of London, this relocation marks a new chapter for Savills City teams and we look forward to many more years in the market.”