Estates Gazette outstanding contribution to property award winner Liz Peace “Media tart, loves parties.” That was how Liz Peace described herself at her leaving do at the RAC Club in October. It may be true – and we’ll leave Peace herself to be the judge of that – but she has been one of property’s most effective champions too. In 12 highly accomplished years, Peace has redefined the role of British Property Federation chief executive. She has been a compelling advocate for property, able to speak the language of Whitehall, City Hall and town hall alike. She can corral business leaders too – a powerful combination. She knows the importance of networking, having attended as many 300 black-tie dinners during her time at the top. And she relishes intellectual debate, admiring the likes of Roy Jenkins and Michael Heseltine. (She is tactically indiscreet too, saying of those two ministers: “I find it difficult to see individuals of equivalent stature and brainpower today.”) All this – and a fair dose of impatience, drive and effectiveness – helped her deliver REITs and see off the threatened introduction of a ban on upward-only rent reviews. After a long career in the Ministry of Defence, Peace took the reins at the BPF in 2002, and was awarded a CBE for services to property in 2008. She finally leaves the chief executive’s desk next Friday, with Food and Drink Federation chief executive Melanie Leech succeeding her in the new year.  And while Peace is by no means leaving the industry – she is going plural with the likes of the Howard de Walden Estate, Redrow and LandAid among the ongoing beneficiaries of her experience – her visibility will be missed. By her own admission, there is much more work to be done in raising the real estate industry’s profile and the regard in which it is held among politicians, media and the public at large. But Peace has done more than perhaps anyone to raise the bar over the past 12 years. And that is why Estates Gazette is delighted to celebrate those achievements with this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Property Award.   Estates Gazette London Award winner Sir Edward Lister Chief of staff & deputy mayor of London policy & planning The power behind the throne. The man who really makes things happen in London. Boris Johnson’s representative on earth. Those are just a few of the plaudits heaped on Sir Edward Lister in recent years. This week he receives another: the EG London Award. If the mayor himself has been London’s greatest salesman on the world stage since he took office in 2008, Lister has been the man who has made things happen. He has put in the air miles too, but it is his open-door policy, his commitment to development and his attention to detail that has won him friends in this industry. Ed or Eddie to those who know him, was appointed chief of staff and deputy mayor for policy and planning in May 2011. He was knighted that same year. As the chief of staff he leads on Greater London Authority budgets and administration, but it is in his coordination of the offfice’s priorities, strategy and policy work that he has been most effective. His job description says he “advises” the mayor on strategic planning applications and has oversight of the London plan and community infrastructure levy. Working with the chairs, commissioners and chief executives in the GLA Group, “delivers” might be more a more accurate description. Jobs and housing are his priorities, devolution of power from central to local government a goal. Lister has been at the forefront of London politics for more than two decades. Prior to being drafted into City Hall, he served as leader of Wandsworth council from 1992 to 2011. As the longest-serving council leader in the country, he made headlines for maintaining the lowest local taxes in the UK while also laying the foundations for the regeneration of Nine Elms. He is quite simply a political leader whose impact on the capital has been second to none, someone who will continue to wield considerable influence until the London mayoral election in 2016. And even though Johnson is standing down, don’t bet against Lister continuing to add to London’s development in some capacity for many years to come. Deal of the year – business impact Lambert Smith Hampton Sponsored by Linklaters   The most significant deal in the commercial property sector over the past year didn’t involve the purchase of land or buildings; it concerned the strategic acquisition of a leading commercial property consultancy business by the UK’s largest integrated property services group. It was a “game-changer” for the business, said our judges. Last September’s £34.1m acquisition of Lambert Smith Hampton by Countrywide – which took just three weeks from initial meeting through to completion – took the market by surprise. However, the rationale behind the deal was immediately clear: it was all about delivering growth through a stronger client offer at