Fineman Ross has fired the starting gun on a new era for the business, having recently completed the first deal under its rejigged London investment team – the sale of West End office block Clareville House for DTZ Investors to the Reuben Brothers UK vehicle Motcomb Estates for around £66m.
The four-strong central London team now includes partners Ben Blinston-Jones, James Rood and Keith Williams, who has been at the firm since 2010, as well as Chris Strong, while partners Henry Godsal and Ed Watkins operate Fineman Ross’s national investment business.
The reshuffle of the team came about after the firm’s founding partners, Peter Fineman and Clive Ross, decided to step back from the day-to-day running of the business and hand over the reins.
Ross and Fineman started the business in 1991 after departing from Edward Erdman & Co, which under Edward Erdman pioneered the sale-and-leaseback concept.
“We certainly enjoyed our time at Edward Erdman and learned a great deal (mainly from the man himself), but it was largely a case of, as you progressed you became more a manager of people and less involved in the commodity we loved, namely property,” Ross said.
“Starting a new practice meant we had freedom to operate in the way that we wanted, to set standards and to work with people we wanted to. This latter point has been critical to our approach in business, and as a consequence we hope we have built a credible brand which epitomises a certain way of doing business offering the high standard of service that our clients require.
“When we started, it was a case of back to basics: I did the hoovering, Peter did the dusting and polished the brass plate – all good for the soul.”
He added: “As to retirement, well, we are not as young as we were, and you have to know when it’s time to hand over the reins.
“Peter and I have complete confidence in the new team, who are all hardened property professionals, experts in their markets, and believe in the same values that Peter and I hold so dear.”
New beginnings
So today the boutique investment specialist is run by the five partners, of which Rood is the most recent addition.
He started at the business in April after more than four years at CBRE as a senior director, where he focused on acquisitions in London for overseas investors, as well as heading up the London-based Hong Kong desk. Prior to his stint at CBRE, Rood spent more than eight years at JLL as a director within its West End investment team.
His track record includes leading Indonesian property firm Sinar Mas Land’s £280m purchase of the Alphabeta building from Resolution Property, and he worked on Al Gurg Family subsidiary Wolfe Asset Management’s £266m acquisition of 240 Blackfriars Road from Great Portland Estates and Ropemaker Properties (the property nominee of the BP Pension Fund).
Rood has joined former Allsop partner Blinston-Jones, who came on board as a partner at Fineman Ross towards the end of last year after nearly three years at Allsop, during which he worked on several sales for DTZ Investors including 111 Strand to Cording Capital for £46m and Drury House to Excellion Hotels for £43.8m. He spent more than 11 years as a director at DTZ before he joined Allsop.
Strong also joined Fineman Ross at the end of 2018 after more than 10 years at GVA (now Avison Young). Notable deals he has worked on include advising Hines on the purchase of 354-358 Oxford Street from Transport for London for around £40m and Tishman Speyer on the acquisition of The Point in Paddington from WELPUT and Hermes for £210m.
Williams said: “Assembling a team of four mature, experienced partners specialising in the central London markets enables us to maintain the levels and quality of service that Fineman Ross has been known for over the past 25 years.”
He added: “We feel our central London team of four is now a good size to provide experienced advice while avoiding concerns around conflicts of interest.
“The current market is finely balanced between buyers and sellers, and we feel very positive about the position of our business in it.”
With its new central London investment team now up and running and focused on taking that part of the business forward, Fineman Ross has turned its attentions to expanding its national team. Williams said the business is “actively looking”.
Watch this space.
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