Jones Lang LaSalle has long talked of being different. By handing the reins to a trio of new boys, in 2013 it might start acting like it is too.
New UK chief executive Guy Grainger, who joined the firm via 2008’s acquisition of Churston Hurd, is the longest-serving of JLL’s new top-tier. New UK chairman Chris Ireland joined in 2011, thanks to the King Sturge deal, as did chief operating officer Mark Stupples.
Grainger succeeds Andrew Gould, who joined JLL almost 20 years before him. Gould has done a sound job since he became chief executive in 2009, doubling revenues and maintaining profitability. He also delivered a legacy-defining deal. Undoubtedly, Grainger has big boots to fill.
A smooth, dapper 45-year old, Grainger is different to, and a decade younger than, Gould. In truth, he’s different to JLL’s heritage too.
The senior partner’s company car and driver may be long gone – along with all the cultural baggage that that and other perks ensured – but Grainger’s appointment does signal a symbolic break with the past for different reasons.
“Retail is in my blood,” he said after his appointment this week. Many – inside and out – still associate the firm with offices. But that switch is no bad thing. The retail side of this industry is closest to the consumer and, more than ever, those advisers that better understand their customers have the greatest chance of success.
Grainger is already making the right noises about staff and client focus. Graduate recruitment will rise, he says, technology adoption will accelerate and growth markets will be the focus.
More significantly, he will bring the language of retail – where talk revolves around brand, culture and philosophy – to other parts of the JLL business. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but one that is bound to ruffle feathers along the way.
The move has been in the works for some months. And for those who enjoy that sort of thing, it will see Grainger continue his – friendly, by all accounts – rivalry with CBRE’s Ciaran Bird, another head of retail made chief executive in recent weeks.
One postscript: it seemed appropriate rather than symbolic that it was Grainger who was welcoming guests to JLL’s MAPIC cocktail party at the Majestic in Cannes last month. With the wisdom of hindsight he was clearly practising his glad-handing skills ahead of taking on an even bigger role. It’s a muscle he will have to get used to flexing.
Credit where credit’s due: George listened. While there were very few winners to emerge from this week’s Autumn Statement, property did OK. No new taxes and – at long last – a concession on empty rates. The new-build exemption wasn’t all the industry wanted, of course, but it was perhaps all that it could realistically have wished for.
Congratulations to those who have campaigned for years on this issue – not least the British Property Federation – and especially to Estates Gazette’s own Nick Whitten, whose revelation earlier this year that the government itself pays at least £50m annually in rates helped persuade the chancellor to think again. Let’s hope this is not his last concession on this derided policy.
Spending on commercial property by Asian investors in the UK already accounts for as much as 20% of the market. That percentage will only rise in 2013.
It’s happening in residential too. There was increased in interest during China’s Golden Week national holiday in October – figures from Chinese property search site Juwai.com reported a 66% leap in enquiries – and for luxury developers from Battersea to The Shard, the country’s elite is in their sights.
The next Golden Week holiday is in February. Get set now: some 60% of Juwai.com’s users intend to buy international property within the next four to nine months.