exactly the time when the market was showing signs of meaningful recovery. In strategic terms, the deal creates scope for cross-referral opportunities. Crucially, LSH is debt-free and on a firm financial footing following the transaction, as the acquisition was financed from Countrywide’s existing cash resources. The mechanics of the acquisition were far from straightforward as a result of LSH’s complicated stakeholder structure, which comprised a number of loan note holders and a private equity house. And the timing of the deal could not be better. As the economy continues to recover and development activity increases, it is already enabling LSH to take advantage of the significant opportunities that are emerging. Our judges said: “This was a fantastic deal of a business that was on its knees and picked up.” Shortlisted • Ballymore Group – joint development with Oxley Holdings • Exemplar Properties/ Aviva Investors – letting to Estée Lauder • Land Securities – acquisition of a stake in Bluewater shopping centre • M&G Investments – acquisition of Spinningfields • Savills – acquisition of Studley Deal of the year – industry impact Countryside and Liberty Property Trust Sponsored by Thorncliffe   This award goes to a company that completed what is believed to be the UK’s largest ever single private sector forward-sale transaction outside central London. In January, Countryside and Liberty Property Trust, joint developers of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, exchanged contracts for the conditional disposal of 13.5 acres to pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca for its new £330m Global Research Centre and corporate headquarters. AstraZeneca’s decision to establish its global R&D and corporate headquarters on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus was driven largely by the fact that it wanted to collaborate with world-leading academics and clinicians already located on the campus. Long before companies were talking about “open innovation”, Countryside and Liberty recognised the importance of this new collaborative model for drug discovery. And despite the risks, timescales and finance required to secure the release of 70 acres from the green belt, secure planning consent for the land, and attract appropriate companies to the site, in 2003 they partnered with the landowners and hospital to undertake the commercial development of the campus. Owing to this vision and ambition, coupled with an  investment of more than £40m in new campus infrastructure to date, not only will AstraZeneca gain significant advantages by moving to the campus but thousands of people around the world also stand to benefit as a result of AstraZeneca’s move. Shortlisted • Brookfield Office Properties/Oxford Properties jv – letting to Schroders • CBRE – Hyperion Portfolio • Cushman & Wakefield – for work on the Earls Court jv • DTZ – Hyperion Portfolio • Legal & General Property – Hyperion Portfolio Property company of the year – offices Exemplar Sponsored by DTZ   Being recognised by its industry peers rounds off a perfect 10th anniversary year for Exemplar. Despite a team of just 13 professionals, it was one of the most active privately owned development companies in Britain. It is a case of David versus Goliath as Exemplar rivalled some of the UK’s biggest property companies this year. It pushed through a development programme of almost 2m sq ft, completing one of the West End’s biggest deals when Estée Lauder signed a 145,000 sq ft prelet with a benchmark rent in excess of £80 per sq ft, and sealing funding arrangements with blue-chip finance houses. The stand-out project in its anniversary year was Fitzroy Place, W1. Exemplar led the development of the 730,000 sq ft project, the largest in Westminster, in partnership with Aviva Investors and Kaupthing. Since being founded by Daniel Van Gelder and Clive Bush in 2003, Exemplar has been involved in more than 30 projects totalling over 5m sq ft. The company also believes in giving something back, whether this is through Van Gelder speaking up for property as chairman of the Westminster Property Association or a mandatory proportion of its profits being donated to charity every year. A major boast for the small company is its ability to say no. It has said no to takeover approaches, no to schemes which it believes would put its partners at risk, and no to developments it deems are not of the quality the market deserves. The judges celebrated this philosophy, emphatically endorsing the developer’s credentials. Shortlisted • The Crown Estate • Derwent London • Workspace Group Property adviser of the year – offices JLL Sponsored by Buro Four   JLL was an emphatic winner in the eyes of our judges after leading on major transactions and securing key market instructions across London and the UK over the past 12 months. JLL has acted on many different and large deals, not least its instruction by JP Morgan to sell the most