Cushman & Wakefield’s new chief executive Michelle MacKay has stepped into “Big John” Forrester’s shoes with the simple ambition of “significantly” improving and building on the firm’s “solid core”.
Presenting her first set of results, Mackay said she would be leaving “no stone unturned in making sure that we move expeditiously and decisively to grow this company and build confidence both in ourselves and also with our partners and key stakeholders”.
The firm reported total revenues down by 6% in the six months ended 30 June to $4.7bn (£3.7bn).
Like its peers, capital markets revenues pulled trading down at Cushman with income falling by 49% in H1 2023 to $334.8m, compared with $656.3m in 2022. The biggest decline in capital markets revenue was recorded in its EMEA business, down by 57% to just $31.6m. The Americas followed – down 49% to $282.4m – with APAC showing the smallest decline – down by 34% to $20.8m.
Mackay said her number one priority as the new chief executive of Cushman & Wakefield was to ensure the business was a “great steward” of capital, balancing investing for future growth with maintaining a healthy balance sheet. As part of that focus, she is increasing cost cutting measures across the business by a further $40m on top of the $90m programme already announced, with the majority of those savings being made in overheads and infrastructure.
“One of our main objectives in this process is to simplify our business structure with an eye on strategic value to the company overall, as well as long-term return potential, right size, right structure for all markets,” said MacKay.
“Our assessment has shown that simplifying our structure and reducing costs is not only necessary in light of the current market conditions, but also strategically advantageous. We see this as an opportunity to create a more streamlined and agile structure for long-term success. We must also break down silos in the organisation to facilitate and motivate and bring the entire enterprise to the table in every client conversation.”
She added: “We believe that business resiliency is paramount to ensuring the stability of long-term returns. We’ll be taking a more intentional and holistic approach to capital allocation as it relates to our updated strategy across all of our businesses with the knowledge that investment capital allocated to our business lines is not free, and we must evaluate returns accordingly.”
MacKay said that while she saw that there was plenty of work ahead to help the company achieve its full potential, she was pleased with the start made and was “encouraged by what I’m seeing inside the business as we take a deeper dive into each of the business lines”.
“We’ve got great bones here, and a clear opportunity to excel,” she said. “My goal simply is to significantly improve and build upon Cushman’s already solid core.”
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