As retail real estate rebounds and reshapes, the team at a young, niche agency hopes it can position itself at the forefront of its recovery.
Five years ago, when Justin Taylor, Thomas Rose and Hannah McNamara spied a gap in the retail agency sector, they left their established roles at Cushman & Wakefield to launch P-Three, seizing the opportunity to play their part in revolutionising the sector’s landscape.
This week, as the company marks its fifth anniversary, Taylor – who was Cushman’s head of retail for Europe, the Middle East and Africa – has taken on a new role as P-Three’s chairman. Together with Rose and McNamara, he is now trying to ensure that the firm is set up for its next five years – and beyond.
The transition into the chairman role “sounds terribly grand”, Taylor says in an exclusive interview with EG, “but in practice, it’s very much business as usual”.
“It allows me to step back and focus more on the bigger picture, which is important as the company moves forward,” he says, adding that “a little bit more thinking time” will be crucial in steering P-Three towards its goals.
“We have grown well over the last five years, and I’m excited about continuing that growth,” Taylor says. “We want to double the size of the business again in the next five years – more people, more projects and more revenue.”
People make places
The inspiration for P-Three came from a market shift during which the Cushman colleagues saw a gap for a more dynamic, action-oriented approach to retail leasing – one that focused not only on filling space but on understanding and anticipating the consumer desires behind occupier demand.
“There was a gap in the market, and we knew there were clients that needed something other people weren’t offering in terms of advice and leasing,” says Rose, who was Cushman’s head of leisure and restaurants at the time of his departure. “So we set up P-Three, which stands for people, places, property. Historically, the industry was all about property first, ‘build it and they will come’. That’s not our mentality. We’ve got to create better places.”
Rose adds: “We want to work with our clients to create better places. And if you deliver a better place, you will drive more value and you’ll get more occupier demand, which gives them more value. There just wasn’t anyone doing that. We thought it was very complacent of the market and we wanted to change that, make some waves and take a different approach.”
The transformation of the retail sector is still happening. Online shopping surged during the pandemic and has now settled to around 25% of total retail sales. Consumers are returning to physical shops, although the expectation is no longer just about shopping, but about experiences.
P-Three has tapped into this shift with roles such as leasing at Global Mutual’s Lakeside shopping centre; acting as sole retail, leisure and restaurant leasing agent at Knight Dragon’s Greenwich Peninsula development; and helping to fill the retail space at Get Living’s Elephant and Castle town centre development.
“The evolution of retail is so exciting,” says McNamara. “It’s bringing people back to offices, it’s bringing people back to retail destinations. We’re doing lots in the West End of London and we’ve seen really strong competitive bidding from international brands.”
She adds: “Our aim is to be part of these big urban regeneration projects because that is where we feel our skill set lies and where we can challenge clients and push. We feel so lucky to be shaping cities.”
The team believes that as retail becomes more ingrained in mixed-use projects, its understanding of bigger developments, along with F&B and leisure, positions the firm well. McNamara, who works closely with clients in the retail and F&B spaces, has been increasingly speaking with office developers to help them understand consumer behaviours.
The boundaries between sectors are blending, she says, with office developers keen to find ways of using mixed-use offerings to encourage workers back on site instead of working from home. As such, P-Three is working with several London office landlords to improve facilities by including F&B within office buildings.
“The difference in P-Three is that we provide retail, leisure, F&B – all of those services within one holistic team, which I don’t think anyone else seems to be doing,” McNamara says.
Do the right thing
For Taylor and the team, growth isn’t just about scaling up operations; it’s about expanding into new global markets. “We’re a UK business with a global perspective,” Taylor adds. “We want to grow internationally, but in the right way, ensuring we’re not just opening offices but strengthening our global partnerships.”
As chairman, Taylor has identified key priorities for the company’s future: business strategy, recruitment and growth, client relationships and expanding the international footprint.
As part of this growth phase, P-Three will also focus on financial stability and corporate structure, prioritising cash flow and long-term sustainability. Mergers and acquisitions aren’t off the table, Taylor says, although he emphasised that organic growth remains the preferred path.
The agency has launched a new share scheme that will allow employees to own a stake in the company, making sure everyone’s interests remain focused on its long-term vision. “When everyone has a stake in the business, they’re all pulling in the same direction,” Taylor says.
For the chairman, “culture beats everything”, and finding the right talent to develop a culture centred on entrepreneurial thinking and “doing the right thing” remains an important focus. “Getting recruitment right is incredibly hard,” Taylor says, “but it’s absolutely crucial that everyone you bring in is like-minded and aligned with our values.”
“There’s so much potential for P-Three”, says McNamara. “We’re really trying to set [the firm] apart and do things differently, which we think our clients are responding to as well… We want to continue to grow, and the opportunities are endless. We’re only just getting started.”
Send feedback to Shifali Gorka
Follow Estates Gazette