expensive property asset in Europe: the HSBC Tower at 8 Canada Square, E14, on behalf of the National Pension Service of Korea. The rebranded company, which changed this year from Jones Lang LaSalle to simply JLL and has 1,415 employees across 17 UK offices, also completed the largest West End transaction of 2014 when it acquired the freehold of Devonshire House, W1, on behalf of Amancio Ortega’s Ponte Gadea. It completed the transaction in seven days. Then there was the largest prelet of 2014 to date when the firm acted on behalf of Land Securities to let the entire 193,000 sq ft of Two New Ludgate, EC4, to Mizuho. The company also secured high profile tenants at the Shard, SE1, when it let more than 133,000 sq ft last year to tenants including Arma, General Healthcare, Warwick Business School and Mathys & Squire. The list goes on. And with the resurgence of occupier demand and an upswing in investor interest, the regions have emerged as one of JLL’s leading markets. In particular, there have been key successes in all of the main UK centres on both the occupational and investor front. In the previous 12 months its regional investment volumes have increased by 69.38%. Shortlisted • BNP Paribas Real Estate • CBRE • Hatton Real Estate • Strutt & Parker   Property company of the year – retail & leisure NewRiver Retail Sponsored by Hartnell Taylor Hook LLP   It was a strong shortlist, but it was NewRiver Retail that caught the judges’ attention. The specialist AIM-listed REIT is focused on the UK retail market and has grown to become a leading value-creating property investment platform. The past year, one of the most active to date in the company’s short history as a public company, has seen NewRiver become a recognised industry leader, attracting new blue-chip institutional shareholders to its register. It has achieved its fourth consecutive year of profit and revenue growth, quadrupled its market capital to almost £300m, grew its assets under management by 50% to £600m through £200m of strategic acquisitions at an average yield of 11%, and delivered a total shareholder return of 55%. Various milestones define this success: £200m of key acquisitions; a significant leasing agreement with The Co-Operative Group; recycling of equity through two disposals totalling £9m; a growing development programme; and ongoing active asset management. A key highlight of the year for the company was the endorsement of the management’s growth strategy by shareholders. During the period NewRiver completed two major over-subscribed share placings to raise £152m, quadrupling its market capitalisation to £271m. And a significant deal for the company happened just last month, when it bought 202 public houses from Marston’s for £90m, primarily for conversion to retail and new leisure uses. There is no doubt NewRiver is proving to be an attractive investment platform, winning over financial backers, shoppers, retailers and our judges. Shortlisted • British Land • The Crown Estate • intu • Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants   Property adviser of the year – retail & leisure Cushman & Wakefield Sponsored by Whitbread   Ambition is what drives companies and people. For Cushman & Wakefield, its ambition is to be number one for retail and leisure globally. To help the company achieve this worldwide goal, it has a newly formed global retail board, which is working with clients across EMEA, the Americas and Asia Pacific. It is also utilising its position as the International Council of Shopping Centres’ first and only global partner. C&W has had its most successful year to date. In the UK it won several major trophy deals, including Battersea Power Station, the largest UK retail and leisure opportunity in a decade, with 1m sq ft of retail and leisure space and a £5bn investment. It is also on the largest redevelopment in the pipeline – the £500m Westgate Oxford, and it was reappointed to manage London’s Regent Street for a third time. Meanwhile, the company is ranked number one for shopping centre leasing, having a 34% market share. No wonder one judge described the business as “dominant” in this space. Outside of the UK this year C&W achieved what is probably one of the most sought-after appointments for a UK-based agent, taking Primark – one of the UK’s biggest retail success stories of recent years – to the US. Shortlisted • CBRE • Coffer Group • Nash Bond • Sweett Group • twentyretail   Property company of the year – residential Berkeley Group Sponsored by CBRE Sustainability is a major issue for all developers. But one has taken the green agenda by the horns – Berkeley Group.  