Living up to our new motto – the trusted source of real estate intelligence
A new brand, a new magazine and a new website. Estates Gazette – EG from here on in – is ringing the changes. And this week’s are just the start.
We like to think our new motto – the trusted source of real estate intelligence – is a billing we already live up to. So, a word of reassurance. These changes are not being taken lightly. And they will be rolled out over a number of months: if a decision to alter the name of a 159-year-old brand isn’t one that justifies a patient approach, what is? So after the fanfare of this week, we will take our time delivering further changes.
So why make the change at all? Well, firstly, we want to ensure our readers, viewers, listeners and customers can see the full breadth of the services we offer: from news to data to events to property search. We believe that is better achieved under a single brand than under the more varied approach we have taken to date.
Secondly, the title “Estates Gazette” is not one that resonates with new entrants to this sector, however essential the quality of the products being offered under the banner.
And thirdly, EG is simply what a majority of this industry refer to us as anyway. This is less a revolution, more an evolution, albeit a radical one, to borrow a phrase.
The new EG magazine, meanwhile, places greater emphasis on contextualising the week’s events with a new Analysis section that combines, data, interviews and comment. There is a smaller News section, with most of our news continuing to be delivered online. Our regional pages are to be found under the new National section (EG London is there too, as is the majority of our events coverage), Legal & Professional is back and EG etc. captures the social and philanthropic side of the industry. Diary will continue to cast a wry eye over the week.
The website has a new look and feel. We continue to use egi.co.uk – evolution not revolution after all. The “i” reflects the intelligence we are seeking to provide online through a mixture of the best news, data and analysis. We will be adding exciting new features over the next few weeks.
Over the coming months our other products will fall into line. And we will be launching new ones too: including an exciting new workflow tool for valuers, Valuations360.
We hope you like the changes. More than that, I hope our new offer helps you do your jobs more productively. Let us know what you think. And if you are at MIPIM, visit us on the London stand. You won’t struggle to spot our new branding.
A missed opportunity? In many ways the Budget was. As a platform to reinforce the government’s top priorities (housing, housing and housing), it failed to offer support. Unsurprisingly a chance to seize the initiative on business rates and level the playing field between bricks-and-mortar retail and online wasn’t taken. Meanwhile, a future commitment to look at social care funding more fundamentally (and all that means for the residential sector) leaves the long grass crowded with significant policy decisions.
If you are a glass-half-full type, you might say boring Budgets are what this sector craves. Glass-half-empty and you might ask whether, at a time when so many civil servants are being moved to work on Brexit policy, can we really be confident that these promised reviews will be anything other than cursory?
To send feedback, e-mail damian.wild@estatesgazette.com or tweet @DamianWild or @estatesgazette
