Capita Symonds has launched a unique real estate
offering targeting the £489bn commercial and £370bn public property
sector.
Integrating Capita Symonds’ former
construction project management offering with its recent commercial
property acquisition NB Real Estate, the new real estate division
will be bring an ‘end to end’ property proposition to the UK and
international real estate markets for the very first time.
Capita Symonds will provide bespoke services
including front end advisory and acquisition; planning and
development; multidisciplinary construction design and project
management; and ongoing property and estates management. This ‘one
stop’ approach is unique in the marketplace.
As well as targeting property developers,
investors and businesses in the commercial sector, Capita Symonds
will equally be of benefit in supporting property asset management
and estates rationalisation initiatives with both central and local
government. The public sector’s property assets are, for example,
estimated to be worth £370bn and cost £25bn a year to run. Through
better asset and property management alone the 14.5sqm per desk
space that central government occupies could be reduced to 10.5sqm
- saving £1bn a year.
Capita Symonds, which employs over 4500 staff
in over 60 UK and international offices, is one of the UK’s largest
property and infrastructure consultancies.
“Capita Symonds’ real estate division
brings a major player into the property sector that is genuinely
different to anything the industry has seen before. By integrating
the skills and heritage of Capita Symonds in property projects,
with the investment, agency and management expertise of NB Real
Estate we have a business that is truly unique.”
“We now have the expertise, resources and
power in one place to do pretty much anything our clients need. Our
plans are to redefine real estate for investors, businesses and the
public sector, making Capita Symonds the creator and steward of the
best real estate solutions and delivering significant value to our
clients. Everyone knows that the property world has changed. This
presents us with a great opportunity to provide clients with new
propositions tailored to their specific requirements.”
Of the division’s key target sectors he
says:
Commercial: “Our new offering
is perfectly timed - investors are coming back into a
price-corrected real estate market; fund managers and corporate
occupiers are seeking to become more efficient in all that
they do; developers are beginning to build the next generation
of 'future shock-proof' property; banks are (cautiously) lending
again and refinancing their distressed real estate loans; and
property owners and occupiers are repositioning their assets
in a world looking for sustainable investment and business
practice.”
We now have the expertise, resources and power in one place to do pretty much anything our clients need
“We are working with our clients in every one of these market
areas including placing overseas investment into a resurgent London
market; doing well structured corporate sale and leasebacks;
managing the development of attractive mixed use schemes; helping
investment funds achieve operating cost efficiencies through our
mainstream property management activities; working with major
lending backs to re-start stalled developments and recover capital
from distressed assets and providing new performance-based
sustainability solutions for the built environment.”
Public Sector: “Post-CSR the
public sector is expected to move away from massive capital spend
programmes to focus on making more of existing buildings and
assets, and rationalising its huge estate. There is an increased
focus on the way both central and local government manage their
property assets, which are worth an estimated £370bn and cost £25bn
a year to run. Rationalisation and more efficient use will be a
focus for all parts of the public sector.”
“Take the central government estate as an
example; using it more intensively could reduce office
accommodation needs by 30%, saving £1bn a year. Furthermore,
slimming down the remainder of the estate by 20% over the next 10
years would cut running costs by between £2-4bn a year. Through
better asset and property management alone the 14.5sqm per desk
that central government occupies could potentially be reduced to
10.5sqm. This would save £1bn a year – not to mention subsequent
billions of capital proceeds which could be realised through asset
disposals.”
Rationalisation and more efficient use will be a focus for all parts of the public sector
“We already have an established track record in working with
local government in rationalising and getting the most from its
property assets. For example, we’ve worked closely with Blackburn
with Darwen Borough Council to help it save more than £1.6m p.a. in
property management on its £350m estate, with around £18m in
capital receipts from surplus property. We’ve also saved Cumbria
County Council £1.2m p.a. from its £718m property portfolio through
rationalisation; plus £31m of property disposals.”