The developer is renowned in the market for being a sustainable housebuilder. So much so that this year Berkeley was awarded the Queen’s Award For Enterprise For Sustainable Development, the UK’s highest accolade for green business success. It is the second time Berkeley has won as a group: an unprecedented achievement for any UK housebuilder. It is the second consecutive EG Award in this category for the company too. The company has delivered impressive financial results, with pretax profit up 40%. Meanwhile, 98% of its customers would recommend Berkeley and for the eighth year running it is ranked first in the NextGeneration’s benchmark of the sustainability strategy and performance of the UK’s top 25 housebuilders. In the past 12 months Berkeley has completed 3,742 new homes – 30% more than at the peak of the market in 2007 – and supported an estimated total of 21,000 jobs. The taxman also benefited to the tune of £472m: this from a company with just 1,800 people on its PAYE payroll. Berkeley has a huge charitable side. Three years ago it launched the Berkeley Foundation, which has so far given £5m to worthy causes and helped more than 60 charities, including Vauxhall City Farm, Thrive, Queen Elizabeth Foundation For Disabled People, The Mayor’s Fund for Young Musicians, and Longridge Activity Centre. One judge said: “It is the residential development brand that all others aspire to emulate.” Shortlisted • Countryside • Grainger • Linden Homes • Mount Anvil National Property company of the year Muse Developments Sponsored by Savills You can be a Jack-of-all-trades, but still a master of them all, as Muse Developments proved in 2014. And more than that, Muse showed that size isn’t everything when it comes to winning over our demanding judges. The company is a leading mixed-use developer, specialising in urban regeneration, with more than 30 years’ experience of delivering high-quality developments. Muse has built more than 16m sq ft of commercial and residential property. Operating from regional offices in Manchester, London, Leeds and Glasgow, its team of 60 staff – an increase of 10% over the past year – consists of experienced and dedicated professionals who work with partners to unlock value from underdeveloped assets, bringing about sustainable urban renewal. Muse’s portfolio comprises 40 developments, from Aberdeen to Plymouth and across residential, office, retail, leisure and industrial sectors.  It has 21 projects on site with a construction value of £280m. The company operates through scheme-specific partnerships and two national strategic partnerships: ISIS Waterside Regeneration, with the Canal and River Trust; and English Cities Fund, with Legal & General and with the Homes & Communities Agency. Despite the challenging financial landscape, Muse has continued to create innovative solutions to keep delivering for its partners, maintaining profitability throughout, a factor singled out by our judges as especially impressive. Proving its determination to stick with and unlock schemes is Lewisham Gateway – a £210m project with 700 homes, 65,000 sq ft of commercial space, an urban park and improved public transport. It was earmarked for regeneration for 15 years, and Muse was appointed as preferred developer in 2004. The major infrastructure works required significant land assembly and a challenging economic climate meant the scheme became increasingly difficult to deliver. Muse did not give up, pursuing every avenue, with new and innovative approaches to ensure its delivery. “Dogged and delivery-focused,” said one judge. “Showing the big boys how it’s done,” said another. Shortlisted • British Land • The Crown Estate • Land Securities National Property Adviser of the Year JLL Sponsored by Macfarlanes This year’s rebranding of the company from Jones Lang LaSalle to JLL was only part of a triumphant year for Estates Gazette’s National Property Adviser of 2014. Despite its size – the company has had a 2.5% increase in overall numbers year-on-year to 2,113 people – it is a “very active” business that is “driven to succeed”, said our judges. A new leadership team was put in place in 2013 that is re-invigorating and revitalising the business, driving forward new initiatives in the market that will stand the test of time. Among these has been the extension of technology, and new client property platforms that are bespoke and “high-end cool”, while still having serious business use for clients. One example to impress the judges was Project Aurora. Created in partnership with Iron Man, Project Aurora is described as a “bleeding-edge” CGI property marketing environment combining high-resolution graphics with the data needed to make hard-nosed property and investment decisions. This new technology has led to a number of trophy asset wins. In every market and sector JLL showed evidence of building depth, strength and excellence across its business. With improving markets it has seen a significant upswing in business, posting a 24% year-on-year increase in revenue. Meanwhile, most JLL business lines had double-digit growth compared with the same period last year and some teams, such as residential and capital markets, grew by more than 50%. Investment in the firm’s Tetris fit-out team led to a 220% increase. Shortlisted • BNP Paribas Real Estate • Capita • CVS • GVA • Savills Property adviser of the year – residential Savills Sponsored by Regis Group Residential has been the industry’s most talked-about market in 2014, and at the forefront of the sector is Savills. Savills has a long history in the UK residential property market. The company can trace its roots back to 1855 and today it has become one of the largest national property firms, with 83 dedicated residential offices. The company’s residential division has more than 1,100 staff and gives clients an extensive breadth and depth of service. The past year has been outstanding for Savills’ residential business and its trading volumes and more impressed our judges. It received its widest-ever range of instructions, traded £8.3bn of residential assets, sold more than 3,500 new homes, saw double-digit growth in its lettings and property management divisions, and broke price-per-square-foot sales records. The new homes team saw an 8% rise in UK sales volumes, a 20% rise in non-London sales, and in London alone it is advising on projects with a current gross development value of more than £40bn. With such impressive figures, the judges decided that Savills was indeed the Estates Gazette Residential Property Adviser of the Year 2014. Shortlisted • CBRE • Deloitte Real Estate • JLL Property company of the year – industrial & distribution Prologis UK Sponsored by Burbage Realty Prologis is simply a tour de force in its sector, which made it a stand-out choice for the judges. Since July 2013, the company has built a UK development pipeline of more than 3.55m sq ft in prime markets across the Midlands, London and the South East. These new developments include eight build-to-suit facilities totalling more than 2.25m sq ft and more than 1.3m sq ft in six speculative developments – a move which has seen the speculative market return to the industrial and distribution sector. And the company is not resting on its laurels. Preparing for future growth, Prologis is acquiring land to extend successful parks. Recently, it bought 40 acres with planning permission for 430,500 sq ft next to Prologis Park Ryton, extending the site to 138 acres. At Grange Park in Northampton, the company has acquired 19 acres, where it is building a 340,000 sq ft speculative unit. Meanwhile, in the West Midlands, Prologis is driving new rental levels. At Prologis Park Ryton, a deal for a 165,200 sq ft facility was agreed with Hi Logistics, a subsidiary of LG Electronics, at £5.65 per sq ft. A subsequent deal with Freeman for 170,500 sq ft set a new record of £5.70 per sq ft and the company agreed to extend the office element of the building for an additional £0.25 per sq ft. Both buildings are now occupied. For customers with immediate requirements, Prologis has begun a measured programme of speculative development. The first of these buildings, a 225,000 sq ft facility at Prologis Park Ryton, is complete and a further five are under construction. A great year, and an impressive business. Shortlisted • IDI Gazeley • SEGRO • Verdion Property adviser of the year – industrial & distribution JLL Sponsored by Sky   Experience is crucial in any business, and JLL’s industrial team has it in bags. It is the largest and most experienced in the UK industrial sector, with senior management who all have at least 20 years’ experience in the industry. The team has been involved in the biggest deals across every region except Wales, advising nationally on 6.26 m sq ft of grade-A logistics floorspace and transacting on 65 units, equating to 40% of deals and floorspace. Examples of key deals and instruction wins this year include being involved in both of the largest design-and-build deals in the UK announced in the past 12 months: Sainsbury’s DIRFT and the Waitrose prelet for a 938,449 sq ft distribution centre at Magna Park, Milton Keynes. The former was the largest industrial deal of 2013 by square footage, as well as the only rail-connected design-and-build deal last year. The latter was the largest single-lot investment sale. In the Midlands, JLL has advised on 2.6 m sq ft of big shed deals. Meanwhile, the industrial team played an important advisory role in the decision by Prologis to undertake its first speculative development in the UK in five years, and the largest undertaking in the Midlands, with construction of a 225,000 sq ft unit at Ryton. Last year, JLL was involved in two of three new speculative developments in the Midlands. The team is also constantly evolving. In 2014 it launched a new corporate occupier business team offering specialist advice to tenants, with a focus on expanding the retail client base while working closely with the investment team to support it on cutting-edge market deals. Shortlisted • Burbage Realty • Colliers International • Cushman & Wakefield • GVA • Lambert Smith Hampton Specialist property company of the year Workspace Group Sponsored by Aitchison Rafferty   New and growing businesses are always encouraged. Helping them find a place to work is Workspace – a leading provider of office space to these types of companies. Based around London, this year’s winner offers high-quality, tailored environments in the right locations. More importantly for start-ups and expanding firms, Workspace, itself a growing business with 194 employees, gives flexible leases and facilities designed to suit its 4,000 customers. Acquisitions and refurbishments make up the core of Workspace offices. Purchases include 12-13 Greville St, EC1, bought in April this year for £2.3m. It is the subject of a planning application to create a £20m business centre for the property to benefit from the arrival of Crossrail. Seven refurbishments have been completed over the past 18 months at a cost of £27m, while eight further projects are under way at an estimated total cost of £74m. In addition, initiatives such as the group’s Club Workspace give firms the chance of co-working. It is offered across the portfolio, and there are eight clubs, with a further three due to open. It has introduced VGreet, an interactive touchscreen networking system that lets customers connect across the Workspace portfolio and access information on the company’s events programme. It also provides telecoms services with full desktop and onsite support, remote storage and back up. The result of this forward thinking and innovation has meant another year of growth, with Workspace delivering record results with strong operational and financial performance, exceeding all expectations. Its EPRA NAV per share is up 43% to £4.96, trading profit after interest is up 14.5% to £20.5m, while profit before tax rose 230% to £252.5m (2013: £76.4m). Shortlisted • Capital & Centric • Cathedral Group Holdings • Citu • Drum Property Group Specialist adviser of the year Burbage Realty Sponsored by Conveyancing Risk Solutions   The length of the shortlist proves the calibre of specialist property advisers in the UK. But one stood out for the judges: Burbage Realty. “The business punches way above its weight,” said the panel. The niche practice, set up in 2003 by John Burbage, was the first logistics and industrial property consultancy in the UK. Today it covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and maintains its trading style has since been adopted by virtually all of the national and global firms for their industrial divisions. The success of Burbage Realty’s style is evident. Over the past 12 months it has undertaken 9.7m sq ft of occupational transactions. On investment purchases the company executed £280m in off-market transactions, and it is marketing projects totalling 40m sq ft, excluding future projects coming through the planning system. The company also has a fee income in excess of £4m – this from a team of just four fee-earners. This amount represents the highest productivity in the logistics and industrial sector. Major projects have included working with Gazeley on the £114m forward funding of the new 938,600 sq ft Waitrose national distribution centre at Magna Park, Milton Keynes. And, with Prologis, it has begun marketing the 8m sq ft third phase of DIRFT. New clients during the past 12 months have included Goldman Sachs, Grosvenor, Logicor, Moorfield, Pears Property, Tritax, Wells Fargo and West Register. A stand-out winner in a hugely competitive field. Shortlisted • Farebrother • Fawcett Mead • Hatton Real Estate • Malcolm Hollis • Paul Adams Flaherty • Shelley Sandzer Young property professional of the year Sophie Walker, JLL Sponsored by Cluttons   Sole responsibility for a major account, repeatedly surpassing revenue targets, embedding sustainability, and launching the JLL UK and EMEA sustainability training programme: these are just some of the credentials that make JLL’s Sophie Walker stand out from the crowd. Walker joined Upstream Sustainability Services in 2007 aged 27 and, following its acquisition by JLL in late 2007, she has been a key player in the successful integration and embedding of what was a new business line into the UK firm. Throughout her time at JLL, Walker has gone through a rapid promotion process from consultant to national director and has developed a successful career helping commercial, public and corporate clients to improve their sustainability performance and embed sustainability in their core practices. Walker now specialises in working with clients that have operations in multiple countries, ensuring that regional risks, cultural sensitivities and implementation challenges in different markets are addressed. Impressively, she oversees more than half of Upstream Sustainability Services’ revenue (around £1.6m in 2014) for strategic sustainability services, with responsibility for service development and delivery, innovation, marketing and resource management. She also provides strategic advice to drive JLL’s sustainability efforts globally, in EMEA and in the UK. Her ability to merge astute commercial acumen with environmental and social consciousness has ensured she remains a leader in guiding the industry on the path of sustainable real estate. Shortlisted • Paul Clark, Capita • Alexandra Lanni, Laxfield Capital • Jonathan Manns, Colliers International • Toby Ogden, DTZ Estates Gazette front cover of the year Malcolm Hollis Sponsored by Pipers   There was real variety in this year’s Estates Gazette Front Cover of the Year shortlist. But there was something that tipped the scales in Malcolm Hollis’s favour. The Estates Gazette Front Cover of the Year Award remains one of the most high-profile marketing opportunities in commercial property. The best covers give the reader something to remember, an image that stands out. Malcolm Hollis managed that better than anyone in 2014. Despite some close contenders, readers voted in their droves for the 25 January cover. There’s clearly something captivating in that particularly vivid shade of pink. Shortlisted • Deloitte Real Estate • MJ Mapp • Oktra • TIAA Henderson Real Estate • Deverell Smith Investment fund manager of the year M&G Investments Sponsored by Malcolm Hollis   “A bellwether. Multi-faceted. A highly active, strong performer.” Those were just some of the phrases used by our judges in honouring M&G Investments as our Investment Fund Manager of the Year. The asset manager has £244bn invested across equities, bonds, property and multi-asset strategies. It manages £18.4bn of real estate funds not only in the UK, but also in continental Europe, Asia and North America. M&G Real Estate has 150 years’ investment experience and prides itself on active management on behalf of institutional clients. It is also an investor in real estate debt. Throughout 2014 the asset manager has boosted its performance and maximised returns through innovation, active asset management and well-timed transactions. Over the past five years, M&G Real Estate’s house return on UK assets has averaged 9.6% pa. And the £2bn M&G Secured Property Income Fund is the top performer in the combined “long income” and “balanced” fund segments of the AREF/IPD UK Quarterly Property Fund Index over both three and five years. Since July 2013, M&G Real Estate has completed or committed to around £3.5bn of transactions globally, marking one of the most active deal-making periods in its history. Although it invests for the long term, M&G Real Estate is still focused on economic cycles to best time acquisitions and disposals, maximising returns for clients. Over the past year, the UK economic recovery has gained traction, spreading from London to the rest of the country. Two of its significant acquisitions in the regions have been Spinningfields in Manchester, which it acquired for £320m, making it one of the largest regional office transactions on record; and Quartermile in Edinburgh. The £80m development finance deal is believed to be one of the largest speculative office funding deals ever undertaken in Scotland. A deserving winner. Shortlisted • Axa Real Estate • CBRE Global Investors • LaSalle Investment Management • Legal & General Property • Mayfair Capital Investment Management Global property brand TIAA Henderson Real Estate Sponsored by Omni Capital   It was no April fool when on 1 April 2014, TIAA-CREF and Henderson Global Investors came together to form a new global real estate investment management company, TIAA Henderson Real Estate, better known as TH Real Estate. The judges were impressed by the new company’s dedicated global presence: it has offices across Asia and Europe managing around $22.6bn (£14.5bn) of real estate assets across some 50 funds and mandates. Meanwhile, the alliance with TIAA-CREF in North America increases its global AUM to $72.9bn. But there is more to the story. It is essentially about three brands: the two that formed TH Real Estate and then the brand that was subsequently launched to the global market – TIAA Henderson Real Estate. This new addition to the family leveraged existing brand loyalty, and the loyalty it engineered was central to the success of the merger. 100% of investors agreed to novate their contracts and client agreements over to the new business. Launching a new brand to the market meant considering all angles from design to values, key messages and voice, covering online and offline material in addition to the company’s physical space. The company’s core values are its dedication to real estate, its heritage, its people and looking forward to tomorrow’s world. All of which made for a winning combination. The new brand has quickly established itself, so quickly in fact that our judges gave TH Real Estate the inaugural Global Property Brand Award. Shortlisted • Axa Real Estate • CBRE • CBRE Global Investors • Cushman & Wakefield •  JLL • Lend Lease   The judges 2014 A panel of 36 property industry experts decided the winners   rebecca.kent@estatesgazette.com